2 Maids in a house !

cometgarden

cometgarden

Member
We have a big family. 7 adults, 3 childrens and 2 toddlers. We have to employ 2 maids in order to help us out with houseworks and taking care of childrens and babies.

Headache with the planning of works and schedule. Anyone with 2 maids in a house ? How you handle them and any work schedule or time table to share ?
 


Hello,

I am in this situation too- it is very important to ensure the two maids get along with one another. Are both your maids from the same country?

As for duties- both should know how to do each other's work, although each should have clear responsibilities e.g. looking after kids; elderly; cooking; washing car; watering garden; ironing; washing clothes; sweeping/ moppping house; cleaning toilets

Unfortunately, I do not have a ready work schedule to share...
 
Hi Fairyprincess,

One maid is Filipino and the other one from Myanmar. My mum prefers the Myanmar cos she knows how to speak Mandarin.

Really headache cos I need a schedule to draw up for them to have a clear picture of their own duties and responsibilites. No argument over who is doing less or more.

Both of your maids from the same country ? Any problem dealing with them ? Sleeping in the same room or separate them ?
 
Hi Melissa,

I have several experiences in the past- Filipino and Indonesian, then now Indonesian and Myanmar. Next month, will be both Myanmar, as my Indo maid going home...

As long as your Filipino maid does not look down and order the Myanmese maid around, it is OK. Most of the time, the Filipino are dominant, and may make the environment nasty for the other maid. My maids sleep in the same room, with my grandma who is semi-mobile at 90 years old...

It is best the employer trains the maids, rather than let the experienced maid train the new maid, as the expectations may not be explained clearly.

As for duties, just got to list down what needs to be done daily; weekly; monthly; quarterly, then split according to strengths of each maid, or at random if both are not that great.

I prefer one to be the key maid looking after my kids, and one to focus on cooking. The other duties can more or less split between the two.
 
"argument who is doing more or less"- no such thing in my household- we do not tolerate bickering between maids, we as employer is fair and distribute tasks evenly.
 
Thks for your advice.

My mum is the main key person to deal with the 2 maids. Cross my finger, hopefully 2 maids could really help my mum. Really very tired to keep changing and changing maids.
 
Aiyo..yo... 2 maid giving me headache. Cannot even manage the household and take care of the babies properly. Still want to argue between themselves abt whose job is it...

Anyone got any work schedule to share ?
Does any mummy knows how much and how to send back bulky objects to Philippines and Myanmar ?
 
my in law place going to have 2 maids also... cos my sil has moved back, with her maid, son and dog
sad.gif
hers from phippines, after dinner, watch TV, expect my maid to wash up. TMD... i very buay tahan
 
Yep- the arguing is natural- employer must put a stop to it...otherwise, everything will go haywire...

Your mum must do proper training,if cannot depend on the existing maid to train the new maid...
 
I have 2 maids at home too... Both from Indo. One is hired by my SIL to cook and do house chores for my MIL. Another maid is hired by me to take care of my newborn that time. But when my maid 1st came, i told her that she need to help out the household chores if my BB sleeps. They get along very well. My maid can speak mandarin so she teaches another maid mandarin too cos my mil can't speak English.

Now both maids communicate in Mandarin at home. As for household chores, morning time one will sweep and mop the floor. The other one hand wash clothes. We did not plan the work schedule for them but they managed to plan the tasks they need to do themselves.

I guess i'm quite lucky to have no problems on that... I think most importantly are they are comfortable and help out with each other.
 
hey gals:

ur indo maid already know how to speak mandarin beforehand or learn from your place? is it difficult to find indo maid whom can speak mandarin? of cos also must now english. those indo maid whom can speak mandarin, do they demand more pay?

thanks for sharing.
 
Hi DaBee,

My Indo maid is an ex-singapore. Had been working for ex-employer for 3 years. She learnt her Mandarin from there.

I managed to find this maid thru maid agency's biodata as i requested to have a mandarin speaking maid so that she can communicate with my MIL and i'm lucky that they have 1 on hand.

