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Maid quits for higher paid employeer

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abc0707
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Maid quits for higher paid employeer

Post by abc0707 » Mon, 08 Oct 2012 10:44 am

Hello all,

We engaged an agency at Lucky Plaza, and our first maid did not go well. The agency told us that she can take care of the new born, but end up she could not do much, so we return her to the agency. Then, they gave us a transferred maid. She worked with us for two weeks, but now, she told us she wants to quit, because she cant carry the baby, then after that she told us that another employer offers her a higher salary.

We called the agency, he said there is not much he can do about that ?!?! Is it true or not? Then we just lost the agency fee because he already gave us one replacement

And for the maid, what can we do about her? I think its unfair for a maid come to work, and then just quit like that.

For the first maid, at the agency, we paid 2800 for the loan, and $600 for the agency fee, $280 insurance. After we returned the first maid, this is what he charged us:

1. (first maid) balance placement fee: $2000.
2. Less replacement expanses for (second maid): $486.10
3. Less placement fee for (second maid): $600.
4. Less 2 days lodging fee for (first maid): $30.
The balance is $883.90.

did he overcharge us? And why he did not return our insurance fee, after that he charged us the second insurance fee for second maid...

Please advise what can we do in this situation.

Thanks a lot

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sundaymorningstaple
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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:14 pm

I guess the crucial question, which I noticed you did not provide the answer for, is how little were you paying your maid. Frankly, If you were paying her the minimum required, I don't blame her for throwing you over for a new employer that is prepared to pay more than slave wages.

Additionally, looking at the charges, I'd say the agency saw you coming.....
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

abc0707
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Post by abc0707 » Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:24 pm

We paid $500, 4 days off

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Post by nutnut » Mon, 08 Oct 2012 1:14 pm

Sounds like the agency has seen you coming!! Where did your maid find the new employer?
nutnut

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ecureilx
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Post by ecureilx » Mon, 08 Oct 2012 1:31 pm

nutnut wrote:Sounds like the agency has seen you coming!! Where did your maid find the new employer?
if the maid has been here for a while, she will know she can find an employer for atleast 700 $ ..

And it is not too hard to find an employer, if she has worked for expat families ..

Nothing much the agent can do anyway, other than pocketing the money .. :D

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Post by the lynx » Mon, 08 Oct 2012 2:42 pm

sundaymorningstaple wrote:I guess the crucial question, which I noticed you did not provide the answer for, is how little were you paying your maid. Frankly, If you were paying her the minimum required, I don't blame her for throwing you over for a new employer that is prepared to pay more than slave wages.

Additionally, looking at the charges, I'd say the agency saw you coming.....
Just thinking aloud, I'm sure the maid and the agency already struck a deal with OP on the determined salary, right? So it is not really on OP's end if the maid deems the salary too low. She agreed to it.

abc0707
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Post by abc0707 » Mon, 08 Oct 2012 2:48 pm

The maid's friend (who is also a maid) just got the job in Denmark so she recommend my maid to her ex employer.

@sundaymorningstaple: If you asked how much we paid her, we'd happily answer you. And frankly, I dont think anyone wants to hire a maid to take care of baby and treating her as a slave. The salary was suggested by agent, we and the maid both agreed. We always told the maid that we want her to feel like she is a family member. She is also friendly and we like her.

What I wanted to ask is what the agency can do for us. Now all the agent commented is if we want him to find another maid, we need to pay another agent fee. Just in the middle, getting money from both sides -_-

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Post by revhappy » Mon, 08 Oct 2012 3:05 pm

isnt there a contract and early termination penalties in place for maids?
Last edited by revhappy on Sun, 14 Oct 2012 10:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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sundaymorningstaple
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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Mon, 08 Oct 2012 3:52 pm

How many S pass holders here agreed to a salary way below what they though they were worth, only to be able to stay in Singapore, and hopping jobs as soon as they found something suitable, even though they accepted the initial employers deal........ :-|
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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ecureilx
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Post by ecureilx » Mon, 08 Oct 2012 4:34 pm

revhappy wrote:isnt there a contract and early termination penalties in place for maids?
[Workers rights voice mode on ]

That is utter discrimination .. how can you put in highly restrictive rules on workers, who are at the bottom of the totem pole .. less educated, and easily abused and taken advantage of ? (some of the above are valid though .. )

[Workers rights voice mode off ]

In reality, the case of maids switching jobs so fast is very low, as the agents pretty much hold the maids to ransom. with the amounts of loans and threat of blacklisting, what can the maid do ..

