Maid says even though she has to wake up at 5:30am, her employer still asks for foot massage every night until midnight

SINGAPORE — A foreign domestic worker took to social media asking other helpers for advice on whether she should let the Manpower Ministry know about the lack of sleep she has been having because her employer asks for daily massages until midnight.

In an anonymous post to Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid wrote that her employer would ask for a foot massage around 11 pm or 11.30 pm every day. Sometimes, she would even ask for a massage to start at midnight.

“i need to wake up [at] 5:30 to prepare children for school. There are times that after i massage her feet she will ask me to wash my hand and massage her head or shoulder. Making my hands wet after doing the massage caused my thumb fingers pain and numb”, the maid wrote, explaining that she went to bed rather late and had to wake up very early for her duties.

The maid added that she had been working with her employer for about six months and had a scheduled interview with the Manpower Ministry in the upcoming week. “Do i need to tell MOM my situation so the MOM will adress my employer ?” the helper asked.

Netizens were divided in their reactions, where some suggested the helper was not giving the full picture of her duties or rest times. Others suggested that she use the “golden opportunity” presented to her “to let MOM know” as massaging was not part of her duties.

Here’s what they said:

Last year, another foreign domestic worker took to social media complaining that her employer would ask for a massage every night until both her hands became stiff.

In an anonymous post to Facebook page FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid wrote that she was with her employers for four months. Every night, “they asked me to massage them for one and half hours until my both hands turning stiff”, the helper wrote.

She added: “During massage time my employer asked me to close the door and window. I felt tired of doing this every night”.

Based on her post alone, it is unclear what the gender of her employer was, or if the helper had to massage more than one person. In her post, she asked other helpers for advice on what to do.

Maid says, for 4 months, her employer asks her for 1.5hr massage every night until both her hands became stiff