Maid Agency

Because of its fast pace of life, there is a huge demand for maids in Singapore and this helps to create about 300 to 500 maid agencies in Singapore together with many jobs opportunities.

In Singapore, the maid agencies are ruled by the Ministry of Manpower. The Ministry of Manpower monitor these maid agencies quite closely, looking at their number of transactions, reporting their business performance to the consumers in order to help consumer making a wiser choice. If a maid agency violate some guidelines, they will get punished by the authority. 

Despite this, some small maid agencies still violate some of the rules set by the Ministry and they have a way to reduce the impact on it. These maid agencies usually register a few name. When one of them is banned by the governing authority, they will change the name to another. Probably because of this, in the Employment directory of the Ministry of Manpower, there are more than 1000 maid agencies although many of them are not active in business at all.

You can refer here to find out some detailed information about some selected maid agencies in Singapore 

Maid in Singapore

Search For Maid in Singapore

Please refer to the link below for each category of maid in Singapore. 

Transfer maid

New maid

Indonesian Maid

Filipino Maid

Myanmar Maid

Maid Agencies

Source: Search For Maid

Interview a maid-Sample Questions

Source: Interview a maid-Sample Questions

Interviewing a maid is probably the most important step in selecting a good maid. Through the interview, you may be able to tell whether the maid can communicate with you using English, whether she has the right set of skills to work for you and whether she is motivated to work as a domestic helper. You can also find out some other information that will be crucial for you to make a decision.

Below are some sample questions. After each questions, we also try to provide the rational for the question.

Motivation Related Questions - Interview a Maid

• Why you want to work in Singapore? (Motivation related question)
• Why you want to transfer? (For transfer maid)
• Why you want to work as a domestic helper? (Motivation related)
• Do you need to remit money back home monthly? (If yes, it could mean she needs money and may therefore be more motivated and focused to work)
• Do you need to support your family financially? (same as point 4)

Skills and Experience - Interview a Maid

• What can you cook? Can you tell us how to prepare item 1? (for the items she mentions, pick one item and ask her to illustrate how to prepare that item)
• What could you do if you think my child need to be scolded and punished?

(A) FOR EXPERIENCED MAID

• What do you do in your previous employer's house? (To know her experience in details)
• How many people are there in your previous employer's house and who are they? (to check whether she has the skill to take care of baby or elderly)
• What will you do if my child crys non-stop and I am not around? (You can give her a few situations like this to answer. It can show whether she is really experienced in handling baby.)
• How to make baby sleep at night? (Same as point 3)

(B)FOR NEW MAID

• Do you need to do housework at home? (If she has never do any housework before, I do not think she is qualified to work as a domestic helper)
• Do you have children at home? (Whether she has taken care of children before)
• Do you like kid and are you willing to learn how to take care of kid? (This question is for single maid who probably may have zero experience in taking care of kid)

Her Job and Duty (Your House Conditions) - Interview a Maid

(It is good to let maid know what she can be expected. If she shows some unpleasant mood when you mention certain duty or job, better avoid that maid)

• I have one baby who is 4 months old and she will wake up once at midnight and you will need to feed her.
• Currently I have 5 people in the house and four months later, we are going to have one more kid. Will the duty be too heavy for you?
• I need you to wake up at six in the morning to prepare breakfast for my kid? Is 6am too early for you?

Concerns that maid may need to go back home before the expiration of contract

• Do you have sibling? Where are they? (Sometimes, if their parents fall sick and she is the only child, she may need to return home to take care of parents)
• Do you have boy friend, when do you plan to get married? (if within 2 years, then the maid may need to go back for marriage)
• What are you most concerned/worried about back home ?

Employee-Employer Relationship - Interview a Maid

Many maids run away because of poor communication with employer. It is good to have a maid that can tell you that she needs help or face problem. As a employer, you should try to help out whenever possible, this can avoid the lose-lose situation where the maid runs away and hide at some charities.

• What would you do if you are not happy with us?
• What do you expect from us?
• What would you do if you think you have too many things to handle?
• What is your definition of a good employer?
• Will you share with us any unhappiness or difficulty that you face?

