SINGAPORE: A foreign domestic helper told her employers she was unhappy working for them and asked for a transfer after they refused to lend her money.
In an anonymous post to a Facebook group for employers and domestic helpers, a woman who seemed to be a maid herself asked others if she’d be blacklisted because she wanted to be transferred. In her post, she presented a hypothetical situation and asked other netizens for their opinions and advice.
The woman wrote: “A helper asked help for financial help to the Employer and Employers hesitated.After that the helper told them she will transfer and find another Employer because she’s unhappy working already like she feels her Employers has no concern and unkind”. She then wanted to know if this was a valid reason for her employer to send her back home and blacklist her from working in Singapore.
Netizens who commented on the post told the maid that while she would not be blacklisted if there was no crime committed, her employer could send her back home for her entitled attitude and for being upset when they refused to lend her money.
Here’s what they said:
A foreign domestic helper hired to care for a newborn was seen by her employers as constantly talking on the phone, even while feeding the child. On average, the employer said her maid’s calls were at least 30 minutes long.
In an anonymous post to Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid’s employer said that her helper wanted a loan from them to get a new phone, and she asked netizens if she should accede to said request. The employer wrote that this was her first time hiring a helper to care for her newborn.
“She is overall ok in her daily duty for the 2 months+ with us. Recently she was asking if she can get a loan from us to get a new mobile as her phone is dying. Meaning cannot last her talking for more than 30 mins and phone will shut down”, the woman wrote. She added that she was reluctant to give her maid the loan as she had seen her maid constantly talking on the phone either through the CCTV system or after she had finished her chores.