Do sleep-out maid exist?

[chris99]

Hi everybody,

we are going to have a baby in a while and we are thinking of getting some domestic help. The problem is that we don't have much space in our apartment so the best solution would be to have a full-time maid (preferably a Philippino) that can sleep somewhere else. Have you ever heard of such a possibility?

Thanks in advance for any useful hints!
Chris

[Nath21]

I think that may be illegal in singapore unless you have a Singaporean resident do it which is what I do.

I worked out basically that if you have a live in maid your monthly costs are:
Government $350, Pay $300, Room $1000 , Toletries $50, Food $300

Other costs, medical. flight home, gift, agency fees.

Roughly that will knock you back around $25k+ per annum and based on a 6 day working week around about 60 hours (10 hours a day). I realise most people only give their maid 1 day off a month and some none)

Getting a singaporean resident costs me $12 per hour so I get 40 hours per week for the same price ($25k per annum). 9-5 thats 5 days a week.

The benefit I believe is you dont have the hassle or risk of a crazy maid which by all reports can be a bit of a lottery, when im holidaying for 5 weeks a year I aint paying her so I start coming out ahead in comparison, I have my privacy, it still allows me to spend time with my kid.

I know some people will have a go at my figures because you can work your maid 24 hours a day and make them live in a cupboard, and get a cheap maid less than $300 per month, and you dont have to buy them a gift or flight home, and they can eat scraps of food fallen from the table but as I say I worked out what it would costs me to feel comfortable hiring a maid (and living in a 3 bdrm equivalent apartment to what I am used to) and worked out I liked the benefit of a part time vs full time maid. I believe it actually works out cheaper for me and I have less worry and more flexibility.

[chris99]

Hi Nath,

thanks for the answer, I see your point. As of today we have a Philippino (PR) part timer, but she has no baby experience. We have thought of a Singaporean but we had a few bad experiences: we had 3 or 4 different Malay and they were plain lazy and didn't share our same meaning of the word "Clean" (I'm sorry to sound racist but that's what happened to us). As for the Chinese Singaporeans, the few we met couldn't speak English and we don't speak Mandarin, so no deal.
That's why we are thinking of a Philippino that can live in a dorm or somewhere "secure". Somewhere I heard that there is an agency that provides that kind of service, but I can't find it. So I hoped that maybe someone here shares the same needs and found a solution already.

Thanks,
Chris

[Nath21]

I dont think its legal because if they are foreign then they have to be under your care so they dont get up to mischief and work for other people or do other jobs.

I got mine through a recommendation from my wifes mother group she is an indian lady who worked for this other lady for 7 years so pretty solid reference. Its always good if you can get a recommendation as she has turned out to be a hard worker and really good with my young one who is 6 months old. I would recommend just going casual for awhile through an agency if you cant get a recommendation and then start to trying to get one through social networking.