Use of Hand phone - Interview a Maid

Usage of hand phone creates many conflicts in many maid-employer relationship and you better have an agreement with the maid on this before signing the deal)

• We understand you need to use the hand phone to communicate with family members, friends or others. When do you think is an appropriate time for you to use it? When do you think it is inappropriate for you to use?

Other General Questions - Interview a Maid

• Can you describe your daily work activity like what time you wake up and what you do?
• What do you think a good domestic helper should possess?
• What is your strength as a good domestic helper?
• For transfer maid, you may ask why she wants to leaves her current employer?

Miscellaneous Questions - Interview a Maid

• Do you practice any religion? (You need to know this so that you will know whether your maid needs to abstain from certain foods)
• Do you have any medical conditions? Do you take any medications?"(You will be responsible for all medical expense of your maid)

Maids in Singapore

Maids

How to Select a Maid

Source: How to Select a Maid

Introduction to Selecting a Maid

Selecting a maid is as important as selecting a maid agency. After all, maid will be the person that you are going to interact everyday if you do not change her. In this article, we hope to give you some suggestions on how to select a maid that can better meet your expectation. We also provide some questions that you can use during interview with the maid.

Select a Maid - What is your expectation?

A maid that matches your expectation is the best maid. Before you go to the employment agency or maid agency, you should ask yourself why you need the maid and list down your expectation of maid. Here is some questions to ask yourself?

1. How much can I afford? Filipino and Experienced Maid usually cost higher per month.

2. Do you need the maid to take care of your baby, your child or your parents?

If you need the maid to take care of baby, you may need a maid that has the experience of taking care of baby or a maid that is willing to learn to take good care of baby.

If your child is very active, then you should avoid employing those maids that may not be energetic enough to handle him or her. You know that, taking care of an active child is very tiring and your maid needs to be energetic enough to do the job.

If you need the maid to take care of baby, you also need the maid to have the necessary skills to handle your baby in case of emergency. So you should prepare to give a maid a few emergency scenarios to respond to you during the interview.

3. Do you have the patience to teach maid to do household chore? If not, you may need to employ an experienced maid that has settled in Singapore for some times.

4. Do you need the maid to be fluent in English? If yes, do watch out how maid communicate with you during the interview.

5. What are the house rules that you like your maid to follow? For example, you may think write down how you like your maid to use your home fixed phone line and maid's personal hand phone. Do think carefully what is acceptable to you and what is unacceptable to you and raise the question during interview.

Select a Maid - Nationality and Language

Some people I know prefer maids from Philippine out of the belief that Filipino maid speak better English. It may be true the Filipino maid in general speak better English, but Indonesian maids or maids from other countries can also speak good English. What is important for you is to prepare sufficient questions to ask her during interview and watch out how she reply you during the interview. Based on this, you can then really tell whether the maid can communicate well enough with you.

Select a Maid - Interview

Interview is very important, not only you can find out how well the maid can speak English, you can also find out how committed the maid is in the job as well as other matters that may be important to you.

Here are some sample questions you can ask your maid during interview?

General Questions

• Can you describe your daily work activity like what time you wake up and what you do?
• What do you think a good domestic helper should possess?
• What is your strength as a good domestic helper?
• For transfer maid, you may ask why she leaves her current employer?

Commitment

• Why do you want to work in Singapore?
• Do you need to support your family financially?
• Do you need to send back money monthly?

Usually, if the maids need the money, she may be more motivated than those whose family is relative rich.

Skill related questions

• Do you have kids at home?
• Do you like children?
• How do you handle a crying baby?
• If my baby fell down and hurt herself badly under your care. What could you do?
• What could you do if you think my child need to be scolded and punished?
• What dish can you cook?

Employer and Employee Relationship

• What would you do if you are not happy with us?
• What would you do if you think you have too many things to handle?
• What is your definition of a good employer?
• Will you share with us any unhappiness or difficulty that you face?

Other concerns you may have

1. The maid may need to go back within 2 year before contract expire.

• Do you have boy friend, when do you plan to get married? (if within 2 years, then the maid may need to go back for marriage)
• Do you have sibling at home? (if not, she may need to go back when her parents is sick)

2. Use of Hand phone (This create many conflicts in many maid-employer relationship and you better have an agreement with the maid on this before signing the deal)

• We understand you need to use the hand phone to communicate with family members, friends or others. When do you think is an appropriate time for you to use it? When do you think it is inappropriate for you to use?

