I HIRED a transfer maid and after three months, things were not
working out. She was unable to cope with basic chores and was
unhygienic.
I was thinking of getting a new maid, but in the meantime, given
my hectic Chinese New Year schedule, I decided to have her lodged
at the maid agency for a week. The day she was supposed to return
to my home, she ran away to her embassy.
I spoke to her when she was in the embassy and she apologised.
She claimed she was sick and the agent did not attend to her, so
she ran away. She said she would leave the embassy only if I
continued to employ her; otherwise, she wanted to return to her
country. She did not want a transfer.
A few days later, the agent called to say that my maid had
changed her mind and just wanted to return to her country. She said
I would have to bear half of the maid's loan balance of $3,000 (the
loan was paid upfront to the agent and was to be recovered from the
maid's salary in instalments) because my maid insisted on returning
to her country. The agency contract stated that the employer would
be responsible for the maid's loan if he were to cancel the maid's
work permit and repatriate her.
I refused. It's akin to allowing maids to come to Singapore, try
out the job, and when they don't like what they see, they can run
away and seek shelter at their embassy, then demand to go home
without repaying the loan and refusing a transfer.
Why should employers be left in the lurch to bear the
consequences? I did no wrong.
Will the concerned authorities please comment?
Lee Pai Ping (Ms)