Employer says her maid wants to stay over at her friend’s house Saturday night as Sunday is her day off; the helper says this is normal practice

SINGAPORE: An employer who hired a maid for the first time wanted to know if she should allow her helper to stay at a friend’s place overnight.

In an anonymous post to a support group on social media for domestic helpers and employers alike, the woman wrote that she hired a Filipino helper. She added that her maid’s day off was on Sunday. She wanted to know if allowing her helper to stay over at her friend’s house on Saturday night was normal. The woman wrote that her maid’s friend or family were also helpers.

“I don’t think it’s the normal practice but my helper thinks it’s normal and given”, she wrote.

Her post received almost a hundred reactions and more than 150 comments in less than five hours. Here’s what others said:

Last month, in a post demanding specific work days off, a maid led to an intense debate between helpers and employers in the comments section.

Posting to a support group on social media for domestic helpers and employers, the maid wrote that she was looking to be hired by someone who could give her all Sundays and public holidays off without a curfew. Her post garnered over 300 reactions and more than 250 comments on social media.

Maid demands all Sundays and public holidays off, with no curfew; other helpers say this is “normal” request