As for the pay wise, i'm paying her $300 per mth for her salary. No off days.
 
Hi hots,

You're one of the lucky one who could find one good maid. For her salary consider quite low cos currently the maid's salary range from $340 - $370 per mth. No off day.
 
Hi Melissa,

Ya, i'm lucky. Got a "OK" maid at my 1st attempt. Although the maid do give attitude at times but overall i'll get it over.

She's been quite ok & love my son alot so i just endure.

Her salary consider low... her contract ending soon next year March. I think she wanted to go back cos she misses her children. I called my maid agency 2 days ago. They said i have to shortlist a new maid in Jan in order to have a new maid in March when my maid left.

Really worried i will get nasty maid and i guess the salary will be going up as well. Headache...
 
True... real headache if a good maid left. Wish that your next one will not give you many problems otherwise you'll really get many headache. Ha...
 
Ya, i'm praying hard. Wondering if my boy will get used to it if the maid left?

What if he reject the new maid? How?
 
Better to let your boy get close to you instead of the maid. Though I've 2 maids at home, my boy is always close to me. I'll try to do most of his things myself e.g. bathing, milking... really enjoy all these precious time with him as I'm FTWM.

Try not to let the maid sleep together with your boy. In this way, more or less, can minimise any great change in his routine if your maid left.
 
I think kids adapt to new maids quite easily unless overly dependent on the maid.

Like melissa, I prefer to do the stuffs myself (when I am at home) so that my children get closer to me than maid.

This is my 4th maid and they adapt to her pretty fast as we (my mother in law and I) are still the main caregiversand someone they are closer to.
 
Currently the 2 maids in my house can get along very well. 1 is more intelligent as she worked in Singapore before, while the other is her first time. 1 Indo and other is Filo. The Filo is simple minded and do not want any off day. While my Indo already has a husband and whenever she has off day, she will go out with her husband (her husband sometimes work in Malaysia/Batam). At least her hubby is the hardworking kind, so she very stable with him.

Indo basically takes care of the baby. But she helps out in other stuff. Sometimes she will want to help other maid wash car or else cook or help clean. So pretty chin chai. I also told her that our family is chin cai as long as she dun do anything stupid can liao. I dun mind them using handphone, rather than they hide in 1 part of the house and the baby unattended. Even if they want to go out, I told my maid to at least sms and tell us. DUn just go out w/o us knowing. If we find out, it's worse.

I guess abit of freedom to the maid is abit better. My house has 4 adults and 3 kids (not including the maid). Our maids life very good. Cos my sons go childcare and student care too!
 
Hi Spikey,
The cost of 2nd maid is still the same. No discount on levy or maid's salary.

Hi icebaby,
You're so lucky to have 2 maids working in harmony.

I'm not tat lucky. The 2 maids at home very calculative. They like to push away the job. Filipino always headache, leg pain, hand pain. Burmese is hardworking but blur blur one. Recently I've replaced the Filipino, hope that the coming new one will be better.
bounce.gif
 
Hi... need some advice here.
My maid of 8 months finish just finish her loan this month. SHe will be paid next month onwards.
However, she requested to go back Indonesia.
I will be sending her back to agent later.
What are the fees and responsibites i need to bear from here?
 
Hi mama G,

You've to read the contract signed with your agent.

Some agency will charge you for lodging fee while she is at the agency waiting for transfer. If you're entitled to free replacement in your contract, you do not need to pay for replacement fee.

She will be under your responsibility till her work permit cancelled. Meanwhile, pls cross your finger that your maid will not misbehave or do anything stupid. I've heard a case,the employer put their maid in the agency and the maid committed suicide while under the agent's care. Though the maid is not with them, the employer still has to bear the cost and responsibility.
 
Melissa,

Actually okay lah. I had 2 maids before. Both Filipino or 1 is fil and 1 is Indo. This is the first time BOTH can get along. Previous "matches" always got complain on each other. Which is irritating lor.

