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Maid took her salary and ran away, employer has a child and asks if he can get the money he paid her back

Newly arrived domestic helpers from Indonesia wait for their transportation to a maid agency after going through medical check in Singapore on March 6, 2012. Singapore’s decision to grant a mandatory weekly day off for foreign maids was welcomed by social workers and human rights groups, but some employers were unhappy. AFP PHOTO/ROSLAN RAHMAN (Photo by ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)

Domestic Helpers

Maid took her salary and ran away, employer has a child and asks if he can get the money he paid her back

SINGAPORE: A foreign domestic helper ran away from her employer’s house after taking her salary in advance. She also promised to stay for another two months until her employer found a replacement, but she failed to do so.

In a post to Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid’s employer wrote: “Hi my helper went AWOL after 7months even she agree that we will send her home as she wanted in April while waiting for replacement”. AWOL or absent without leave is colloquially used to suggest that a person ran away or went missing.

In his post, the man wrote that his helper’s agent was aware of the situation and asked him to send the maid back home immediately. In his post, he asked other helpers and employers for advice as they had a toddler and needed assistance with caring for the child.

In the comments section, the man wrote that he did not want the maid back. He wanted his money back as he had seemed to pay her salary in advance, and also for her to compensate for breaking the contract with a month’s salary.

Here’s what netizens said:

A foreign domestic helper who went back to her hometown on vacation decided to run away and start her own business.

In an anonymous post to Facebook page FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid’s employer wrote on Monday (Sep 5): “We went on a holiday and out of kindness we sent our helper back to her hometown for her own vacation. we also acceded to her request of additional advance salary for her to go home”.

The employer added that their maid ran into personal problems at home and unilaterally decided not to return to Singapore. When her employers tried contacting her, she did not respond to any calls or messages.

After some time, the employer realised that their maid ran away to start her own e-commerce business. They cancelled her work permit and filed a police report.

However, in their post, the employer added: “We have an infant and a toddler and are in urgent need of help. Any advice?”