ADVICE NEEDED - How to Handle my MAID

Hi All

Just wanna check with you mums out there, how do you give the maid their salary when their loan is up?I do not feel comfortable giving them the full salary but hope to bank in their money instead.How much do you think I should allow her to have cash in hand....too much money means she will think of buying handphone which I forbid in my house.My maid can spend half of the salary make phone call in the ex employer house.thanks
 


firefly

it is gd to write in black and white and tell the agent to explain to them wats ur hserules and make them sign . making them sign on the hserules doesnt mean anything but to record that they have read and fully understand.

my previous maid, i allow her to close the door 2 sleep and she make alot of nonsense. after tolerating all her nonsenes for 5 mths, i sent her away coz she like 'no heart' to work. now, new maid is wif me for the 3rd day and i dont allow her to close door 2 sleep at all...

even in the hserules, i actuali stated tat i will bank in watever salary in the bank and if she needs to buy anything, i will get for her 1st and deduct nxt mth salary. i think they shld be grateful that we are keeping the $ for them coz they shld save more and bring her hardwork $ back to hometown after contract ends..
 
hi all, good to learn from your experiences

i have a maid who is new, has been with me for one week onli. She is filipino, 25, single, a graduate, speaks pretty good English and is quite jing. Her mum is also working in singapore for an expat family as a maid.

Some advice needed...
Should i open bank account for her? Now that I think about it, I am not sure whether I should give her salary in cash every month, she has no loan. Should i check with her her preference? But I am worried she will go and spend all her money on clothes and whatnot.

My hubby was nice enough to grant her two half days off per month even though she's new. But problem is, she wants to meet up with her mum at Lucky Plaza. I am not very comfortable with her going to Lucky PLaza by herself cos i will have no way of monitoring that she is really meeting her mum. Is it very mean if I just let her go out on one off day and get her to stay in the house to rest on the other off day? Or should I make it compulsory for her mum to come and fetch her?

She is going to care for my baby alone while I go back to work in Oct. But she is not very experienced in caring for baby. Besides installing CCTV, any other tips that mummies can share with me so that I can feel more reassured about her being at home with baby? Dun intend to let her go out when i m at work.

Thanks in advance!
 
now that u r at home, monitor her like a hawk. Let her take over your duties. Give her feedback so that she knows where she has gone wrong. Treat her well. After all, she's going to look after your BB.
 
I dun really monitor her like a hawk all the time, only watched her once when sterilising bottles and washing clothes. But I think I better start.
 
hi
anyone hire a maid from Myamnar? Are they good?? I saw some biodata that there are chinese myamnar buddhist. Not many agencies have myamnar maids.

headache sourcing for one so far..
 
hi all! my filipino maid recently asked me can she get a handphone to sms home cos she said it's cheaper. i'm ok with it BUT i don't want her to abuse it cos i want her to concentrate on taking care of my boy when i'm not around and not reading and sending sms. If i say she can only sms at night then i'm scare she scarifice her sleep to do so and become blur blur during the day. any mummies have maid using handphone? what kind of rules do you lay down for them? i want to start right with the first step so that later she doesnt come and tell me i didn't tell her so (she likes to do that sometimes).
 
Hi mummies..
this thread is interesting.
Just like to know how many of your maid cook for the family?
My maid of 4 mths recently request to have a offday per month(her contract is no off). She seem not so happy when we told her that. If this happen to u, will u suggust her to find another employer that allow off day? Cos i think if we force her to stay with us, she may not put in 100%.
Also I find her not taking much initative and must always tell her to do thing.(ie. everyday must ask her to prepare rice for me and hubby, my mum will go home after I come back at abt 7pm, so while I have my dinner, she is suppose to take care of my son.. this happen everyday but I have to tell her to take rice for me and then say'grandma going back, pls take care of boy boy...
sad.gif
 
Hi Emma,
My current maid is Nepalese but I am going to change for a Myamnese. I go to this agency "Swift Arrow" and they have quite a number of myamnese maid...
 
Hi Emma
I'm using a Myanmar maid. When they first start out, maybe abit slow, but she has improved rapidly and we're quite satisfied with her performance. If u choose one from Yangon, they may speak English better and are streetwise. Those from outskirts will be new to many things and u have to be patient to teach them, even english.

Bonnie
My maid cooks for us. She learns cooking from my mom regularly so that she can independently prepare food to our preferences. Initiative is something that we need to hammer into their heads coz they have rather different set of standards. But i find that listing out my expectations of her performance and daily duties as well as an appraisal list helped to keep my maid on her toes. I keep a copy and she keeps one too. I use it to assess her every fortnight.

