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)