Help me out here a little, I'm kinda having a brief "Back To The Future" moment reading this thread and various responses. Are we still in 2008, or back in the good ol' 1850s?
Chill, guys n' gals.
I believe most of us don't know how to deal with domestic workers. All our lives, we've been (well, not all of us) subjected to pressure/job scopes/responsibilities/deadlines/abuses/intimidation at our work places by our bosses, clients etc. So much so that, at times, this "survival instinct" often rears its ugly head within our homes too, when we have to deal with an "employee-employer" situation.
To make things confusing, there's no 8x5 agreement where the domestic worker can say "Whooops, 5pm, I'm knocking off back to my window-less bomb-shelter/store room. See you tomorrow at 9am, cheerio!"
Regardless,
any relationship that has to fall back on contracts/agreements is NOT a viable/sustainable one. Can you imagine your boss giving you a dress-down every morning you show up to work at 9:01am because you failed to oblige to the contractually agreed reporting hour of 9:00am? God knows there are bosses like this at our offices, whom we gleefully refer to as bas***ds and bi***es during kopi breaks with our kakis/colleagues.
So to those who aren't exactly having a good relationship with their domestic workers, try talking it out. I know it's not easy, but that's the challenge about bringing a human being into the house, be it your new husband/wife, your in-laws, your live-in boyfriend/girlfriend, and yes, your domestic worker.
If it's just the domestic worker you're having challenges with at home, count yourself lucky... the other "human beings" you bring in to your home
rarely leave you with just the cost of a plane ticket.