SINGAPORE: An employer whose maid ran away took to social media asking what she could do cost-wise because she had to buy her previous helper a ticket back home and spend more money to hire a new maid.
In an anonymous post to a support group for domestic helpers and employers alike, one woman wrote about her maid of two months. She said that her maid ran away after she spoke to her about her behaviour. The employer wrote that the helper would always be on the phone while handling her 18-month-old child. She added that “about personal hygiene she uses the washroom and not wash her hands and also she refuses to wear undergarments which is not nice”.
When she took her child and went out about a week ago, she added that the maid ran away, leaving the doors unlocked and the stove switched on. The employer saw the maid leaving through the cameras installed in her house and tried to contact her helper, but the latter did not pick up the phone. “I call MOM they tell me to make police report I did as told and then received a call she is in a shelter from the shelter stuff….MOM still haven’t contacted me iam left with no option but to just not go to work”, the woman wrote.
She also added that the morning of the day her maid ran away, the helper woke up demanding to go back immediately. The employer said she asked her maid to wait as she would need to buy a ticket. The helper refused, leading to the employer calling the police. The woman said in her post that the police told the maid to be patient and allow her employer to find a replacement and get her a ticket.
“So tell me what can I do I know I will still buy her ticket back home but do I still have to clear her salary for the days she worked because she nvr give me notice and also iam jobless sitting at home need to spend more money to hire new helper is this fair to us employers???” the woman asked.
Here’s what netizens who commented on the post said:
Helpers said that there are two sides to every story. One even asked how the employer knew that her helper did not wear any undergarments. /TISG