A maid new to Singapore and working for her first employer took to social media asking whether she should help with cleaning on her days off.
In an anonymous post to Facebook page FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the helper wrote that she agreed to one day off a month and signed her contract based on this. She initially thought that she did not want the other three days off and asked that she be compensated with money for them instead. However, after finding out that working for her employer could get stressful, she decided to attend Sunday School.
“So im asking, is it appropriate that before I go out I should clean the house first, in the morning [I] think it’s okay since it’s an slight work only. but how come after I come back(8 pm)I saw the kitchen sink was full of dirty dishes, the stove very dirty and the smell because of what they cook in the morning. it[‘]s my day off I should not work, right?” the helper wrote.
She asked if she should complain about this matter as she felt that it was unfair for her to have to clean the house in the morning and then clean the dirty kitchen once she returned at 8 pm. The maid wrote that she was rather bothered by the matter as she wanted to finish her contract working for this employer, but also added that she did not like working on her day off.
The helper wanted to know if she would be overstepping if she were to complain to her employer about this issue and wrote that she was new to working in Singapore so she wanted to know about her day off.
Many helpers who commented on her post wrote that she should help out when and where she could and that it was ultimately finding a balance that worked.
Here’s what they said:
