FDW Pretended to be Uncooperative As She Was Poached By Her Ex-Employer

When I think of the word “poached”, I immediately think of eggs.

Oh, and the act of getting someone to leave their job and join you.

And the latter’s what happened to this domestic worker after her former employer apparently asked her to stop working for her current employer and return to work for her.

As a result, her current employer will need to spend an additional $5,100 to hire a new domestic worker.

Here’s what happened.

Domestic Helper Suddenly Turned Cold and Uncooperative

When speaking to Shin Min Daily News, the helper’s current employer, surnamed Liang (Hanyu pinyin), explained that she hired the domestic helper last September.

The domestic helper, who is from Indonesia, was initially well-behaved and could speak English fluently. She also got along well with Ms Liang’s children and Ms Liang’s family as a whole, and Ms Liang described her relationship with the helper as pleasant.

Ms Liang even bought six sets of new clothes for her helper during the recent Chinese New Year period, and the helper was so happy that she hugged Ms Liang and made heart gestures towards her.

However, the helper suddenly became cold towards Ms Liang and her family on 1 February. Apart from acting coldly and in an uncooperative manner, she even told Ms Liang directly that she wanted to change her employer.

This confused Ms Liang, who commented that her helper’s change in behaviour was “way too sudden”.

Sent Helper Back to Agent Over Concern But Got Accused by Helper Instead

After hearing the helper’s request, Ms Liang decided to bring her back to the agent the next day as she was concerned that her helper was facing psychological issues.

However, once they got to the agent, the helper suddenly acted out furiously and accused Ms Liang of “framing her”. She said that Ms Liang accused her of being a thief and stealing money.

The helper also firmly insisted that she change her employer.

This came as a shock to Ms Liang as the helper was usually mild-tempered.

Only Found Out the Truth After Checking the Helper’s Phone

Ms Liang then recalled how she once found out that her helper was still in contact with her former employer when she helped the helper settle some issues with her phone in the past.

When she thought about that, she became suspicious and requested to check the helper’s phone in front of the agent.

Upon checking her helper’s phone, she found out that one of the two domestic helpers hired by the ex-employer was intending to resign.

Hence, the former employer told her domestic helper that she hoped that the helper could return to work for her.

The former employer even encouraged the domestic helper to make up excuses in order for the agent to agree to the transfer procedures.

Ms Liang then predicted that her helper’s former employer probably wanted to wait until she and her family paid off the helper’s loan of $3,850 before re-hiring her so that she would not need to help pay for the loan.

According to her, she and her family were required to help pay the helper’s loan over the first six months of the helper’s contract.

Former Employer Told Helper to Lie to Agent

Apart from that, Ms Liang also said that she once gave her helper $5 to buy a $3.50, but her helper returned with $1 in change instead of the $1.50.

She had intended to remind her helper to double-check if stallholders give her the correct change in the future, but the helper took it the wrong way and thought that Ms Liang was accusing her of being a thief.

After some explanation, the helper realised that it was a misunderstanding and returned Ms Liang the 50 cents afterwards as well.

However, the former employer instructed the helper through text messages to tell the agent that she did not get along with Ms Liang.

The former employer also told the helper to bring up the $0.50 incident and say that she wanted to change employers as Ms Liang constantly thought that she stole things from her and distrusted her.

Said that She Can Immediately Process the Helper’s Transfer, but the Former Employer Would Need to Help Pay Off the Loan and Transfer Fees

After reading the messages between her helper and her helper’s former employer, Ms Liang decided to call the former employer on the spot and confronted her about the incident.

Apart from that, Ms Liang also told the former employer that she could immediately process the transfer for her helper.

However, she mentioned that the former employer would need to help pay the remainder of the loan and foot the transfer fees as well.

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Ms Liang Needs to pay $5,100 to Hire a New Helper

After hearing Ms Liang’s requests, the former employer decided two days later that she no longer wanted to hire the helper due to the extra costs.

Instead, she accused Ms Liang by saying that the helper told her that working at Ms Liang’s house was “extremely tough”.

She also said that that was why she suggested re-hiring the domestic helper.

In the end, Ms Liang decided to transfer her helper so that the helper no longer worked for her and signed the relevant documents on 16 February.

Now, she has to spend another $3,900 for the next domestic helper’s loan and an additional $1,200 on other expenses to hire her next domestic helper, bringing the total amount of money she has to spend to $5,100.