<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Maid agencies should clarify expenses on maids better
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->MRS PADMINI Kesavapany's letter "Maid recruiting agents enjoying unfair advantages" last Saturday has raised some pertinent questions regarding maid agencies.
Maid agencies have a moral obligation to explain how they arrive at the fees they charge the maids they recruit.
The maid I hired two months ago had arrived from the Philippines more than a year and a half ago. The agency had not even paid for her airfare. After the agency found her an employer, she had to give up six and a half months' salary to the agency. When she was transferred to me, after 15 months with her first employer, she had to give up a further two months' salary to the agency.
A simple calculation would indicate that she was working without pay for close to half the time she was here. This is preposterous. Maid agencies may cite expenses incurred for training and providing food and lodging while the maids wait for suitable employment, but they need to be more transparent and upfront about this.
Sulochana Devi (Ms)
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->MRS PADMINI Kesavapany's letter "Maid recruiting agents enjoying unfair advantages" last Saturday has raised some pertinent questions regarding maid agencies.
Maid agencies have a moral obligation to explain how they arrive at the fees they charge the maids they recruit.
The maid I hired two months ago had arrived from the Philippines more than a year and a half ago. The agency had not even paid for her airfare. After the agency found her an employer, she had to give up six and a half months' salary to the agency. When she was transferred to me, after 15 months with her first employer, she had to give up a further two months' salary to the agency.
A simple calculation would indicate that she was working without pay for close to half the time she was here. This is preposterous. Maid agencies may cite expenses incurred for training and providing food and lodging while the maids wait for suitable employment, but they need to be more transparent and upfront about this.
Sulochana Devi (Ms)
