S
Sun Jian
Guest
Sir's $42,000 headache
Maid injured in fall after being sent back to agency. Agency and employer fight over hospital bills
By Elysa Chen
June 08, 2010
When his maid stole from him, he sent her back to the maid agency.
A day later, she fell from a fourth-storey flat where the agency was putting her up.
Her injuries led to a $42,000 hospital bill – which her former employer, businessman Tan Boon Leong, 45, has to foot.
Under the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) regulations, the employer is responsible for the maid until her work permit is cancelled.
But Mr Tan refused to pay the bill, claiming that he did not cancel the work permit because he was waiting for a replacement maid from the agency.
Later, MOM hauled him to court for failing to cancel the work permit and for not sending the maid home to Indonesia.
Mr Tan claimed he did not do so as he was worried the authorities would hold him liable for the medical costs if he allowed her to leave the country.
In the end, he paid a $2,000 fine.