Westbb
I dunno about you. But right from the start, i set in my houserules that no handphone is allowed for my maid. Less headache for everyone, especially if you are not at home to watch over her actions.
 
I do not believe in maid having a hp from the start. No off day for maid too.My maid contract has no off day and there was once she said she is hoping to have off day.I told her off that contract said no and she was so daring to say its up to the empployer....I told her to go and talk to the agency instead...

Pringles, I bought the last hi 5 bread, the most expensive one, and it comes with six baby butter roll...guess what she had the roll for her three meals, to be on her diet and that is to keep her bloated....I know her intention, so I gave all away and she was so upset...

Now, no more buying loaf of bread but those with either filling with red bean or coconut as that cannot keep her bloated all day and she will start to eat properly....tried and tested...
 
Emma
I got my maid from AC employment agency in Toa Payoh. She is chinese christian. Thought all myanmese are considered chinese, thats why they are more exp than indonesians.

Joy747
LOL..your posting never fails to make me laugh! Are you sure the baby butter roll really keeps her bloated all day? Just out of curiosity, how much does your maid weigh and how tall is she?
biggrin.gif
 
Pringles

It sure does with diet in mind...you may try...hahaha.I tried that, but of course with a better grade of butter roll bread....hahaha
 
my maid also has a handphone, but I only allow her to use at nite. Think she sms her mum and boyfren at nite. I am not sure of the consequences now, but was thinking mabbe i can lock up her handphone during the day if i am not at home.

I think having an appraisal list is a good idea. Will try to do one
happy.gif
 
Pringles

Know what happen to my maid now?She asked me to buy plain loaf of bread for her when I buy those coconut filling bun for her....She said she will take two slices of bread in the morning and two slices in the afternoon...and this is a lot in her context...so obvious, she is on diet with that type of bread...and I always tell her whole singapore out of stock for white bread...
 
hi pringles
how old is ur maid? single or married? I am confused over what age and single/married to look for??

By the way, I went to Hougang Green and found many maid agency there..Anyone engage "Jack Focus"?? Is it opened by Jack Neo, I wonder??

There are so many different agency fees by different agency, what should we look for? What package should they cover??
 
Emma
My maid is 25 and single. She needs to support her younger twins because her family is very poor. I feel the main priority is to state the type of experience you require and whether u need the maid to take care of kids or focus on housework etc etc. A maid who is married and has kids should be confident taking care of children. But singles with maturity and experience handling babies can also do the job just as well. All depends on the individual. Sometx older maids can be stubborn and unteachable. So tell the agent specifically wat you want. Don't go to agents who tell u its FOC on agent fee or very cheap. Coz they do not provide gd service and they also make the maids pay a greater loan.

The basic agent fee should cover the admin work such as work permit application,insurance, one way ticket to spore, first full medical checkup and fetching of maid from airport. My agent provides 1 replacement within guarantee period at a certain charge.
 
hi mummies,
just realised got misunderstanding with hubby. he gave her 2 off days in one month even though she's totally new!

can advise whether it's the norm? i was thinking i wun gif her full days. e.g. let her go out at 11am and come back by 5pm.
 
hi curry,

i believe most filipino maids get off days here. is it stated anywhere in yr contract that she is entitled to any off days? bcos for mine, it was stated that she will get an extra $20 a month to compensate for not having any days off. i'm not sure if i can use that against her if she turns around to insist that she want days off, but at least it was made clear to her from the start that we do not expect her to request so.

seems to me that your maid's heart is not totally on the job, maybe she just wants to take this chance to come to Singapore and meet up with her mum and make friends here. after all, she has so many new things to explore...
since u mentioned you will only start work in Oct, why don't you consider getting a replacement and set expectations right (the way you want it) all over again? i feel it may be difficult to manage her down the road even if she listens to you now...
 
hi gummie, unfortunately it's stated in the contract about the 2 off days and nothing was stated about compensation. But my hubby did tell her off day doesn't mean she can go out in the morning and come back at nite. She will still have to finish some chores and we will let her know what time to go out and come back. But of course she didn't look happy when we told her this la.

actually she did tell us that she is taking this chance to meet up with her mum cos she's going back to get married after 2 years contract. Her mum told us that she could find a teaching job in phillipines but dunno y she quit and said she is coming to singapore to see her mum and work as maid.