Select a Maid - New or Experienced

Hiring an experienced maid may be a good choice as experienced maid have overcome home sickness and get used to life in Singapore. But of course, it is more costly to hire an experienced maid.

Some employers also report that the experienced maid are "smarter" and may be hard to manage as they know how to handle the boss.

New maid is usually cheaper, but you may need more time to train her to the job and she may need time to adapt to the life in Singapore.

Select a Maid - Employment History

If the maid has worked in Singapore before or is currently in Singapore, you can check her employment history through MOM website http://www.mom.gov.sg/services-forms/Pages/wp-online-fdw.aspx

To check the maid's employment history, you need to login to the system using your SINGPASS.

To check maid's employment history, you still need to have maid's Work permit number, or worker's foreign identification number or using maid's personal particular such as name, gender, date of birth, nationality.

Most of the maid agency will be able to show you the maid's employment history if you request for it.

What to check for employment history

1. Number of employer(s) that the maid has worked for and length of employment period with each employer?

If any of her employment periods can last more than 1 year, you may consider giving her an interview.

If all her employment period is short, then you may want to ask the maid personally or the maid agency why the employment is short and made sure the reason is able to convince you.

While employment history can give a rough idea of how good the maid is, we also need to bear in mind that the length of employment period is also affected by the maid's previous employers.

There are employers who are really abusive and do not treat maid like a human being. If you read the newspaper every day, you know this is not rare.

I also come across with a few employers who just need the maid for a few month as their parents or family member was sick. When their family members recover and are able to manage day to day activity, they then return the maid to agency.

Hope the above information can help you to find a good maid.

Maids in Singapore

How to Select a Maid Agency in Singapore

Source: How to Select Maid Agency in Singpore

Introduction to Maid Agency in Singapore

There are about 1000 maid agencies or employment agencies of different sizes in Singapore, offering different kinds of service package, charging an agent fee that may range from $0 to more than $1000, this makes selecting a good maid agency very difficult for many. In this article, we hope to offer readers some guides or tips on selecting a good maid agency.
It should be taken note that even the most established one or the most reputable or the one charged you the highest cannot guarantee you that you will get your ideal maid.

How to start finding a maid agency?

You may consider visiting the MOM website for a list of licensed maid agency. Employing a maid through unlicensed maid agency may get you into trouble. http://www.mom.gov.sg/eadirectory/Pages/search.aspx
On this MOM website, you will be able to find a lot of maid agencies. You may first start visiting the maid agency that is located within your neighborhood. It is recommended that you visit 2 or 3 maid agencies before engaging one to help you in the end.

How to Evaluate a Maid Agency

Evaluate a Maid Agency 1: Demerit points

This information is provided by the Ministry of Manpower on the website listed above. Of course, you should visit those maid agencies that have the lowest demerit points.
Demerit points are issue to the maid agencies by the Ministry of Manpower when the maid agency infringes the Employment Agencies Act, Rules or Licensing Conditions. An agency which accumulates 12 or more demerits point will be placed on the MOM's surveillance list. You can visit the website listed above to find out more.

Evaluate a Maid Agency 2: Foreign domestic worker (FDW) retention success rate

This rate is a percentage of foreign domestic worker placed by the maid agency or employment for the period Mar 2010 to Mar 2012 and had stayed with the same employer for at least 365 days. The rate for each maid agency can be found on the MOM website. A higher rate is usually desirable.

Evaluate a Maid Agency 3: Foreign domestic worker transfer rate

This means the percentage of foreign domestic workers, within the past 12 months, have been placed the same employment to 3 or more employers out of the total number of foreign domestic worker it placed. The rate for each maid agency can be found on the MOM website.A lower rate is usually desirable.

Evaluate a Maid Agency 4: Free Replacement of maid

Can you exchange maid for free? Do go for maid agency that provide at least a few times of replacement of maid at zero cost.
Some agencies will also require you to use the maid for a minimum period of time before you can ask for a change.
But do take note that the Ministry of Manpower may make it hard for you to apply for work permit if you change maid too frequently. There are other disadvantages of changing maid, you can read management of maids for further details.
Make sure you read the written contract carefully regarding the replacement of maid!

