Woman says maid was poached by ex-employer, has to fork out $5,100 to hire new helper

When 34-year-old Liang first hired a maid last September, she was satisfied with how the well-behaved Indonesian national got along with her children.

But the domestic helper recently agitated for a move to work for a different household after being poached by another employer, Shin Min Daily News reported last Sunday (Feb 26).

Liang, who works in the IT industry, shared that she initially had no problems getting along with her new maid.

"When I bought six new sets of clothes for her during the Chinese New Year period, she hugged me tight," the woman recalled.

On Feb 1, Liang noticed her maid's attitude had changed. She had become indifferent, Liang claimed, and was adamant about changing her employer.

Worried that her domestic helper might have mental health issues, Liang shared that she took the helper back to the maid agency the following day. 

But the maid then claimed her employer had accused her of stealing money.

Addressing that incident, Liang shared that she once had a dispute with her maid when 50 cents' worth of change went missing after the helper bought food.

After Liang reminded her to be more attentive when receiving change from hawkers, the woman said that her maid felt that she was being accused of theft.

Liang said the misunderstanding was eventually cleared up and the maid had returned the missing change.

Ex-employer the mastermind? 

Liang was helping her domestic helper fix her malfunctioning mobile phone when she found out that someone was trying to convince her maid to end her employment with Liang.

It turns out that the previous employer had been encouraging Liang's maid to make up excuses so that the agency could agree to a transfer to his household. 

Adding that her maid took out a $3,850 loan before coming to work in Singapore, Liang said: "I felt that her ex-employer wanted to wait until I've helped pay it off in March."

According to Liang, the ex-employer who had tried to woo her maid to work for him changed his mind about hiring her two days after Liang found out about the plot. 

Liang added that she had transferred the maid out on Feb 16, ending her employment.

For Liang, it was a costly episode – she now needs to spend $5,100 more to hire a new domestic helper.

Another employer's experience with maid's change in behaviour 

In Sept 2021, Shin Min Daily News reported how an employer surnamed Foo noticed that her maid's behaviour had changed two years into her job. 

Describing how she was initially full of praise for the Myanmar national's professionalism, Foo said: "My helper started to have a bad attitude towards work and would have meltdowns frequently.

“It’s as though she’d become a completely different person.”

Foo also shared that the maid lost control of her emotions when she was being asked to stay until a suitable replacement was found. 

“I’m worried that she might be suffering from depression," the employer said. 

ALSO READ: Third time lucky? Not for woman who spent $11,000 on 3 maids, including one who 'senses ghosts'

chingshijie@asiaone.com