SINGAPORE: An employer took to social media asking if there was any recourse for an increasingly difficult maid.
In an anonymous post to a support group for domestic helpers and employers alike, the employer even asked if she should ask her maid to pay for damages or reduce her food supplies such as coffee, yoghurt and sugar.
The woman wrote that her young helper had been with the family for nearly a year. The woman wrote that she was diligent and attentive during the first few months. Lately, she added that her maid was “breaking things, sleeps a lot, doesn’t really listen anymore. I have spoken with her and clearly instructed the importance of being careful (she might hurt herself and my family).. and to follow how it shld be done”.
“Before it escalates further, what other best way to ensure nothing else breaks and to correct her attitude? Reduce her coffee/yogurt/sugar (eg) supplies or ask her to pay for damages or … ?” the woman wrote.
She added that even though she reminded her helper multiple times not to use a steel brush on her wok, the helper did so and now the wok’s coating was peeling, she said.
The woman asked netizens how to resolve her issues.
Here’s what they wrote:
Earlier this year, a maid working for a Malaysian expatriate family since 2018 took to social media asking others for advice on her working conditions.
In an anonymous post to a Facebook support group, the maid wrote: “The problem is with the wife , for her everything is not right even for my vegetable can’t put inside the fridge so I have to put it outside”.
She added that the first few years she worked for the family, her employer would fine her $2 to $10 for every mistake she made. The woman would then give the total amount to charity. The helper asked her agent about this, and “my agent said the MOM doesn’t allow employers to do that. Then I tell her about what my agent said and she is not Happy”.