Part-time Maid Vs Full time Problem.... Which is a better choice? Deep blue sea or the frying pan?

Few people staying in Singapore are out of the rat race. Many of us spend more time at the office than at home.  We see our colleagues and our business counterparts a lot more than our family. The last thing we want to do when we get home is HOUSEWORK. We want to come home to a clean environment, peaceful and with no worries.

The question to ask is “Do you really need a full time maid?”

A full time maid can be very convenient to have, when it comes to taking care of the aged, the sick, the young and washing of the family car. It is however a package thing. You may get more than what you ask for and often it is undesirable

5 Reasons why people prefers a part time maid to a full time one.

  
 -  Peace of Mind

 - Reliabilty

 -  Strengthening of family ties

 -  More economical

 -  Privacy

1.     Peace of mind

Is your child safe? Are your family members safe in the hands of a full time maid? What is this about child abuse by maids again in the papers? Is the husband having an affair with the maid? Is the maid having a boyfriend? Why does the maid look pregnant?

With part time maid, you won’t have this problem

2.      Reliabilty   

Ever heard of your neighbours complain of stupid maids before?

Most of the maids come from countries that are not as advanced as Singapore. Many of the maids come from rural areas of these countries. They do not know our culture, they do not know what is the standard required. They may not even know why they are here.

If you do not train them well enough, be prepared. They will break things. They will waste. They will do things that you will never imagine of and at the end of the day they do what they do best, they act blur. If you ask them to clean the floor beneath the furniture, they will do it accordingly. Do watch out however that they could try moving the refrigerator and washing machine to try to clean the floor. They would also sweep the dirt under the carpet. Is their work reliable?

Do you want to spend time training them and monitoring them all the time? Or do you prefer to spend time with your family?

With part time maid, you won’t have this problem

3.      Strengthening Of Family Ties

Will the full time maid be closer to your child than you? Are you spending enough time at home? Is the domestic helper diluting your family culture? Do you need to obtain help from your parents or in laws to keep an eye on the maid?

With part time maid, you won’t have this problem. You can skip the housework and spend time with your children

4.       Cost

For a full time maid, you would have to pay for worker’s levy, agency fees, medical bills, food etc. They may break your things; they may use your laundry detergent at 3 times the speed as what is considered normal. They may cook 5kg of rice in a week when only 1kg at most is needed.

	Upfront Fees	Monthly Maintenance
Agency fees	$1,800
Insurance	$328
Medical/in-setting program	$350
Maid’s Loan	$1650 ($550 x 3months)
Levy		$170
Food and food wastage		$100-$400
Utilties and other wastage		$50-$150
Salary		$550
Other costs (medical etc)		$0-$50
Total	$4128	$870-$1320

There is more certainty when you acquire the service of a part time maid

It costs $12.00- $17.50 an hour on weekdays while on a weekend it is just $20.00- $22.00 an hour. If you have 4hrs of cleaning per week, the cost is just $288-$352 for a month. There is no upfront fee.

Which one is cheaper to have?

5.      Privacy and other issues

With a full time maid at home 24hrs a day, are you able to do the things you could have done if you were alone? Is your maid telling all her other maid friends in the neighbourhood something about you and your family?

Not to forget something important here, maids are also human and they do throw tantrums. Some maids may get vengeful when you ask too much of them. Actions taken by them can vary from putting something into your food to endangering your family’s life.

There are also theft cases and cases whereby they bring their boyfriend home when you aren’t around. They can accuse the employer of molest or abuse. They may accidentally fall to their death, not knowing that it is dangerous to live in high rise buildings.

With part time maid, you won’t have this problem.

Summing up, a part time domestic helper is overall better to have than a full time one. Unless there is an aged or handicapped at home, do away with the full time maid. Most children attend the full day pre-school and would often have their grandparents to look after them.

If a person wants to talk about full time maid's issue, even 40 pages will not be enough to write. Thus employ a full time maid only when absolutely necessary. It will mean LESS headache & LESS heartache.