But so far, her performance is still ok. Think hubby will scold me if i fire her bcos of the off days. So I am trying the manage the off days as best as i can.
 
Hi All

Wanna check with you mum, where do you put your maid when whole of your family is going on holiday?I have been thinking hard.I think to put her in a friend's house with close supervision will help...but yet to have any friend in mind...any advice/I will be away just for four days...a very short one....
 
emma,
i've used jack focus b4. to be honest, i'm not happy with them. i still hv 2 foc maid replacement fr them, but switched to nation bcos i m really tired of their attitude n incessant insinuations.
 
hi joy,

chk wif ur agency. u shld b able 2 send ur maid back thr. however, u may need 2 pay 4 her F & L.
 
Hi Vone

Thanks.Initially I had that thoughts but scrap it as in the training centre there are many transfer maids etc and my maid loves to mix around and easily influenced type,and I do not think that is the best place...Will check out how much is the budget airlines ticket, might let her travel with me if the fares is ok as she is good with my baby....other thing, have to close one eye..only trouble is that she has car sick....
 
hi joy,

ic. 4 my case, coz my maid will b staying at my agent's plc at nite. in d daytime, she'll b at d agent's ofc. so i can hv peace of mind.
happy.gif
 
Hi vone

How long was your maid at the agency?Any difference when she comes back?For me, I do not allow her to use my phone at all and I do not want her to get to know maids there and come back with all the hp numbers from new friends there.
 
Hello

Me juz need an avenue to voice out my maid woes....got a new maid on national day n after working for a wk, she said she wanna go back indonesia.....refused to do any work today.....pack her bag n sit at the house....really make me wonder am i treating them right? Her work is basically housework n cooking as my mum is looking after my dd....me really scared of engaging another one.......sighhhhh
 
hi hsee, pinkeden here. receive ur v baby stuff 2day. tks alot!
by the way, we are both using the same maid agency leh....ur maid so "bad" meh?? i so worried...mine coming in this end mth...urs is a fresh maid rite??? mine is a fresh maid but she worked b4 in jarkata...hope she is oki. if she is gg back, u dun hv to pay anything or use ur 1 time FOC replacement wat i tink. since its the miad herself who wana go bk...not u dun wan her. talk to joyce n see wat she can help u lor.
happy.gif
 
hi pinkeden,

hope u like ur bb stuff...:)

yup, mine is a fresh maid n she too have working experience in Indonesia b4. Sigh...me called n talked to Joyce a few times liao n its no use lah...me slapped with using my 1 time FOC replacement n gotta issue work permit under my name somemore so that she can stay in spore to look for an alternative employer..

Me really really upset as it is not my fault but I have to bear the consequences.....Now hv to find alternatives to help my mum w housework...Sometimes I find that all these regulations are unfair to the employers like us. If given a choice, I will not want to get a domestic helper. I cannot even fork out the $$ to send her back to Indonesia...

So far, I think the maid agency is ok lah...its the maid that is giving me the headaches...
 
Hi hsee
how come your new maid is so bold and determined to quit after only a wk?? Did u ask her what she's unhappy with? In terms of work and conduct, how do u personally find her?

Haiz, mummies
today have to loudly scold my maid for not using her brains! After the last lecture session 2 wks back, she jumped to improvement but last week til now quite relax since she do things correct and i find no faults in her. Then she start to lax again, forget simple instructions and never use brains. Sometimes find their mental capabilities are really pathetic! I can't wait for 1 year to be up and i will try to cope with my kids by myself without any maid.
 
Pringles

I know how you feel. Today I found toufu meant for my boy in the basin next to the sponge...I asked her why, she said she accidently dropped it and baby cried, so ran to him and yet to pick up the toufu...I told her off and asked her is she going to poison my baby and where is her hygiene standard since she has been working in sin for last five years...

Today, brought her for medical check up. cost me 22 dollars...After this, she asked me to buy her plain bread after all the rest of the bread with fillings...I told her if she were to eat plain bread for three meals again, bread is ban in my house. Now, the bread I got her is no longer those you can find in the dept store shelf but those that is a loaf but found in normal cake shop and will see how far diet she can go.....
 
Joy747
Thks for your reply. It just shows that maids will always have to be lectured every now and then to wake them up, no matter how long they've worked here. Hubby reminded me thats why they are maids.

