Hiring a migrant domestic worker (MDW) in Singapore

Plenty of expat families here employ a migrant domestic worker (MDW) under MOM's Work Permit framework. Be clear from the start about what that is. It's a regulated employment relationship with you as the employer, not informal cash help, and the all-in monthly cost is easy to undercount if salary is the only line you budget for.

Tips from other employers help, but compliance and belonging are different jobs. We cover the second one in workplace parent and helper-community belonging.

The cost stack (plan with live MOM rates)

Treat these bands as a place to start, then replace them with real quotes as they arrive:

Reddit and the Singapore Expats Forum threads understate the levy and food lines with impressive consistency. A realistic all-in figure for a live-in helper, before you amortise agency fees, is S$1,100–1,800+/month.

The levy trap most relocation packages miss

The concessionary levy of S$60/month isn't automatic for every household with children. MOM's criteria turn on having an eligible person in the household, and for a child that means a Singapore citizen child below 16. The elderly and disability pathways carry their own citizen and PR rules.

Which means a typical EP-plus-DP family with foreign children pays the normal S$300 first-helper levy. That's S$2,880/year more than a concession household pays, every year, before you have bought so much as a bar of soap. Model it properly before anyone in the family starts describing "helper included" as cheap childcare.

Rest days aren't negotiable

She is entitled to one rest day per week, and the two of you have to agree which day it is. If she works that day, you compensate her with at least one day's salary on top of her basic pay. And at least one rest day a month cannot be compensated away, however willing either of you is to trade it for cash.

Update the arrangement in MOM's FDW eService once you have agreed it. The enforcement risk sits with the employer, which is you, not the agency.

Agency hire or transfer

Ask about the deal-breakers early rather than politely. Pets, overnight newborn care, cooking style, English level, whether she is willing to travel with you on family holidays. Those are your questions to ask, not something to outsource to the agency brochure.

Insurance floors you cannot pass on to her

Before she arrives you have to buy medical insurance and personal accident insurance, and you cannot recover either premium from her salary.

The "basic maid insurance" people shop for on Reddit tends to under-insure the catastrophic bills, and the employer stays on the hook for the shortfall, so the saving isn't a saving. Dental is frequently excluded, so budget goodwill separately.

The Settling-In Programme, for first-time helpers

A first-time helper has to attend the 1-day Settling-In Programme within 7 days of arrival, not counting Sundays and public holidays. She cannot start work before she has done it. Miss the window and the Work Permit isn't issued, and she may be sent home. You pay the published SIP fee, around S$76–93 depending on the provider. Register early, because training on the same day she lands isn't allowed.

Send her to the centre with the full IPA set, her passport, a copy of her education certificate, and the ICA digital arrival card.

Live-in helper or part-time cleaners

MOM has pointed households with lighter chore needs toward part-time housekeeping, through the Household Services Scheme or commercial cleaners, as an alternative to employing an MDW outright. The comparison that runs on Reddit now comes down to two shapes.

A live-in helper gives you childcare overlap and evening coverage, at a higher fixed monthly cost and with the whole employer compliance burden sitting on you. Part-time cleaners are flexible, involve no levy and no bond, and provide no childcare by default, which is exactly the gap you feel when a toddler is sick at 06:30 and someone has to stay home.

If both parents work full-time and there are infants in the house, part-time cleaners rarely replace a helper. If what you actually need is a deep clean twice a week and the children are school-age, they often do.

What condos and HDB flats allow

Confirm the helper room and occupant norms before you sign a lease that assumes a live-in. Some places are entirely practical about it. Some layouts force creative sleeping arrangements that wear down everyone in the flat, including her. Worth reading alongside condo vs HDB and heartland living.

Your obligations as the employer

• Valid Work Permit sponsorship, and the required medical insurance in place
• Levy paid on time, because a failed GIRO deduction triggers penalties
• Adequate housing, food, and safe working conditions
• Lawful salary practices and rest-day compliance
• Telling MOM about address or household changes when required

Timeline realism for arriving families

1. Shortlist your agency or transfer route before wheels-down if you possibly can
2. Line the lease start up with her arrival, because the first weeks without care are brutal with infants
3. Budget a buffer month for a mismatch or a rehire, which is common and not a moral failure
4. Keep the preschool waitlists running in parallel, covered in preschool and childcare

Hiring an MDW is often what makes two careers possible in Singapore. Just treat it as regulated employment with a five-line cost model, rather than a soft lifestyle upgrade.