UEA. Since 1986

Tips

• 1.

  Selecting a good maid agency is important!

  Having an established and reputable maid agency solve the headaches involved in searching for the right maid is important. A good maid agency should provide good service, before, during and after a successful match has been completed.
  
  Do check the agency's credibility by doing your own research online and finding out how long the maid agency has been established. You can also check with your friends/relatives if they have used a particular maid agency before and whether they have anything good to say about them.
  
  Most maid agencies would have a replacement guarantee in place when you've confirmed a maid with them. In the event a mis-match has occured, you should be able to get a replacement maid to replace the existing maid. Do check with the maid agency on the conditions to be entitled to a replacement maid.
  
  If the intended maid you've selected should not be able to join your family for whatever reason, a good maid agency would quickly arrange for a suitable replacement at no extra charge in such instance. Becareful of maid agencies who are too happy to have received payment in full, allowing them to take their own sweet time in presenting suitable candidates for you to reselect and as a result, caused your family unnecessary inconvenience. A refund policy should also be in place should you be unhappy with the level of service you've received from the maid agency for not taking your urgency to have a maid soon seriously.

• 2.

  It's my first time employing a maid, what should I do?

  As a new employer, Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will require you to attend the Employers' Orientation Programme (EOP) which is a three-hour programme that provides employers with information on employing a Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW). It provides employers with a basic understanding of their role and responsibilities as employers. Guidelines on creating and maintaining a positive and productive working relationship with their FDW will also be shared.
  
  You can take the EOP online by clicking on the EOP Registration link under Useful Links on our homepage. After registration, you would have to make a payment of $30/- using your credit card or eNETS. Within 1-2 working days, you should receive an email with instructions on how to complete the EOP online.
  
  Employers must complete the EOP two working days before submitting their FDW's WP application. This is because records of EOP attendance will only be conveyed to MOM the day after employers have attended the EOP. Applications from employers submitted less than two working days after attending the EOP will be rejected.
  
  However, in order to begin your EOP online, you will be required to login using your SingPass, again, this link can be found under Useful Links on our homepage.
  
  Overall, it should take you about less than 2 hours to complete the EOP. Once completed, do print out the EOP Certificate and present it to your maid agency.
  
  

• 3.

  Should I overpay my maid's salary?

  Well, this can be quite subjective. A good guide on how much you should be paying your maid right now, is to refer to the Average Maid Salary on our homepage for your consideration. However, do also bear in mind that the amount of experience your maid has accumulated over the years does make a huge difference. Relevant experiences also do matter when considering how much you should pay your maid.
  
  Like everyone else, a maid would and could do alot with a salary above the market rate. After all, in comparison with other Asian countries like Hong Kong and Taiwan, the salary we offer to maids in Singapore do differ by quite alot. If you would make comparisons with other far-away countries like Canada, Spain, Norway and etc... We are still paying alot lesser than we should. The only way for a maid's salary in Singapore to increase is to allow market force to take place as our Government has not legislate a minimum wage policy and it all depends on the current supply and demand.
  
  Salaries for Experienced Transfer Maids at this moment is peaking and will ever increase because of the shortage in supply of good maids in Singapore. Many employers still choose to deny that this is happening, but it is already apparent when 16 maid agencies came together in Janaury 2011 to discuss the pay rise to ease a supply crunch that has arisen due to competing demand from other countries.
  
  Read the full story here. Maid pay hike: 16 agencies face fines
  
  http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_668572.html
  
  Imagine paying $450 for a maid who is totally inexperienced and compare that to an experienced transfer maid who has completed her 2 years contract in Singapore for a salary of about $500. For $50 more, you will not only get a maid who is more experienced but also a maid who has settled down well already in Singapore. Moreover, for an inexperienced maid, you won't be able to interview her in person unlike a transfer maid who is already in Singapore. So do consider the $50 premium you would pay, for the opportunity to assess the experienced live-in maid's suitability for your family in person. Please do not buy into other maid agencies' claims that their maids have relevant experience in their own country. Ask yourself, is there any way to verify these claims?
  
  Some questions that employers frequently ask us are, why is it that other maid agencies are still offering live-in maids like ours at a salary much lower than our average and why is it that having done research on maid's salary online, salary for maids still seems to be in the lower range of $250 to $380.
  
