Hiring a Helper as a Working Parent in Singapore

A mother said this to us across the desk last year and it has stuck with the whole team since.

"It is not the cooking that tires me. It is the cleaning."

When both parents work, the day at home does not stop because nobody is there. Here is what we tell working parents who are hiring a helper, based on what we see in these homes every week.

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What working parents ask for first

Most working parents ask for the same thing. A mature, responsible helper who can take care of the children while they are at work.

Most also tell us they do not want to change helpers later, so they ask for the best and most recommended one. That is fair. Changing helpers is hard on the children, and on the parents.

The best helper for your home depends on what your home actually needs, which is the rest of this post.

A normal weekday

In a working parents' home, the helper's day usually starts between 5:30am and 6am and ends between 9pm and 10pm. What fills it depends mostly on the children's ages.

Children	What the helper's day is mostly about
A toddler at home all day	All the meals, showers, play time and putting the child to sleep. More cooking and more cleaning.
Primary school children	School mornings and pick-ups. From about 8 or 9 years old, children usually become more independent.
Teenagers	More housework and cooking, because the children can usually settle themselves.

Plan the helper's breaks and rest into that day, the same way you plan the children's. A long day with no pause is where tiredness and mistakes start.

Homework and tuition

Parents often ask whether a helper can help with homework. She can remind your child to do it and make sure they sit down to it. She usually will not know which homework it is, or how to help with it.

That matters most in the PSLE year. Parents often come to us in the year the pressure peaks, and the reason is rarely academic. They are not looking for a tutor. They are looking for the space to sit with their child in the evening instead of standing at the sink.

If that is your situation, tell us when you brief us. A helper who runs the household well is what gives you that evening back.

The most common mistake when briefing us

It is not being clear about how much you want to train, or how much time you actually have to train.

Some parents come to us already set on one kind of helper. Some want only a fresh helper, often because of the cost. Others want only a helper who has worked in the Middle East before, often because a friend or relative told them to. Either can be the right choice. What matters more is how much time you have to teach the helper in the first few months.

	Fresh helper	Experienced helper
Suits parents who	Want to train her to their own routines	Are tied up and need her to be more independent
Training from you	More at the start	Less

What we look for in a helper for your home

It depends on what you expect from the helper, so we start there. After that, we usually look for:

• Experience, if you do not want to train. Many working parents still choose a fresh helper and train her themselves.
• A helper who cooked for her own family back home. It shows in the kitchen.
• A helper who is a mother herself, or who has looked after children in another country.

When it takes longer to settle

When a placement takes longer to settle, it is usually for one of these reasons:

• Expectations that are hard to meet in the first months, before the helper knows the home well.
• Children who need more attention than expected, and could use more support from the family while the helper settles in.
• A helper who is still learning to juggle several things at once in a busy home.

It helps to decide what matters most in your home. Most helpers are strong in some areas and still growing in others, so knowing your top priorities makes it easier for the helper to do well from the start.

What helps

Clear expectations and a timetable help. Write down what a normal weekday looks like, hour by hour, and which tasks come first when there is not time for everything. It gives the helper something to follow while you are at work, and it gives you both the same picture of a good day.

Go through it with the helper in the first week, and change it once you both see what works.

The helper's rest day

Every helper is entitled to one rest day a week under MOM rules, on a day you agree together. At least one rest day a month cannot be replaced with pay. If she agrees to work on her other rest days, she is paid at least one day's salary for each. Working parents often need weekend help, so agree this clearly at the start. See MOM's rest day guide.

Unistarr Employment Pte Ltd · MOM EA Licence 15C7448
As featured on CNA + 8world, June 2026