Maid wanted to wait until her employer found replacement but now asks if she can leave because she ‘doesn’t want to work with them’

SINGAPORE: A foreign domestic helper who did not want to work with her employers anymore asked if she could just leave even though they did not find a replacement for her.

In an anonymous post to a Facebook group for domestic helpers, the maid asked if she could let her employers know that she wanted to go back in 18 days’ time, on Mar 31. She explained that even though it seemed to be abrupt, she had already given them one month’s notice of her departure. She had only wanted to wait until the end of the month so that they could find a replacement.

“but [I] want to go back march 31st. [I] dont really want to work with them but i patiently waiting for the replacement (sic).. hopefully they send me earlier”, she wrote.

She asked if it was alright for her to tell them in a nice way that she wanted to leave as every time she brought up the topic, they would refer her to her agent.

Here’s the advice that netizens gave her:

Last year, a foreign domestic helper took to social media asking for help after she decided that she wanted to be transferred from her current employers.

In her post to Facebook group FDW in Singapore (working conditions forum), the maid asked two questions. In her first question, she wrote that she wanted to be transferred to another employer even though she had only been working for three months with her current employer, and asked if this was possible.

In her second question, she asked if she needed release papers from her current employer in order to be transferred.

Her post led to other helpers commenting about their own situations and wanting to be transferred as well.

Another helper wrote that she too wanted to be transferred but adjusted because she needed to. She added that she had to share a room with boys aged 12 to 16. According to the maid website helperchoice.com, “Employers should provide their workers with a separate room. If this is not possible, they must ensure that there is enough space and privacy (many families have their maids share a room with their children). Under no circumstance should workers share a room with someone of the opposite sex, unless it is a small child”.

Maid says after working 3 months for her current employer, she wants to be transferred elsewhere