Evaluate a Maid Agency 5. Agency Fee Vs Service Coverage

Agency fee should be reasonable, of course. But you should also look at the service coverage. Different maid agencies will offer kinds of service package, hence you cannot compare the maid agency by purely basing on agency fee.
You should check with maid agency whether the following services is included in the package and is there any additional charge for hiring the maid?

• Collect maid at airport for you
• Send maid for stipulated test and send maid to your house
• Send maid for medical examination and thumb print, photo-taking at the Ministry of Manpower
• Will the maid agency help you to apply the insurance and does the insurance fee included in the package? Does the insurance cover the security bond?
• Will the maid agency help you to register the employee orientation program and pay the fee on your behalf?

All these should be taken into consideration when you are comparing the agency fee.

Evaluate a Maid Agency 6. Written Contract

A proper written contract is important. It was reported online that some agencies does not provide any written contract.
Do not go for any maid agencies that do not have any proper written contact.
Furthermore, Before you sign the contract, do read every single line of statement to fully understand the terms and conditions. Do clarify with the maid agencies if you have other doubt, never assume.
When you are considering which maid agency to engage, you may ask maid agencies for copies of their written contracts for your own reference and easy for you to make comparison.

Read further about questions to ask maid agency

Maids in Singapore

Source: Maids in Singapore

Introduction to Maids in Singapore

It has been estimated that one in five households in Singapore has a maid, with some households having two maids for various reasons.

Cost of having a maid in Singapore

Monthly salary of maid is around $450 to $500 and the more experienced maids may request for even more.

Other than the monthly salary, you also need to pay foreign domestic worker levy on a monthly basis which can range from $120 to $265.

Other monthly costs of having a maid include expenditures on food, utility and toiletry.

When you hire maid for the first time, you also need to pay maid agency fee which can range from $1000 to $2000, depending on the service coverage. Other upfront costs include expenditure on insurance, medical examination, air tickets and fee for employer orientation program.

You can refer cost of hiring maid in Singapore for details.

Steps of Hiring a Maid through Maid Agencies in Singapore

It takes about 4 to 6 weeks to hire a maid through maids agencies or employment agencies. You can refer to MOM website for a list of licensed maid agencies.

After selecting maid agencies, maid agency will provide bio-data of available maids to you and you will interview your choice maid through phone, webcam or face to face which will be arranged by the maid agency.

After selecting your desired maid, you will need to buy insurance for your choice maid, apply work permit for her and bring her for medical checkup. These are usually done by the maid agencies.

If you are hiring maid for the first time, you will be required to attend the employer orientation program conducted by the ministry of manpower.

Please click step hiring maid in Singapore for details

Maid Agencies in Singapore

There are about 1000 maid agencies or employment agencies in Singapore. You can get a list of them through the Ministry of Manpower websites for the licensed maid agencies or employment agencies.

MOM also track the credibility and service quality of the maid agency by introducing the demerit point, foreign domestic worker success retention rate and foreign domestic worker transfer rate.

You can read further here on how to select a maid agency in Singapore.

Hiring A Transfer Maid in Singapore

Hiring transfer maid offer some advantages such as saving money on air ticket and getting a more experienced maid.

You can click here on how to hire a transfer maid in Singapore to learn other advantages and how to do it.

Management of Maids in Singapore

Maid is just like another person that needs to be respected. A good management of maids will be beneficial to both parties.

Good management of maids require setting proper expectations, house rules and personal preference of you and your family and appropriate timetable and communicate these to your maid upon her arrival. Proper training of tools and appliance should also be provided to help maid to get used to new working environment easier and faster.

Click Management of Maids to learn how to manage your maid in details

Maid Related Problems in Singapore

Conflicts or problems can occur. In any situation, do not ever physically or verbally abuse your maid, doing so will get you into jail and fine.

Serious problem include maid get pregnant in which you have to send her back immediately else you will risk losing security deposit.

Other serious problem include maid running away or doing part time job during her off day.

For details, you can take a look on how to deal with maid related serious problems that may occur to your maid.