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Days off for maid

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 6:48 pm
by briskcross
What is your view about giving your maid days off. How many days a month does your helper go out?

Re: Days off for maid

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 10:15 pm
by thankgod
Mine does once a month. Not having off is rather inhumane. Sometimes I think once a month is also too little but with the horror stories about what maids do when they are on their off-day, that scares me. I guess its a question about trust. In your family, do you trust your maid to do the right thing and be able to "behave" herself? I guess sometimes, we don't have choice but to trust them. In my case, I don't really ask where she go, what she do during her off-days. All I did was to give her a good talking just before her 1st off day, to let her understand what is out there, what temptations are, how other people might treat her and to remind her that her off-day is for her to take time out from the daily routine. Not to get involved in things are "wrong".

Re: Days off for maid

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 10:23 pm
by LOLMum
i am maidless now but i do support the idea of giving maids a day off per week.

however, i do not wish to be responsible for her actions on her day off and whatever consequences that come with it.

Re: Days off for maid

Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 10:27 pm
by verykiasu2010
having trust in the maid is one thing

whether the maid is trustworthy is a totally different thing. having trust in the maid does not mean the maid can be trusted

trust is always subject to abuse

if the law is less onerous on the employer, who cares what they do outside as long as don't bring men and diseases back to the work place which is the employer's home

Re: Days off for maid

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:56 am
by jtoh
verykiasu2010 wrote:having trust in the maid is one thing

whether the maid is trustworthy is a totally different thing. having trust in the maid does not mean the maid can be trusted

trust is always subject to abuse

if the law is less onerous on the employer, who cares what they do outside as long as don't bring men and diseases back to the work place which is the employer's home
:goodpost:

Re: Days off for maid

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 9:53 am
by Busymom
verykiasu2010 wrote:having trust in the maid is one thing

whether the maid is trustworthy is a totally different thing. having trust in the maid does not mean the maid can be trusted

trust is always subject to abuse

if the law is less onerous on the employer, who cares what they do outside as long as don't bring men and diseases back to the work place which is the employer's home
How does one ensure that? We know one of my maids has a boyfriend, but we don't talk about it... I mean how to talk about safe sex with a woman in her thirties and divorced... :?

Re: Days off for maid

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:09 am
by verykiasu2010
Busymom wrote:
verykiasu2010 wrote:having trust in the maid is one thing

whether the maid is trustworthy is a totally different thing. having trust in the maid does not mean the maid can be trusted

trust is always subject to abuse

if the law is less onerous on the employer, who cares what they do outside as long as don't bring men and diseases back to the work place which is the employer's home
How does one ensure that? We know one of my maids has a boyfriend, but we don't talk about it... I mean how to talk about safe sex with a woman in her thirties and divorced... :?
Those Indon maids would fill in the form anything to get out of the country :

some claimed the husband died - actually still alive

some claimed divorced - but actually no

they are quite loose in what they say, or the recruiter didn't understand them or what ?

after we repartriated our recent maid for theft, we also received many letters from telcom on their outstanding tel bills - even though the maid told us she does have a mobile phone ..... .... all the telco bills were addressed to her

Re: Days off for maid

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:16 am
by silverhorse
briskcross wrote:What is your view about giving your maid days off. How many days a month does your helper go out?
I give my helper ( Filipino) every Sunday off. She'll go out at 830am and back by 630pm. As an employee myself, I would be frustrated if I do not get off days. She's an adult and she knows what is out there. But I know that my helper will hang out with her aunt n cousins , go to church and eat. Her aunt's employer let them gather at her house too, which I think is generous.

Re: Days off for maid

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:17 am
by thankgod
Agree that "trust" is subjective. Essentially, the contract between the employee and the FDW is an employment contract. We can't control the lives of the FDW. The problem with the law at present is that the employer is made to held responsible for the actions of the FDW. Good or bad, each party has their own views.

IMHO, I think the law needs to be tweaked. If its purely an employment contract, employers cannot be held responsible for what the FDW does outside. Its an employment contract similar to the S-Pass holders who are sitting in the offices. The employer of these S-Pass holders are certainly not held responsible for their actions outside the scope of work and employment. That should be a case for FDW as well. The only difference in the two employment contracts should be the fact that FDW lives on the employers premises. Otherwise, it should be a standard employment contract.

If the FDW are treated similar to the S-Pass holders, then FDW are free to negotiate their contracts with their employers. 1 Day off per month, 1 day off per week, how much salary etc. there might be guidelines for these but each contract can then be tailored differently.

While some FDW don't deserve sympathy, one must admit that there are FDW that are worth more. Good ones might be far and in-between but to generalize them would be a bit harsh IMHO.

Re: Days off for maid

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:33 am
by verykiasu2010
thankgod wrote:Agree that "trust" is subjective. Essentially, the contract between the employee and the FDW is an employment contract. We can't control the lives of the FDW. The problem with the law at present is that the employer is made to held responsible for the actions of the FDW. Good or bad, each party has their own views.

IMHO, I think the law needs to be tweaked. If its purely an employment contract, employers cannot be held responsible for what the FDW does outside. Its an employment contract similar to the S-Pass holders who are sitting in the offices. The employer of these S-Pass holders are certainly not held responsible for their actions outside the scope of work and employment. That should be a case for FDW as well. The only difference in the two employment contracts should be the fact that FDW lives on the employers premises. Otherwise, it should be a standard employment contract.

If the FDW are treated similar to the S-Pass holders, then FDW are free to negotiate their contracts with their employers. 1 Day off per month, 1 day off per week, how much salary etc. there might be guidelines for these but each contract can then be tailored differently.

While some FDW don't deserve sympathy, one must admit that there are FDW that are worth more. Good ones might be far and in-between but to generalize them would be a bit harsh IMHO.
that is true

on the reverse side, many like to demonise employers in general who don't have off day for the maid as part of mutual agreement, is also harsh

in other words, bad maids and bad employers are both in the minority

I only wish that the bad maids could have been better matched with the bad employers....like that will be more "equal" terms .....