Years ago, there were some agents who were apparently conniving with the maids, to ask for replacement employer after the warranty period .. so they can force the employer to get a new maid, and pay the hefty fee ..

Of course, you can file a case with SCT, if there is a possibility of a breach of contract ..

Now, in your case, if your maid was a transfer maid, part of the failure could be on the agency, for not vetting, or having earmarked her for another employer and letting her take on work for you ..

And from my counselling days, 99% of the maids stick with the same agents .. rarely do they change, as they fear that changing an agent can lead to drama ..

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Re: Maid quits for higher paid employeer

Post by movingtospore » Fri, 12 Oct 2012 4:43 pm

abc0707 wrote:Hello all,

We engaged an agency at Lucky Plaza, and our first maid did not go well. The agency told us that she can take care of the new born, but end up she could not do much, so we return her to the agency. Then, they gave us a transferred maid. She worked with us for two weeks, but now, she told us she wants to quit, because she cant carry the baby, then after that she told us that another employer offers her a higher salary.

We called the agency, he said there is not much he can do about that ?!?! Is it true or not? Then we just lost the agency fee because he already gave us one replacement

And for the maid, what can we do about her? I think its unfair for a maid come to work, and then just quit like that.

For the first maid, at the agency, we paid 2800 for the loan, and $600 for the agency fee, $280 insurance. After we returned the first maid, this is what he charged us:

1. (first maid) balance placement fee: $2000.
2. Less replacement expanses for (second maid): $486.10
3. Less placement fee for (second maid): $600.
4. Less 2 days lodging fee for (first maid): $30.
The balance is $883.90.

did he overcharge us? And why he did not return our insurance fee, after that he charged us the second insurance fee for second maid...

Please advise what can we do in this situation.

Thanks a lot
You are getting fleeced my friend. I've had two maids here and never paid those kind of fees. Certainly not 2x in a row. The second one, we found on our own, via a friend. Used an agency for the paperwork but only paid a few hundred for that as I recall.

Would suggest you ditch the agency...

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ecureilx
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Re: Maid quits for higher paid employeer

Post by ecureilx » Fri, 12 Oct 2012 6:25 pm

movingtospore wrote: You are getting fleeced my friend. I've had two maids here and never paid those kind of fees. Certainly not 2x in a row. The second one, we found on our own, via a friend. Used an agency for the paperwork but only paid a few hundred for that as I recall.

Would suggest you ditch the agency...
And forget about the 'exclusive' clause in the agreement with the Agency, which stops a lot of people from moving to other agents ;)

Yah, I know .. I worked in one once .. and you will be amazed about the number of people who believe the exclusive clause is so terrifying they will stick to the same agent, even though the agent happily is fleecing the customers ..

fatmouse76
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Post by fatmouse76 » Tue, 16 Oct 2012 10:09 pm

Nowadays maids are nothing but trouble. Best to get a full time professional nanny and get someone else to do part time cleaning . More costs but less headache.

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Post by Beeroclock » Fri, 01 Nov 2013 9:58 pm

Fatmouse, I'm just researching the same and so far finding the cost is substantially more , like 3k vs 1k in round numbers, all in. Also not sure my headaches will be reduced as agencies seem very reluctant and/or no availability for any full time babysit arrangement. [/quote]

nms
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Post by nms » Mon, 11 Nov 2013 12:11 pm

This is essentially how the system works here. There is generally no penalty to maids if they break their contract. It is only an issue where they still have an outstanding loan which has been paid by the employer. In addition, if your maid gets into any kind of trouble or does anything that means you no longer want to employ her (eg. theft, dishonesty, abusing your children) you either have to bear the cost of sending her home or send her back to the agent to be passed on to another unsuspecting employer.

People may say that maids are hard done by but it's not exactly a bed of roses for employers either.

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