[edwina]

Has anyone experienced that your domestic helpers are always on the phone? they use their own mobile phone with headsets. She gets pissed off when I told her off (even gently). This is a real headache for me in terms of managing a maid.

Can anyone offer me advice?

[carang]

my helper uses her headset when she's preparing dinner and cooking...personally it doesn't bother me.... so long as when she's taking care of my son, she's giving him 100%...

[edwina]

My helper uses the phone whenever she feels like it, even when she is taking care of my son, and when I am not around (I am a working mom). I have requested her to make the phone conversation short, and I expect her to exercise her own judgement when to use it and for how long. She seemed to get dragged away with the excitement when a friend called.

I have never raised my voice when talking to her even when she did something wrong, I reckoned that she is taking adavantage of my good nature, as I give her a lot of freedom during the day so long as she gets the work done.

Anybody else who can share their comments and advice?

[HKfornow]

I don't know if this can help you now, but when I hired my helper, I told her straight out, she is not to use the phone while around my child, because being on the phone will distract her attention. I know she uses her cell phone when she cooks sometimes and that's ok, however, whenever I need her, i expect her to hang up and take care of things. Maybe you could sit down with your helper and tell her your concerns and see how that goes, because after all she SHOULD take your concerns seriously.

[intrigue]

my helper's phone rings a lot (a quiet gentle unobtrusive ring tone) but luckily she uses her discretion whether or not she'll engage in a long conversation or simply tell her friends that she'll call back. she also only takes phonecalls in her room and would never dream of walking around with a headset.

I have told her two things though - if I call out for her she must hang up immediately and... secondly... once when she came home from a walk I saw her mobile phone was tucked next to the baby's thigh while he was lying in the buggy... I have asked her to keep the mobile in her pocket or her bag and its not to be near my son (too much on the news about damage caused by mobiles).

so... if it does bother you, ask her to only use her phone in her room - I think thats reasonable!

[Seb's Dad]

edwina

from what you are saying, your concern is very genuine.

you have tried to talk with your helper before about her phone use and she still continues? i have a lot of girlfriends who are teachers and as they point out, they're not allowed to use their mobiles when they're at work...why should it be different for their helpers.

i do agree with cara that when preparing dinner or having spare time it is fine to be on the phone, but not when she is with your child.

to ensure that she is understanding your requests, i would sit her down and air the topic again, just to make sure she understands when it is okay to use her mobile, and when it is not.

tess and seb's dad

[shaz]

I am a very understaning person but there is to be no phone whilst my maid is caring for my son or during her work, same for us, we work and our bosses don't appreciate us nagging on the phone during office hours. I layed the rules down first with her. She can use it when she is done for the day which is normally after washing the dishes. She chats anyway whilst im at work and my son at school, which is fine as long as she gets her work done. I just dont like it when we are around and she's chatting. she respects that and turns her phone off, she is great! I cant imigine them takling on the phone while cooking, thats a recipe for disaster!

[edwina]

Thanks everybody on their feedback.

I think it is a difficult thing to handle as the maid (be it Indonesian or Philippines), they all seem to hang on to their phone as a life-saving device.

Thankfully, my maid has improved a bit after I touch on the subject lightly a few weeks ago.

However, when I walk around the housing estate that I live in. I see a lot of maids either speaking with their headsets when they are patrolling with the prams or busy keying in their SMS. It's happening in clubhouse, in lifts, in shopping mall.