Mama,

Read your T&Cs. If she wants to go back, let her go back. But make sure you cancel her work permit asap. Dun let agency drag...cos if agency drag, they might just want to hold her long enough to find a transfer.
 
hi mummies
i need to employ a 2nd maid too. as i just had newborn and i have another 3.5yo and 1.5 yo. and i live with my parents. i was wondering how to split the duties and wat are your sleeping arrangements?

juzker
agency fees vary alot. there is also and insurance fee that you have to pay. the salary is 350 for philipino with offday. indo and srilanka and myanmar not sure. the levy is 170 for those with children.
 
ValC,

I stay with my in-laws.

The arrangement for mine is:
Maid 1 - solely on baby. Sleeps with baby.
Maid 2 - housework + taking care of my boys (7 and 4). Sleeps with my 2 boys (lights out on weekday is 9.30pm, weekend is maybe 9.45 - 10pm)

My boys goes to student care and childcare respectively. So she doesn't do much except get them ready.

But my maid 1 is very zhi tong, she helps maid 2 whenever baby is sleeping or whenever she can.

So far these are the 1st 2 maids that actually get along and feel happy together. No complains.
 
icebaby
thank you for sharing. may i know how do they sleep? in the same room? when you go out, which maid follows or they take turns? but would both maid know how to do each other's duties(besides looking after their respective child(ren)? i have heard horror stories abt how 1 maid gets jealous and harms the other maid's chid and so on. so i'm pretty scared.
 
ValC,

I had 2 maids previously when I had my 2nd kid and earlier with my 3rd kid. both time it sucked as they can't get along.

But this round the 2 maids match very well (1 is Indo and 1 is fil). Both are caring with each other.

The maid that sleeps with my kids are sleeping in a pull out bed under the double decker bed. Good mattress is provided (not those cheap kind) since our kids sleep on gd one, we dun see it to make maids suffer. The other maid sleep on a pull out from a single bed with the baby.

Hmm, only the maid with the baby follows us. But then again, most of the time if we go out, we dun bring the baby along. We let baby be with the maids at home. They are used to it and it's less of a hassle for the maid. We are used to taking care of our boys (7 and 5) when we go out.

Yes, the maids know how to do each other duty. Actually as owners we try not to dun trust them too much and also we easy going lor. So the maids ... the ones that know how to "zhou lang" will know that. So as long as u trust them it's okay.

Yes, there are horrer stories which I heard. But so far so good. I do speak to my Indo maid (her english very good) and she also will help the other maid with housework and even teach the other maid (fili) cooking. Most of the time, lunch, she will cook for them also. haha. The fili is new in singapore so she willing to listen. But even if scold her, she also won't black face.

Plus just be nice to them. e.g. if they have their hp, tell them they can use but use when baby sleeping or dun hide. The more they hide, the more scary it is (esp if u live in 2 or 3 storey house). I kena scolding from my cousin-in-law for letting maid use hp. But I scold them back. I say I rather let them use than they hide somewhere in the house to call. Then if baby wake up or crawl....what happens?

But then again, it's not easy to get 2 maids that can tahan each other. Jealousy also.
 
icebaby
where do you get those pull out beds? what does it look like? i have a spare room but the bed doesn't have 4 legs. it's a box kind where you can't store anything under the bed type. but my current maid has her own room downstairs and it should be able to accommodate another bed below but how to make it pull out?

the previous matches that didn't get along - are they from same country or also phili and indo?

with indo usually their command of english is not very good right? you are lucky yours can speak well.

my 1st 2 kids are only 3.5 and 1.5 yo and the younger one is still a handful to manage so we probably need to have our maid tag along.
 
ValC,

You can order those pull-out. For pull-out I ordered it when I ordered the double decker bed. So it's just an additional amount. (It's at AMK..dun think can just buy pull out)

The last time I went to another shop at TPY (Brighton), you can check with them. They have pull out at $100 (I think) but not sure if you can buy it only.