I also tend to buy plain white bread from neighbourhood shops for my maid. They dunno how to enjoy good quality food since white rice is their staple back home. So no point i splurge on wholemeal bread for her. I take that myself. But unlike your maid, my maid cannot survive on 3 meals of white bread. Haha....your maid damn funny. My maid must have rice at least once a day after i teach her how to appreciate noodles and others. She gained abit ever since coming here:p Now i let her take her own rice portion instead of setting aside for her. Think i overfed her:p
 
Pringles

Yours must be a fresh maid and that is why she listened...too long will be very sturbborn. My next door maid can tell her she lost a lot of weight too....

I will not bring her for my HK trip, will throw her to my neigbhour house as can come back to my own house to do cleaning as well...easier...I do not want to spoil my trip since she has got car sick.
 
hi pringles,

initially she said she find the work ok but then later, she said too much work. Do you think its too much work as what she needs to do is housework, moping house, cooking, wash clothes, ironing clothes...She dun even need to look after my dd as my mum is doing that. Even in the nights, she dun even hv to wake up to attend to my dd as my mum will do that. She can go to bed by 9 n even 8+ on certain days but yet she complained that it is too much work....I really dun understand them.....

Her work slackened after 2 days n she is vrey forgetful. Tell her to do this and the next day, she forgot.....She is also lax in performing the chores....In the end, sent her back but really upset as I have to be penalised in that the new maid will be considered a replacement n work permit has to be issued under my name in order for her to stay to look for alternative employment.

I really find that these foreign domestic helpers sometimes are very irresponsible. She even feigned fainting yesterday n gave my mum a big scare. My mum called 995 n has to cancel the ambulance after she took her own sweet time to 'wake' up.
angry.gif
 
Joy747
I already think she is abit stubborn by nature altho she doesnt show it. At least you don't have to face your maid all day. Sometx can really make you boil! Your neighbour is so nice to take her in during your trip. They don't mind an outsider?

hsee
I guess only you would know better whether theres too much work for the maid. Is there alot of people staying in your house? If not, shouldn't be a problem if the housework is nicely spaced out thru the week. Aiya, a maid is another human. They have unspoken needs. We can only try to give them a happy working envt, can't tend to all their preferences lar. But of coz if they're performance is below standard, then they gotta hear our lectures.

Being forgetful seems like a common trait amongst alot of them. They are simply not trained to use their brains much back home or life back is too simple compared to Spore. Wat to do, this is all part and parcel of having a maid. Implement ways and methods to keep her on her toes. Hang a whiteboard with notes/reminders. Give her a must-do list of items and assess her weekly. Hope your 2nd maid is better.
 
Pringles

I have to face her whole day as me is a stay at home mum..seeing her face turns so skinny makes me sick everytime looking at her...

My neigbhour has many kids and putting her there means helping her to do some housework and cooking...good for her...will walk back to my house to do housework too...just opposite...
 
Joy747
WAhahaaa! So u r SAHM too! So am I. Can imagine u seeing her turn thinner and thinner each day.. u have 2 kids? How old are they now? I'm preparing for arrival of my no.2 next week or so..
happy.gif
 
hi pringles,

i personally think work is not too much lah....she juz giving excuses lah.....yeah boy, i tink its they dun make an effort to remember....keeping an eye on them is als oa strenous thing....sighhhh...i sure hope it will be a better one....
 
Hi Hsee!
Glad to "see" you here! I'm one of the mummies who joined you in the Jshopper bulk purchase. Yet to collect item from you.
Aiyah, dont stress yourself out. Maid issues are a headache.Better to let your maid go if her heart is at somewhere else. Tell you a horrible story. My friend usually will leave her daughter with the care of her maid while shes out to work. Oneday, she found that she had a missing $50note. After confronting with the maid, she confessed that she had stolen the money. Reason being she wanted to make her angry so that she will send her back home. But my friend told her that she will give her a chance. Asked her if she wants to carry on working with her. She said yes. Few months later, she discovered that some of her monies in the drawer are gone. She immediately called up the police. After the police investigation, they found some of my friend's tool in the maid's bag. She used that to open up the locked drawer. Worst of all, the police found out that while my friend was out to work, she carried her baby, took my friend's mother house key , walk over to the next block and steal some of the jewellery. All items were found in her bag.
My god! Imagine this thief carry your bb doing all this nonsense!
After hearing this story, though i have a very capable maid, I will not hesitat to send her back if she is caught stealing. And i will not beg her to stay if her heart is not here anymore.
 
Hi pringles

I have two kids. Girl, seven years old and boy, one year old....If not due to the younger kid, I will never have a maid....

