A 31-year-old Myanmar domestic worker was fired by her Singaporean employer who later filed a report to the police after she found scratches on her 16-month-old daughter’s back on the day of her worker’s departure.
The 33-year-old woman told the Lianhe Wanbao (Singapore) that she had hired the domestic worker to care for her newborn daughter as both she and her husband worked full-time.
The worker had at first reportedly performed satisfactorily in terms of completing domestic chores and playing happily with the toddler. However, after a few days, her attitude changed and she refused to complete tasks she was asked to do.
Poor relations between the employer and the domestic worker lasted more than two months, during which the employer made three or four attempts to get help from the employment agency.
By April 9, the employer was sufficiently angry about several shortcomings that she notified the agency who picked up the domestic worker the next day. Soon after the worker had gone, the mother found scratch marks on her daughter’s back while changing her nappy.
The employer was also angry that she had to provide a meal allowance to her former worker for up to 21 days, or if the worker failed to secure a new job, she would have to pay for the domestic worker’s flight home to Myanmar.
According to the agency, the employer had been informed of the contract terms covering the eventuality of an early termination.
Meanwhile, the domestic worker has been able to secure a new job in Singapore, said the agency.