The other single bed, the mattress is thick (the same kind that my kids use), so it's just pulling and pushing in. =P

My Indo work in Singapore before and her home town is Batam. Yes, my this Indo is not bad. Her hubby not like those dun work. He very hardworking and work for a singapore company. Always have to travel to Malaysia/Vietnam/Sin/Indo for work. So she is abit more "intelligent" (can be cunning also lah...but we get along so as long as she dun make me angry can liao. I buy her things and give her things too. Nothing expensive cos I also use cheap things. HAHAHA...she doesn't get jealous cos when I buy..i buy for 2 maids).

My other matches..Indo and fil...also got fil and fil. Can complain each other very lazy.

If you need ur maid to tag along, u just have to remember clearly that the maid tagging along is to help with the baby. Each parents deals with 1 each. If not, it can be very stressful for the maid. That's why I choose not to bring maid out. Cos bring a maid out (unless the maid is smart and can handle the kids well), it's like having to take care of 1 more kid. Hence u have 4 "kids" in ur hands and more stress. =)

**That's my opinion
 
icebaby
for me it's my 1.5yo who is the one that is hard to manage. she's got a mind of her own and when she wants something or to do something she has to have it. my maid is qt used to handling her actually (by using the distraction method). it's v tiring looking after her and time consuming (cos we can wait forever for her to be done with what she wants). the thing i'm worried about is tha if we bring one maid out, the other maid will feel that she's unfairly treated cos she doesn't get to go out. i'm also qt half hearted about having a maid look after a new baby cos she's so tiny and fragile and can't complain or feedback. i might end up being the one that looks after the baby with my mum or my hb's help. it's just the bottle washing and washing all the pump stuff and sterilising that i really need help in otherwise i will be pumping and washing and sterilising all day long. and the kids mealtimes. and i need one of them to help wash up after dinner while the other help my mum to prepare my kids for bed if i'm going to be tied up with the baby. these are the situations i forsee i can' cope with just 1 maid. but then again if i'm stuck with the baby all the time, i will miss my 2 other kids. how hands on do you get your maid to be with your baby? are indos or philis better with babies? my current maid just told my mum that she's not good with babies and that her mother helped her look after her own baby. she says that my daughter is more attached to her.
 
ValC,

I guess for ur case might be more difficult. Cos I do not bf so i dun have the issue of pumping (although the earlier stage I do it myself).

Maybe the duties can be seperated such as:
1st maid
- deal with household chores
- help with the washing up of kids
2nd maid
- the baby, when u need help, and mainly your 1.5 yr old entertained?

It's hard to seperate leh. My filo helps with the older children wash up in the morning and evenings and housework. While the rest of the day my older kids are in student care and childcare. More expenses but at least the maid not overloaded and my kids won't be watching TV only. (I start sending my kids to childcare once they are 20 months...u might wish to have that option?)

So far, i feel although sometimes Indo seems scary but I feel Indo seems more caring that Filo. Filo I realise when they give birth during the 1st month, the baby is taken care in hospital or someone else take care. After that it's always not them...it's a care taker or their mother or relative!

My Indo maid different...cos before I hire her, she used to take care of twin babies. Both babies sleep with her somemore for 1 yr until the owner decide to send her back. Damn poor thing. But so far she enjoys working with us...no complains. I very relax on her. I only tell her, she want anything must say or need anything also can. Even she goes off day, the filo can take care of my baby liao. So no more worries for me.
 
my #2 girl started attending the same school as my #1 son in anticipation of the newborn. that helps a little. but after school when they come home we are very shorthanded lor.
 
I have 2 maids... very drama... fight until one threatened to call police to deport the other (both fili). Sigh
sad.gif
 
i jus got my 2nd maid last week. don't thnk they will fight they are so meek. both fili too. the new one keeps saying yes ma'am yes ma'am. sometimes i realise she doens't know what i'm saying or wat i really mean. jus so quick to say yes ma'am.
 
One maid looked after demantia granny and wash clothes, and all things relating to laundry

One maid looked after bb, cooks, marketing and all things relating to food.

