Helper Horror #1: Threats, Lies, Thievery

Helper horror stories?  I've got tons of these!  This series of blogs will chronicle our worst, personal experiences as well as our learning points. 

Our worst experience thus far was a maid/cook we hired via an agency.  She stayed with us for a little over 3 months and was quite competent.  She quickly became a family favorite, well-liked and trusted by everyone.  One day she expressed agitation over her baby (not yet a year old) upon hearing the news that he had been admitted to a hospital due to a high fever that had already been raging for 3 days.  My mother gave the maid her wages and advised her to take a leave already instead of waiting for her scheduled leave 2 days later.  Oddly enough, she wasn't in a hurry to leave (I'd be panicking if my baby was taken to the hospital without me!).  It took quite a bit of prodding to get her to rush to her baby's side.  She reluctantly left in the afternoon.

A few days later, she asked for a loan of P5000 to pay for her baby's hospital bill.  We usually don't agree to loans until a maid has been with us for at least 6 months, but due to the emergency, we agreed and sent the money via LBC. 

Two weeks had passed and she still continued to request for extended leave - and more money!  We contacted the agency by this time to explain that we badly needed a maid and requested for a replacement with the following conditions:

(1) Our current maid would be given a job elsewhere as soon as she was able.  The agency claimed there were a lot of openings and this wouldn't be a problem.

(2) She may keep the initial P5000 we lent her as our aid to her child.  We will give her more based on her latest plea for more money, which she could pay back in installments once she was working again.

The maid did not take to this well.  She started sending threats and curses via text messages.  Alarmed and confused at her rage and as to why she'd want to go back (most would be thrilled at not having to pay back P5000), we questioned our other helpers.  They told us that the maid kept a locked drawer that no one was privy to.  We jimmied it open and discovered stolen items including health cards belonging to myself, my husband, and my daughter; and a picture of my baby.  We also found a pack of MSG, which we assumed she'd been putting in our food.  It would explain the sudden spike in my mother's blood pressure (she's allergic to MSG, hence, we ban it from our kitchen) that couldn't be explained or controlled despite medication.

We reported the incident to the barangay office.  Later that same day, the maid also went to the barangay to claim that we hadn't been paying her wages!  We had no proof save for the testimonies of our other helpers.  Thankfully, the maid's story had a lot of loopholes during the hearing and she refused to sign the documents presented by the barangay, so her complaints were dismissed.  We still have the option of taking her to court for thievery.

Learning points:

(1) Keep a logbook and have your help sign every time you give them their salary. 

(2) Make sure your hired help (especially if they come from an agency) can present an NBI and barangay clearance.