Just warned maid not to talk to the maid behind as the madam may not like it. Know what she tells me, the madam there, the rest of the maid also talked. I got fed up with her guts, I told her off that if something happen, the madam will not let you all off.....
 
Hi joy747
Read earlier posting abt your maid on diet.Weird hah? My maid will usually take 1 big bowl of white rice for her dinner. Her portion is even bigger than my hubby. But she still quite slim. I think i'm very fortunate after reading all the postings. My maid also regard herself as fortunate because her ex-employer which is my SIL is very strict and fierce. Always kena scolding from her. I'm more lenient and boh chap as long as she takes care of my son well. The only problem is that my son is so attached to her. Sometimes when my maid takes her dinner, he also cry, go to toilet also cry. Strange. Even when he's able to see her, he also cry. Must stick with her like a super glue. So no choice got to distract him like asking him if he wants to water plant, goes to daddy room etc.
 
Hi everyone,

Need some advise from you all. I will be due in Jan and thought of getting maid earlier so that we can train and make sure she is suitable. Is Oct too early or when will be a good time.

My priority for her is to look after my bb. What are the things I should take note when chooing one. Issit better to get one that is married with kid so that they have experience handling new born bb?

Thanks in adv for your help.
 
Hi all, i oso got fed up with my maid these 2 days. She is forgetful and doesn't follow my instructions. Forgot to close windows when baby is bathing twice. Went out shopping and she walked slowly even though I was the one carrying the baby. Worse, she dirtied my couch and baby's washing face cup with baby's poo, although i reminded her to be careful before. Also saw poo stains on the shirt that baby was wearing.

I was so angry that I told her off a few times and gave her black face. But later I was a little worried that she will mistreat my dd, so change tone and be nice to her again.

Sigh....after some time they will all reveal their true colours
 
hi zenn,
i think it's a gd idea to try out the maid a little earlier. however, if u r thinking of getting an indon maid, hari raya is in oct this yr, which means most agencies will hv less indon maid biodata starting fr late sept/early oct. i went around looking for an indon maid last yr in mid oct, n i had v. few choices. biodata only increases after hari raya. if the maid doesn't hv a ready-made passport, it takes approximately a mth b4 to get the maid after selection.

i recently went to choose a maid to take care of my bb who is due in dec. i look for maids with experience in taking care of newborns, either fr previous work experience or fr own experience.
 
Hi Zenn,
It would be better for the maid to come in earlier. Not all maid turns out to be up to your expectation. If you decide to change your maid, you still have to wait for your new maid to come. Training will restart again.Moreover, its better for you to train your maid now rather than when you are late in your pregnancy or even confinement period.If shes able to master all the skills, she will be more efficient when your bb comes.
 
Hi All,

Read your stories and thought I would join in. I used to have a rather capable filipino maid who took good care of my son. As such my family and I were quite nice to her and even brought her on our overseas trips. However, during my maternity leave after having my no. 2, i caught her stealing- guess what? Essense of chicken! by the carton! I found these amongst her dirty laundry in her laundry basket one evening. Sacked her on the spot cos I cannot stand dishonesty in my household. After she left, I heard from my neighbours maids that she said she left on her own accord and would not come back even if we ask her to!

My current maid also filipino has been begging us to send her home since her second month with us becos of homesickness. Think I really dun have luck with maids!
 
hi virgokid,

i guess i m in the same boat as u as the maids tat i employed, within 1 wk, they wanna quit...sigh.......

hi pantone,
wah...so scary leh.....my maid will always b alone during weekend one...hope tis new one tat i get is honest....


hi all

need some advice....me will be going down to do an interview with a transfer maid. hv talked to her over the phone n she sounded ok. checked w her previous employer n comments abt her osso good. any tips on what do i need to look out for when i go down to meet her? tis is my 3rd maid for tis year n cant afford to have one who wanna quit within a week else i will b 'blacklisted' by MOM liao.

TIA
 


zenn
i got my maid in 3 mths earlier. I'm abt to deliver sometime next week or so. I think 3 mths early is a gd time. They need time to adjust and learn the routines. Also for you to assess their performance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
New Mum New Baby with new Maid
Replies
1
Views
1K
stephentoh
S
R
Need advice. Haven’t had sex after married
Replies
3
Views
2K
Doctoral Genius Paul
D
H
How can I get back my stolen lost to fake crypto investment website?
Replies
1
Views
165
annaben
A
D
Advice on how to choose baby items
Replies
0
Views
694
Dx8
D
N
Mid trimester termination
Replies
0
Views
837
NickyC
N

Back
Top