They take turns to clean the house, ie alternative days, and they have off days alternate week, so that when one is off, the other automatically covers the duty of the person who is off
 
I got 3 maids at home.... my mil in charge of them and sometimes they drive her up the wall.
They got specific tasks but sometimes some things/tasks cross paths and then arguments happen....
1 is my mil's maid who has worked for the household for 16 years. She thinks she knows everything so she tends to nag at the other 2 maids. She takes care of my 2 kids and cook dinner for the family.
1 is my sil's maid who looks after her daughter and clean sil's room on weekends. She is very greedy and has been caught several times stealing food from the other maids and constantly looking inside the fridge. She is currently on 3 hourly feed but still hungry. So strange!
Then the last one is in-charge of cleaning the whole house and washing/ironing, and on weekends gardening.
In summary.... everyday got arguments between the 3 and mil. I keep out of the situation unless major decisions need to be made.
 
blissfully
they have off days alternate week? that means 1 mth they got 2 days off? i thought shld be only 1 day off a month. hv i bn shortchangin my maid all along?

my 1st maid is v good. lots of initiative, do alt of work. but the 2nd maid that has bn here for 3 weeks is not really performing up to standard. vast difference between them. i feel it's unfair that they get paid the same salary. what can i do?
 
My maids do not have off days. Their agency had already informed them on their very first day when they worked for us.

Yes... there is always unfairness.. one tends to do more and the other less...

I do hope some mummies could share their work/time schedule as how to manage their 2 maids.
 
ValC, my 1st maid has been with me for about 18 months when I hired the 2nd maid. Then, her pay was only $340 (originally $330 but I gave her a $10 increment after one year to motivate her) whereas the new maid was paid $350 (agent said market rate went up) so I immediately gave her a $20 increment so that her $360 pay is $10 more than the new maid.

Otherwise, they will compare and I don't want her to feel shortchanged and demoralised. I also promised her a $200 bonus when she completes her two-year contract in coming June.

So you can tailor a reward system to make sure the more capable one is rewarded but sometimes also have to 'encourage' the weaker one so that she is motivated to improve.

My old maid takes care of my 22 month girl and sleeps with her in her room. My new maid (recently changed, see thread above about maid not getting along) who has been with me for a month takes care of my 7 month boy and sleeps with him in his room.

The arrangement is the old one will take care of the household chores on weekends (hub and I will take care of my girl) and the new one just focus on caring for the baby boy.

On weekdays, they go to my MIL's place and be supervised.

When we go out, we will leave the baby at my MIL's place with the two maids and just bring the girl out or the whole clan of 4 adults and 2 kids will go out together.
 
ValC, if you don't want to give increments, can also buy small gifts for them if there had an episode of 'outstanding' performance.

Like, recently my new maid alerted me in the night that my boy was having a high fever. When my boy recovered, I bought 2 cute Disney watches for her daughters (aged 8 and 9) and paid for postage for the watches to be sent to her girls. Can see she really appreciate the gesture. Sometimes, we need to treat their kids nice and they will do the same. I can see my old maid really happy when I buy the same Gymboree dress for my girl and her 3 year old daugther. Sometimes, small actions like these let them know you care about them.

Sounds like a lot of work but I believe kindness begets kindness so they will treat our kids extra nice
happy.gif
 
<font color="0077aa"><font face="Bookman Old Style,Tahoma"> Hi Mummy ,

Can Share Wif Me How U All Get Two Maid In A HDB Flat???
I Tot One Household Only One Maid But Dun Said Those Mummy Living In Bungalow !!
Can Share Wif Me ??? Thank A Lot !!! </font></font>
 
if you got more than 1 kid, you can hire 2 maids. i can't find the link in the MOM website but it's confirmed can be done
 
<font color="ff6000"><font face="Segoe Print, Tahoma">Hi Crashburner ,

if Got 1 Kid N 1 Elderly In A House,Possible to Hire 2 Maid ??? Pls Advise ! Thanks A Lot !!!
happy.gif
</font></font>
 

I think it may not be a definite no...

You can justify your reason in writing to MOM for consideration.

Of course, if you can have 2 employers e.g.my current situation where my mum employs one maid, and I employ the other, her reason is to look after invalid MIL, mine is to look after my 2 kids, then it is possible...

You can consult your maid agency for advice...
 
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