  The simple answer to the above questions is, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. It is indeed very rare that you will find a good maid willing to accept such a low salary. If you did find one already, please treat her well and treasure her as it won't be long that she will grow frustrated of being underpaid and overworked. Eventually, she will request for a transfer and you will end up repeating the whole agonising process of searching for the ideal maid once again.
  
  Some websites are not updated based on the current market situation. So the low salaries reflected on those websites are indication of salaries probably 10 years ago.
  
  By the way, when I mentioned "maids like ours" above, I meant in terms of live-in maids, they are the same because their maids also live-in like ours and are expected to perform the same duties as required by you but usually they do lack experience, especially in Singapore... However, if you're making a comparison of our experienced transfer maids to other maid agencies' transfer maids, most times, you will find that their transfer maids do lack the experience that you are looking for and those maids may still have a huge outstanding placement fee to their maid agencies which you will have to pay in advanced in order to hire any of them.
  
  Lastly, do note that by increasing your maid's salary from $500 to $550 as an example, to most employers, an increment of $50 will definitely not matter much financially... But to your maid, it's a 10% salary increment which will definitely mean alot to her. For $50 more, you may get a more motivated maid, performing to the best of her ability and it is definitely a small price to pay to ensure that your family, especially young children are well taken care of while you're busy at work.
  
  Remember, what you may be paying more in the short-term, may end up being the wiser choice for the long-term!

• 4.

  Alternatives to hiring a full-time maid

  Some may think that since we operate a maid agency, we should always promote and encourage the hiring of a full-time maid... Wrong! Though it means losing some business, it's better that before anyone decides to hire a maid, to make a full evaluation of their needs rather than wants. We don't want anyone hiring a maid for the wrong reasons because should the employer give up their maids prematurely, it will affect the maids' employment record and also their morale.
  
  It could be peer pressure that leads one to hire a maid, to maintain their social status or it could simply be wanting the maid to be a companion for their young ones. These really are not good enough reasons to justify hiring a full-time maid. One must also consider the financial commitment of hiring a full-time maid seriously.
  
  A monthly fixed levy of either $265 or $170 is payable to the Singapore Government, salary which on average works out to be about $500 monthly and also the upkeep of a full-time maid which could easily work out from $200 to $600 depending on how generous you are with her. A simple calculation shows that the monthly financial commitment works out to about $1,000 every single month. If you think that's good money to be throwing away simply to main your social status or to have a companion for your young ones, think again.
  
  You may wish to consider having your young ones in childcare as an alternative to hiring a maid. There are many childcare centres offering full day services if both you and your spouse are working. Though it can be more expensive than hiring a maid, at least a childcare allows your children to socialise and pick up valuable skills which a maid couldn't provide.
  
  Please also do not expect the maid to be a tutor to your children, it's better to have your children taught by qualified tutors. Some parents think that by hiring a maid with a degree, she is capable to teach their children or to help them with their homework. This is definitely not advisable as the maid is trained to be a good housekeeper and not to be a tutor.
  
  A maid is not a nanny. If your child is difficult to handle and please, hiring a professional nanny will be more ideal. Please do not hold such high expectations of a maid to perform the task of a nanny. Some employers dismiss their maids simply because they fail to be a good nanny to their children. Is this fair? Are some employers prioritising the role of the maids wrongly?
  
  If you have an elderly and require the maid to perform tube-feeding, daily injections, etc... Do ensure that the maid has prior experience with respect to these duties that she is supposed to perform, if not, please send her for proper training to equip her with the necessary knowledge to perform her duties well. Please do not expect a maid who have attained caregiver certification in their country as sufficient, the quality of such training may differ from country to country, so it's always advisable to have the maid trained again in Singapore.
  
  It's of course better to hire a private nurse or a caregiver who has been certified in Singapore to care for the elderly and let the maid concentrate on the household chores and cooking.
  
  If there's no children or elderly to care for and it's simply housework, you may wish to consider having part-time maid who will be able to come to your house weekly or twice a week to do household chorse only. Though in recent times, the demand for part-time maid has gone up, it is still very affordable compared to hiring a full-time maid only if you don't mind to have your house cleaned once a week instead of daily.
  
  For those who simply refuse to give up their privacy, a part-time maid should seriously be considered as an alternative to a full-time maid. Please be reminded that to hire a full-time maid and have her live out is a breached of the Work Permit Conditions setforth by the Ministry of Manpower.
  
  At the end of the day, please think carefully before hiring a full-time maid and if the final decision is still to hire a full-time maid, please treat her with respect and as part of your family. A harmonious relationship can be achieved only if both employer and maid make the effort to do so.

• 5.

  Maids in Singapore to pay nothing

  Could this be a reality sooner rather than later? Will it come to a point that maids will no longer need to pay a single cent to secure a job in Singapore? If we could just pause for a moment and recall over 10 years ago, agency fees were hovering easily between $1800 to $2000+, while maids need only pay at most 3 months placement fee for securing a job through a maid agency.
  
  Since then, many new players have joined the maid industry, slashing agency fees so low that it almost became a joke and who benefits from this? Employers of maids in Singapore. But did employers ever wonder why they are paying such a low agency fee? Never. Most employers would only care about their own pockets. The sad truth is that, the cost-savings by employers are passed on to the poor maids to shoulder, hence we see placement fee ever increasing.
  
  Last we heard is that Indonesian Maids are paying as high as 11 months placement fee and for Filipino Maids about 8 to 9 months placement fee. Is it fair for these maids to be paying such placement fee? Shouldn't the employers be the one to bear the costs involved instead of the maids? After all, employers are definitely more financially capable, so why does it seems like the maids are paying many times more than employers?
  
  What we need in today's modern society is a change of mindset and perception! We must stop living in the past and stop thinking only for ourselves. Ask yourself this question, if you are a job-seeker, would you pay the recruitment agency to secure a job for you? Guess who pays the recruitment agency then... the company which hires you obviously.
  
  Then you may ask, what if I pay the full costs involved for the maid and she doesn't work out, how's that fair for me? Well, like the company which hires you if you're a job-seeker, there's no guarantee that you will definitely work out with them too right? So why is it that the company still has to take the risk and hire you? Simple, because you wouldn't pay the recruitment agency, so the company has to foot the bill.
  
  And for the maid, do you not think for a second that when she agrees to work for you, you may not necessarily be a good employer, isn't she taking some form of risks to accept your job offer? What you may describe with regards to her job scope over the phone or in person to her during the interview, may not be the real picture when she starts working with you. You may appear angelic when in fact you're a heartless and horrible employer out to bully the maid? Well, we can't say there aren't such bullying employers out there, so is it ok for the maid to pay many times more what you would pay in agency fee and yet be subject to the risk of choosing the wrong employer?
  
  Therefore, the maid like any job-seeker, should not be required to pay a single cent to secure a job... it's just not fair! Perhaps if employers start to pay all the fees involved in hiring a maid, maybe they might just treat their maids a little better and perhaps we will see less turnover. So we must stop bullying the weak!
  
  We must understand that these maids that choose to venture out of their own countries are doing so without choice, these maids are trying to get themselves and their families out of poverty... But do also realise that these maids do sometimes unknowingly put themselves at danger when they work in a foreign country, so why would they want to leave their country to serve your family? It's simply because they have no choice. So we need to show them more care and concern. Though there are some black sheeps, it's definitely not fair to perceive every maid who comes here to work, is only out to create trouble for you or just wanting to have the opportunity to visit another country. So you don't really have to worry about paying everything for nothing because most would definitely have genuine motives to work here in Singapore.
  
  A good maid agency should have a replacement guarantee in place when scenarios like this occur, after all, we are talking about a human being here and humans are the most complex. Remember, a man and woman can choose to get married after years of courtship, but still end up divorcing each other, so it's not uncommon if an employer and maid is unsuitable for each other.
  
  A maid who doesn't have any placement fee to pay will start to receive her first full salary from the first month onwards, wouldn't she have a higher morale if she starts to receive money earlier compared to a maid who has more than 8 months of salary deductions before receiving her first full salary? Can you accept working for your company without pay for even 1 month? I think most or ALL will just quit their job without a doubt.
  
  Remember, whatever the price to pay to have a maid look after your loved ones, is simply priceless!