A foreign domestic helper who seemed to take advantage of her employer’s kindness would come back later and later at night each week on her day off, eventually claiming she stayed over in her relative’s house and not wanting to come back at all.
In an anonymous post to Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid’s employer wrote that she had been working with their family for about three months. The family consisted of two adult sisters and their mother.
“The helper’s work has been very minimal as my mom is the kind that loves to clean and cook. We told our helper that her duties are just to help out mostly – going to the shops if needed, help prep ingredients for cooking, bring our 2 dogs out for walks, etc. My mom will clean and cook and my helper will help her out, until about 1pm. Because by then all work is done, house is spick and span, and because no kids in the house, the cleanliness is maintained. So to put it simply, after 1pm every single day, my helper really has nothing to do already”, the employer wrote.
She added that her helper was given her freedom otherwise. Because the maid had relatives in Singapore, she was even told that once her work was completed, she could go out. Initially, she would go out twice a week on work days between 3pm to 7pm and come back to help her employer’s mother cook dinner and clean the kitchen.
The maid also had Sundays off, without a curfew. Her employers said that “As long as the next day you wake up for work at the stipulated timing and you’re not tired, we really don’t care what time you wanna come back. My only ask was if it has to be past midnight, text me or my sis and inform us so we wouldnt worry”.
After a while, their helper’s behaviour changed. She would ask to go out with her relatives on weekdays at night and leave after 8pm.
“At the beginning will come home 10pm ish…then one Thursday night, she came back at 12 midnight…then another week’s Tuesday night, she came home after 1.30am. Her Sunday offdays also started taking a turn. First few Sundays – it was okay, came back home about 8-9pm. After that – start to get later. 11pm ish. But no issues for us at this point still.
Now recently – after midnight. Never text. I have to text first, only then she will respond and say sorry and etc. but this was still okay for me because she does her work well next morning, and not sleepy or anything”, her employer wrote.
The previous Sunday, the maid was not home even at 1am. When her employer texted her, she said that she would be back soon. However, even at 6am the maid was not back. She said that she had accidentally fallen asleep in her relatives’ house. She only reached home at 6.45am and started cleaning immediately.
While her employer said that the maid’s work was not compromised in any way, her sister is not happy with the situation and wants to send the helper back home.
Her employer has even tried talking to the helper, who apologised but continued to come back later despite their conversations.
“Am i too lenient? Should I convert to become the employer that scolds and raise her voice? Cuz i don’t. And i’ve always treated her with respect and speaks very very nicely to her. Even til now, i still cover for her when she comes home too late. Will this bite me back in the ass someday?” the employer wrote.
Other helpers who commented on the post unanimously agreed that the employer was too lenient and should still set boundaries. After all, the helper was her responsibility, they added.
Here’s what they said:
