Maid with diabetes says she has weakened immune system, asks what to do when her employers have Covid-19

SINGAPORE — A foreign domestic worker with Type 2 diabetes asked what she could do after finding out her three employers tested positive for Covid-19.

In an anonymous post to Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the mother of a woman working as a foreign domestic worker asked netizens for help. In her post, the mother wrote that her daughter had just started working two weeks ago.

“Few days ago all of her employer family 3 adults are covid positive”, the woman wrote. She added that her daughter had Type 2 diabetes and was considered immunocompromised. People who are immunocompromised (have a weakened immune system) are more likely to get sick with COVID-19 or be sick for a longer period.

The woman then asked netizens for advice if her daughter should isolate herself as she was the main caregiver of her employer.

Here’s what netizens said:

Last month, a foreign domestic helper who told her employer that she was going on holiday to India to visit her ailing mother suddenly messaged to inform them that she did not want to return.

In an anonymous post to Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid’s employer asked what he should do as his wife was pregnant and about to deliver her child in January.

The employer wrote: “Our helper’s mother health is not good back at India, so we allowed her to go and check if all ok. Now she messaged and said she doesn’t want to come back and that we should look for replacement!”

He added that he and his wife hired the maid in May, almost a year ahead of when his wife was set to give birth. “I understand she might have problems back at her home but abandoning us in between in this situation is not good”, he wrote.

The employer then wrote that the family invested time and money in their maid by buying her a new bed, wardrobe, and gifts for her and had given her cash as well. He also added that his maid did not have much work daily, and she was free to take about three hours off in the afternoons daily.

“As per 2 year contract terms, she has to serve 1 month notice period or has to pay one month of salary in lieu to us. We did not get any of this. I know we can get replacement but all this feels wasted. Now i dont have confidence in next helper. Dont know when they will leave giving us some false reasons”, the man wrote.

In his post, he asked others what they could do and what the next steps were. He also asked others in the group about the role that the agency played in this case.

Maid who went to visit her sick mother in India tells her employer that she doesn’t want to come back, asks to find a replacement