S'pore influencer films herself berating domestic worker for being 'slow', uses it as complaint to agency

A Singaporean woman, unhappy with the domestic worker she employed for being "slow", filmed herself berating the worker and sent the video to her agency to complain.

The agency, Regent Maid Agency, then posted the video along with a statement on Facebook saying it wished to address the situation as they were made aware that the woman would be complaining about them on social media.

The agency said the woman is an "influencer" but did not disclose her identity for privacy reasons, and identified her as "L".

What happened

In the video, the woman is seen sitting in front of a table, with the domestic worker standing by her side.

An account book, a piece of paper and a pen were on the table.

"Can you hear me? I'm not scolding you now," L said to the worker.

In the video, the worker can be seen standing an arm's length away from L as she holds her wrist with her other arm.

"I've been asking you for the past five minutes, so I decided to take a video because you're not answering me," L said.

The employer then said the worker had not spoken for a "minute and 46 seconds" since the video began and asked if she would answer.

After a moment of silence, L abruptly slammed her hand on the table and shouted, "Hello?" to the worker.

"You think what? My time is very what?" L asked.

"What do you think you are?" she added.

Subsequent footage showed L flipping through a booklet where household chores such as vacuuming and cleaning the hall were written, with the minutes logged next to it.

The agency told Mothership L complained her worker's work pace was "very slow", so the latter was given a notebook to log down the chores she did and the duration taken to complete each task.

L paused and tapped a page in the booklet in the video, appearing to highlight that the worker did not write down the duration taken for her to complete later tasks.

The agency said L expressed dissatisfaction with the worker not filling the notebook on time as per L’s requirements.

Unsatisfied with English proficiency and work pace

The 25-year-old worker, who comes from Myanmar, began working with L on Jul. 12.

L's complaints began on Jul. 16 "regarding the worker's language proficiency and performance".

The agency told Mothership L's requirement for a worker was to speak English well despite her budget being a fresh worker’s salary.

"Our agent had managed L’s expectations prior to the confirmation of the worker," Regent Maid Agency said.

It added L was unsatisfied with the worker’s way of folding the clothes and trained the worker to refold the clothes till satisfactory.

"This lasted for the whole day and ended at midnight," the agency said, adding its agent reminded L that a worker needs to be given at least eight hours of rest each day.

"The worker experienced significant stress due to the work environment, including instances of verbal abuse," the agency said, adding she sought assistance and considered repatriation due to the challenging conditions.

Agency said L and her family were aggressive to its agents

"Despite our efforts to align expectations and offer support, these issues have continued," said Regent Maid Agency, adding its employees frequently counselled the worker to address L’s concerns.

"L and her family remain aggressive to our agents," Regent Maid Agency claimed, giving examples where L's family have "aggressively shouted and threatened" its staff with negative publicity on media platforms.

According to the agency, L also said she intended to publicly highlight her experiences to prevent other employers from facing similar issues through her position as a social media influencer.

L request to have the worker replaced

L also requested to replace the worker, but the agency explained, "As per the service agreement signed, if an employer requires a replacement worker, third-party fees are applicable."

The employer was informed of this when signing the service agreement, Regent Maid Agency said.

The agency said L claimed that many of her friends said their agencies do not charge any fee for taking a replacement worker.

The Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) is assisting with the issue

While they tried their best to address L's feedback and provide their help, the agency said L continued to be dissatisfied, with persistent inquiries and complaints that sometimes come in after operating hours, even around midnight.

The agency told Mothership since posting the video, the Centre for Domestic Employees (CDE) has contacted the agency to assist with the issue.

CDE told Mothership it was aware of the incident and had escalated the matter to the Ministry of Manpower for further investigations.

It encourages any migrant domestic worker in need of assistance to reach out to the organisation through its 24-hour helpline at 1800-2255-233 or via Facebook.

Top image via Regent Maid Agency Facebook