An FDW employment history is crucial in hiring domestic helpers, especially when you are new to the process. You can seek help from employment agencies or obtain the FDW’s employment history from their previous employers.
If you have an elderly patient or children to take care of at home, you have to be careful choosing the candidates for maids to hire. They will live with your family, so you must hire candidates with proven track records.
This will guide you in setting the criteria and restrictions for employing maids. We will also help you understand more about FDW’s particulars, work permits, getting in touch with an employment agency, and other things you may need to know about foreign domestic workers.
FDW – The Definition
FDW means foreign domestic workers, also referred to as domestic helpers or maids. They are from other countries and came to Singapore to work.
A foreign domestic worker gets assigned to work in an employer’s home from Singapore by an employment agency. Before prospective employers can hire them, they must file the requirements for the Singapore Work Permit for domestic workers.
These maids can be assigned to work for employers needing people to look after the older adults or children in their families. Your maid can also do house chores, depending on what they have agreed on and signed in their contract.
Singapore only accepts certain nationalities to apply as foreign domestic workers. Employers also have criteria set by the government to pass to be eligible to hire maids.
Maid’s Strengths and Other Criteria Employers Set in Hiring a Foreign Domestic Worker
Employers need to set criteria on what they need and what qualities they’re looking for in domestic helpers.
Here are some questions you can ponder on as an employer, which you can relay to an employment agency once you begin looking for a domestic helper, including the FDW’s employment history, and employment record:
- Do you want a maid who will follow your every order?
- Do you want someone who can work and decide independently and with minimal supervision?
- Are you after FDW employment to look after one or more members of your family?
- Are you after maids who can do your home chores?
- Do you have a specific age range for the maids you intend to employ?
- What feedback do you want to hear about the helper from their former employers?
- How do you plan to check the employment history of the maid you want to hire?
- What is your ideal candidate for a helper?
- Are you willing to hire an FDW, or do you only want to sign a local candidate?
Getting in Touch with Previous Employers to Learn More about the FDW Employment History
Most previous employers would agree to discuss an FDW employment history to help their former employees and possible employers like you.
However, some employers are careful and refrain from having their contact details shared with their maids. There are also instances when the maids don’t include the contact details of their former employers because they fear what they will say.
If you are given the contact details of the former employers that can enlighten you about the FDW employment history, you have to list the right questions. Your girl is to find out as much information as you can about the maid.
What to Ask
You need to be specific about what to ask a previous employer if you want to learn more about the maid’s employment history. You can try asking a previous employer about the following in reference to the FDW’s employment history:
- Describe the usual workday of the foreign domestic worker while they were working for you.
- What are the strengths of the maid as an employee?
- Does the maid cook?
- Can the maid follow recipes if requested by the employer?
- How is the maid with the people they look after and care for?
- How is the maid with the elderly members of the family and with the children?
Why Ask about a Maid’s Background?
Getting in touch with a former employer in Singapore is easier when hiring a Singapore transfer maid. The latter would have to sign a contract or an issuance of a declaration noting that they agree with the transfer.
You can also ask domestic helpers to bring reference letters during the interview.
How Can Singapore Employers Check a Maid’s Employment History Online?
MOM or the Ministry of Manpower is your second best bet in finding out more about the employment history of a domestic worker if you failed to get hold of their previous employers.
MOM has a record of the employment history of all the foreign workers in Singapore.
How to Access MOM
You need a Singpass account to get this done. You can apply for Singpass login details if you don’t have one. Go to the ministry’s website, log in and input the maid’s work permit or passport number.
You will get detailed information about the feedback of the maid’s former employers, including their performance, work attitude, and behavior.
The ministry gets these details by asking employers for the work permit number and the name of their domestic helper. They also require the employer’s name, contact details, and National Registration Identity Card number.
The ministry records everything, including past misconduct or ill-treatment of the domestic helpers. You can still hire the maids who have been reported for bad behavior, and the ministry will help you process the application.
They only place on a blacklist domestic workers who have been found guilty of offense under Singapore laws.
The Importance of Feedback on Workers
As an employer, you have to give the maids applying to work for you the benefit of the doubt in cases when they have been reported for misconduct. Some employers report their employees because they can’t get along with them.
However, what one employer finds rude may be what another employer is searching for. Other employers report their maids after leaving them because they have mistreated their employees.
Final Words
Getting ahold of your FDW’s work history will help a lot in deciding what questions to ask during the hiring process. You can also search for these details online.
However, if you are in a hurry or can’t afford to fail in your quest to find someone who can provide superior elder care services for a loved one, you may want to source them from RC Caregivers.
We have years of experience in the industry, and we’re proud to claim that we have the best centre-based care and home nursing services for the elderly in Singapore.
