Maid Differences between New EX SG Transfer and EX Abroad

New ex sg transfer and ex abroad – are you looking to hire a new maid?

Whether you are hiring a maid for new parent, or hiring a maid for elderly, you can save significant time and money by hiring one.

Terms such as new ex sg transfer and ex abroad are thrown around flippantly by maid agencies, while many employers have no idea what they mean.

Here is our full breakdown on what each of these terms mean and how to understand them. We also show you the pros and cons of each of these type / category of maids.

New Maid

This is the easiest to understand amongst all the other terms.

Simply put, these maids have never worked in SG or any other locations abroad before.

What are the pros and cons? Let’s take a look:

Pros:

• Usually cheapest to hire – As they have less experience overall, they’re generally cheaper to hire
• Young, generally more energetic – Usually younger, they have a more open outlook to learn from you
• Less family commitments back home – They are usually not married yet with lower family commitments for husband / kids

Cons:

• No experience – You would likely need to train them from scratch
• Need to apply for all MOM paperwork – Including WP, insurance, security bond
• Settling in Program – All first timers working in SG need to attend a mandatory SIP course by the government
• Medical checkup – New maids run the risk of failing the medical exam as it is their first time here
• Full agency fees – You will likely pay for the full agency fees for each new maid compared to the other 3 categories
• 4-6 months of maid loan – New maids pay heavily for their maid loans for period up to 4 to 6 months
• Security bond + insurance – This is mandatory for all maids, however, new maids may incur higher pricing for insurance

EX-Abroad

Similar to new maids, ex-abroad maids have never worked in Singapore before,

However, they have experience in other countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Japan.

Here are the pros and cons of ex-abroad maids:

Pros:

• Very Experienced – They tend to have hands on experience from their work in other countries
• Cheaper than EX-SG usually – Usually lower monthly salary than EX-SG maids.

Cons:

• Need to apply for same MOM paperwork as new maid – All paperwork required for new maids apply here
• Settling in Program – Similar to new maids, they are first time workers here, so SIP applies
• Medical checkup – They may also fail the medical checkup as a first time worker here
• Full agency fees – Higher agency fees charged by your EA as it is considered as a new placement
• 4-6 months of maid loan – Maids also pay heavily at 4 to 6 months of maid loans
• Security bond + insurance – They tend to have higher insurance costs as well as risks are similar to a new maid

Overall, these maids are a good choice but they may have different working expectations. You will need to evaluate them personally during the interview.

EX-Singapore

EX-Singapore or EX-SG maids worked in Singapore before but have returned to home country.

This is either due to family matters (e.g. getting married, giving birth to kids, take care of elderly parents), going back for other job opportunities, or simply to take a break.

However, be careful – some of them may have previous employment mismatch due to performance or attitudes.

Be sure to ask them their tenure in their previous employment in SG, and their reasons for leaving.

Pros:

• Very Experienced – They have extensive SG specific household experience
• Adapted to local SG culture and standards – They adapt quickly to local culture and norms (e.g. what time to sleep, how hardworking they need to be etc)
• Take longer time than transfer maid to come over – They tend to take abit longer to process the necessary paperwork to come over as they are out of the country
• Easier paperwork application – That being said, paperwork is more straight forward as they have worked in SG before
• Cheaper agency fees – This may be true as local EAs have a database of ready EX-SG maids they can activate

Cons:

• Expensive due to SG related experience – Pricing will definitely be a concern as they command a higher salary
• Difficult to find due to high demand – They get snapped up pretty quickly so be sure to move fast!
• May have family commitments – That’s why they returned home in the first place. You run the risk of your maid terminating her employment early due to family emergencies

Transfer Maids

Transfer maids are maids working in Singapore before and still in Singapore.

They have terminated / are looking to terminate their employment with their current employer due to either:

• Change in requirements by employer
• Mismatch in working attitude
• Differences in skill set vs expectations

These types of maids are the trickiest – the reasons why they leave their current employer need to be understood carefully before hiring them.

Pros:

• Very Experienced – They are already working here and have the latest and most recent experience
• Adapted to local SG culture and standards – Similar to EX-SG, they already have local SG standards and expectations
• Easier paperwork application – It is easiest for the EA to help you process such maids
• Cheaper agency fees – As less paperwork is required, fees are generally cheaper
• Fast to start – You can get a maid started in a matter of days if you interview her and like her

Cons

• Expensive due to SG related experience – these are generally expensive in terms of monthly salary
• They may have problems that’s why they stopped employment with current employer – However, it is not always the case as sometimes due to change in employer requirements they no longer need a maid (elderly passing away, children grown up etc)

And that’s it! The 4 categories of maids that you can choose to hire from!

After hiring, make sure to not break any of MOM laws for maids without knowing!

You can also try hiring a maid directly without going through an employment agency (however, this is much more tedious).

Remember to also improve your maid efficiency by doing these 6 things.

Have any questions on any of the above categories of new ex sg transfer and abroad maids? Speak to us and we are more than happy to answer any of your queries!

Also, if you are hiring a maid, be sure to check our Reliable Maid’s available packages!

Our pricing structure is fair and transparent and is the most affordable on the market. Fill up the form below and we will get in touch.