A foreign domestic worker took to social media to ask her friends for help when the family she was working for did not give her sufficient rest or privacy.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Apr 27), a netizen who went by the name Khriz Omandac Alabado wrote that she was sharing a problem her friend faced.Â
Ms Alabado shared her post to the Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), where she wrote that her friend had been with her employer for four months.
Having to share a room with her employer’s daughter, the domestic helper wrote that the daughter would often come back home very late and switch on the room lights. The daughter would also listen to music or talk on the phone until 2 am or 3 am sometimes, Ms Alabado wrote. As a result, the domestic worker would often be without sufficient sleep or rest.
Asking for advice, the domestic helper said to Ms Alabado that she was afraid to inform her agency lest her employers send her back home.
Netizens who commented on the post unanimously advised the helper to talk to her employer and communicate her needs.
Last year, another domestic helper found herself in a similar situation. In a post to a help group for foreign domestic workers in Singapore, one Ms S wrote that she was very patient with her working situation.
She explained that she was required to work from 8 am to 12:30 am, with most of her work only ending at that time.
She wrote that she slept in the corner of the kitchen, with her bed placed there.
In her post, Ms S added that she was not able to sleep well because often as she lay on her bed, the family still came to the kitchen, and she was disturbed.
While it was unclear if their being in the kitchen disturbed her sleep, or if they came to the kitchen to wake her up, she was unsure how to handle the situation and asked other foreign domestic helpers for advice as to what to do.
In the comments section, the helper replied that she had already tried asking her agent for help with the situation, and added that the agent did not assist her. She wrote that as a result, she was planning to go back to her home country.