What Should You Do If Your Maid Disappears? – You can feel a number of emotions from stress to anger when you find that your maid has disappeared.
When your maid disappears suddenly then you may have to bear a significant amount of financial loss as you are responsible for her safety and location. But you can convert this stressful situation into a stress-free one by using a few careful steps.
Some of these steps are briefly discussed hereunder to help you in this regard.
Analyze the situation
When you recognize that your maid has disappeared then your first step can be to search around in your neighborhood or call the police instantly. But before taking either of these steps you can take a few small steps to start with like calling her repeatedly.
You may not be able to see her if she is late to reach you due to some other important task, or has been stalled by someone, etc.
You can start checking her belongings in her room if you fail to get any response. You can expect her back if her belongings are in her room. But if you do not find any belongings in her room then you should contact authorities as her disappearance is confirmed.
Review the contract of the employment agency and contact them
When your maid disappears then first of all you should review the contract of the employment agency to know about their policy of refund of security.
It is mandatory for the employment agency to inform you about their policy for the placement fee, according to MOM or the Ministry of Manpower.
You will not be liable for the refund of any placement fee, full or partial, in case your maid disappears, if any placement fee is not charged by the employment agency. But, if you have paid this fee then you can expect a refund as per the terms of the contract.
So, reviewing the contract can help you in communicating with the agency more confidently. You can contact the employment agency to inform them about the disappearance of your maid so that they can search her at the embassy of her country or with other agencies.
Contact the embassy of your maid or NGOs of domestic workers
Along with the employment agency, you can also contact the embassy of the country of your maid as well as NGOs related to domestic workers to find your disappeared maid. The chances of finding her at these two places are high.
Inform the police
You should call the police and file a report about the disappearance of your maid if you are not able to find her within 24 hours. By informing police you will not only get help from professionals to find her but also convince the MOM about fulfilling your responsibility in this regard.
Contact the MOM or the Ministry of Manpower
Within7 days of the disappearance of your maid you must contact MOM to inform in this regard by canceling your maid’s permit to work. It will allow you to find her and send her back to her home within one month otherwise half of your security bond will be forfeited.
However, you will be liable to pay a minimum amount according to the agreement of the insurer, if you have included a waiver to oppose indemnity to the insurance of your maid.
But you can lose the entire amount of the security bond if you fail to find her within three months unless you appeal to MOM for the refund of a bond.
Try to reduce the costs
When your maid disappears, you will have to bear certain costs, whether you are able to find her or not. In case you find her, you will have to pay her residual fee, and the cost of sending her back to her home along with the fee of the maid you have replaced.
Though these costs seem to be unfair still you can minimize them by opting for a few alternatives like:
- You can buy an air ticket with a flexible date in advance from a discount or budget travel site during the month you have to find her
- You can also buy an insurance plan for your maid with a generous policy of refund and an option of a waiver of counter indemnity.
- You can also opt for finding a maid agency that refunds your placement fee or does not charge any fee in advance.
What Should You Do If Your Maid Disappears? – Conclusion
Thus, when your maid disappears, you can handle the things favorably by following the tips discussed in this write-up