SINGAPORE: A maid recently shared on social media that her employer turned down her request for an extra S$50 despite her taking care of all the guests at their home.
In an anonymous post on the MDW in Singapore Facebook group, the maid explained that her employer frequently invited multiple guests to their house, which left her feeling burnt out.
She said, “I understand that my employer will have guests at some time, what I don’t understand is when they have guests for weekend (2 or 3 times a month).
Guests who will stay with us for 1 to 2 weeks while exploring Singapore (either cousin, uncle, auntie, classmate, long long friend, or far relative as they say).
Now she is pregnant and I heard that her in laws are coming again to stay for 3 months.”
Feeling overwhelmed, she requested an additional S$50 in her salary from her employer to compensate for the extra workload. Unfortunately, her request was rejected, with her employer claiming there “wasn’t much work involved.”
“Just break your contract and find new employer.”
In response to the maid’s post, several netizens offered their advice.
One netizen urged her to consider finding a new employer, stating that if she stays in the current household, she will likely find no happiness in her work and always have a headache.
She added, “Don’t focus there, there’s a lot of employers finding helpers.” Another added, “Just break your contract and find new employer.”
Adding to the discussion, one netizen also recommended that the maid list all the additional work she feels she needs to do when her employer has guests over.
The list could include making more meals, washing more dishes, doing extra laundry, and ironing more clothes. Listing these tasks would give her employer a clear idea of how much extra work she handles when guests are around.
This way, she can make a stronger case for getting paid more for these added responsibilities. It also gives her a good reason to look for a new employer if her concerns aren’t addressed properly.
In related news, a maid also took to social media to complain that her employer has been getting her to help with all sorts of stuff for his home business.
Her post read, “… My employer is doing a business at home, if they are not home or they went for holidays, he will ask me to help to do the packing and passing the items to the pick up guy or sometimes I have to drop it to the shop. Can I refuse it?”
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