Singapore will allow vaccinated foreign domestic workers to enter the country from Nov 1 this year. MOM have begun accepting new entry applications for maids who are vaccinated from Oct 15. Priority will be given to households with urgent and very challenging caregiving needs.

What does this mean for employers?
Households that need domestic helpers urgently can consider going through the pilot programme by AEAS. Read about the 5 things you must know before hiring a new helper during COVID below.

📷 CNA

Late Dr Raymond Yuen runs Hosanna Medical Centre 🩺
He paid for his former domestic helper's healthcare courses 🧬 to improve her chances of working at the clinic.
Subsequently, due to the devastating 2004 Sri Lanka Tsunami 🌊, her family was displaced.
Dr Yuen then kindly helped pay for her daughter's education 🎓 in Singapore, he truly embodies the principles of a successful employer.

📷 Today Online

Maid agencies in Singapore will soon be required to conduct at least one post-placement check on foreign domestic helpers and their employers within three motnhs of them joining the household
Read the full article by clicking on the link below 👇🏻

📷 Gaya Chandramohan (CNA)

WATCH OUT❗️
🔸A 44 year old domestic worker did this to her employers' food because she was afraid of retaliation from her ex-boyfriend?
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 Unknown (Today)

MORE FEES? 💸

🔹Employment agencies are now required by law to check in on a helper after placement. Due to a shortage in manpower, they have said fees will rise.
Watch the news snippet by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 CNA

BANNED FROM HIRING A DOMESTIC HELPER⛓

🔹This family was barred from hiring domestic helpers after a prior assault case in 2014. However, they circumvented the rules by getting a third party to do it for them.
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 Straits Times

FOREIGN WORKER TRESPASSED EMPLOYER'S HOME?⛓

🔹The lack of adequate CCTV coverage and a loop hole allowed this foreign worker to sneak into an employer's home to visit a domestic worker.
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 Mothership

STORYBOOK ABOUT HELPERS? 📔

🔹A couple in Singapore recently published a book about a little girl and her helper, in hopes to build a better relationships between helper and their host families.
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 Raj Nadarajan/TODAY

ALMOST $3,000 WORTH OF ITEMS STOLEN ⚖️

🔸A domestic helper was caught stealing from employer after she left the stolen items in a private hire car.
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 The Independent

❓Did you know, one in five households employ a helper in Singapore

🔸Singaporeans are divided as to whether $600/month salary for domestic helpers is reasonable.
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 The Independent

EMPLOYER FINALLY GETS FINED ⚖️

🔸A Singaporean woman finally pleaded guilty and was fined $14,000 for not paying her helper's salary for more than a year
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 Straits Times

LIVE-OUT MAIDS GET PAID DOUBLE 💵

🔸MOM has responded to recent rise in request for live-out helpers and recommends hiring part-time helpers under the Household Services Scheme (HSS). Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) has argued otherwise, citing various benefits for live-out maids.
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 Straits Times

😢 FIRE CLAIMS ANOTHER LIFE

🔸A fire broke out on the 10th storey of a HDB flat. However, it spread to the 11th storey and claimed the life of a 48 year old domestic helper who was alone in the house at that time.
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 Mothership

🥳 HELPER CELEBRATED BIRTHDAY FOR THE FIRST TIME

🔸Employers pretended to forget her birthday during the day, only to come back later with a cake in hand to surprise their helper.
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 Mothership

🤯 HELPER STOLE $30K?!

🔸Apparently, she sold the items for cash as she needed the money for her son's operation in Philippines and to repay rolling debts.
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 CNA

🤯 HELPER REWARDED WITH VILLA?!

🔸A soccer manager apparently not only bought helper a house to fulfill her wish, but also helped pay her son's surgery in full.
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 The Independent

🤔 MEDICAL SCREENING TO BE DEFERRED

🩺 The medical screening for foreign maids and female work permit holders, which is done every six months, will be deferred to “ease the patient load and pressure”
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 TODAY/Illi Nadhirah Mansor

🤔 FIXED HOURS OF UNINTERRUPTED REST?

🏖 MOM feels the more important thing is that employers and MDWs maintain open communication regarding respective needs and come to an agreement
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 ST FILE

😱 BREAKING: Employers can get refunds within first 6 months

🏖 Starting from June 2022, employers will be entitled to a refund of at least half the fees for up to 3 helpers.
Read the full article by clicking on the link below👇🏻

📷 ST FILE

5 love languages for Helpers:

#1: Positive words of affirmation

if your helper gets uplifted when you praise her, or gets really affected 😖when you reprimand her,

Chances are one of her primary love languages is “positive words of affirmation”

When she is in the wrong, be sure to give your feedback constructively as she may be extra sensitive to words.

When she does make improve or does her chores well, find opportunities to praise her. 🥳

General rule of thumb: 9x praises 👍🏻 for 1x constructive criticism👎🏻.

This is especially true for helper with this as their primary love language.