For a person to be an employer of a maid, the person:

1. Be 21 years old and above.
2. Must not be an undischarged bankrupt
3. Have the mental capacity to fully understand and discharge his or her responsibility as an employer

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will consider a person’s financial ability to hire, maintain and upkeep the maid in an acceptable accommodation.

As an elderly person typically no longer works and does not have monthly income, supporting documents such as fixed deposits or bank statements may be used to substantiate the elderly person’s financial ability to hire.

Alternatively,

• The elderly person can apply for a maid under the Joint Income Scheme or the Sponsorship Scheme; or
• Another family member who is earning an income and living with the elderly person at the same residential address may be the employer.

Yes, other than taking care of the elderly person, they can help perform household chores for the family residing there such as cooking, cleaning, washing and ironing.

The basic monthly salary for a maid trained in elderly care ranges from $560 to $650 depending on her past working experience. Salary starts from $560 if it is her first time working abroad. If she has worked abroad in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Hong Kong or Singapore, her salary starts from $590.

There is extra pay when she works on Sunday, her rest day. It ranges from $21.54 to $25.00. It is calculated by dividing the basic salary by 26. Use our rest day pay calculator here.

In addition to to paying her monthly salary and MDW levy, you would need to provide her with daily food, accommodation and medical expenses (as needed).

Use our monthly live-in care cost calculator to work out the full costs here.

Households who need to hire a migrant domestic worker to care for their elderly loved ones or persons with disabilities pay a lower monthly concessionary rate of $60. Read our free guide for more information on levy concession here.

There are various grants that your elderly loved one may be eligible for:

1. Home Caregiving Grant (HCG)
2. Pioneer Disability Assistance Scheme (PioneerDAS)

Read of our comprehensive guide on grants here.

With proper elderly care training before departing for Singapore, they not only have the right skills, but also a better understanding of what to expect when taking care of your elderly loved one.

They know what it is like to change diapers, assist in cleaning up after toileting or transferring a wheelchair-bound person from bed to wheelchair.

They understand that the job requires them to wake up a few times at night to attend to the elderly. These can include:

• Turning and positioning a bedbound elderly to prevent pressure injuries (bedsores); or
• Changing diapers to reduce likelihood of diaper rash or urinary tract infections for wheelchair-bound elderly; or
• Assisting to go to the toilet to prevent falls for walking seniors.

Employers commonly encounter issues where their new maids do not want to want to change diapers due to the smell, do not to wake up at night to care for the elderly, complain of backache or difficulties from transferring bed to wheelchair, unable to pick up skills taught while in the hospital for training and handover of care.

When you hire a trained maid for elderly care, you can avoid the trouble of spending time, money and effort to hire anew maid only to have her quit on you when she cannot pick up the skills or find the demands of caregiving get too much for her.