Upwill
Manpower Placement Agency

Helper's First Month in Singapore — Day-by-Day Settling-In Guide (2026)

By Upwill Editorial TeamMOM-licensed agency • EA Licence 24C2628
Reviewed by Wendy Tan, Director, Upwill Pte Ltd

Your helper has just cleared immigration at Changi. The next 30 days will quietly decide how the next two years go. Employers who treat week 1 as "she'll figure it out" tend to be the same employers calling agencies in month 3 asking for a transfer. Employers who run a deliberate first-month playbook almost never have that problem.

This is a practical, day-by-day settling-in programme for Singapore employers in 2026 — covering MOM's mandatory Settling-in Programme (SIP), house orientation, training, banking, the rest day conversation, and what "good" looks like at the end of month 1.

Reviewed by Wendy Tan, EA Personnel, Upwill Employment Services (MOM EA Licence 24C2628).

Day 1: Arrival from the airport

Day 1 is not the day to train anyone. It is the day to make a stranger feel safe in a new country. She has likely been awake for 18-24 hours, eaten unfamiliar food on the plane, and is processing the fact that she will not see her family for the next two years.

What to do on Day 1:

  • Collect her at the airport personally (or have your agent do the airport pick-up and bring her to your home).
  • Offer water, a simple meal she recognises (rice, chicken, vegetables — keep it bland), and a shower.
  • Show her where she will sleep, where the toilet is, and where to find drinking water at 3am.
  • Give her her own phone or confirm hers works on a Singapore SIM. She must be able to call home that evening.
  • Take a clear photo of her Work Permit card (front and back) for your records, then hand the card to her — by law, she holds her own Work Permit. You may verify it later using our Work Permit status check guide.
  • Do not hold her passport. MOM is explicit on this.

Skip the house tour, the rules speech, and the cooking demo on Day 1. Those belong to Day 2 onwards.

Week 1: House orientation

Week 1 is orientation, not performance. Your goal is for her to know where things are and how the household runs — not to evaluate her cooking yet.

Day 2-3: The walk-through

  • Tour every room. Show her cleaning supplies, the washing machine cycle you use, the iron, the vacuum, where chemicals are stored.
  • Demonstrate appliances she may not have used: induction hob, dishwasher, robot vacuum, smart locks. Don't assume.
  • Walk her to the nearest wet market, supermarket, MRT, clinic, and police post. She needs a mental map of the neighbourhood.
  • Set up her phone with WhatsApp, Google Maps, and your contact numbers (you, your spouse, the agency, the nearest hospital).

Day 4-7: Soft start on duties

Pick two or three core duties to start with — usually laundry, sweeping/mopping, and one simple meal a day. Build from there. The mistake is throwing the full job description at her on Monday morning.

Settling-in Programme (SIP) attendance

The Settling-in Programme is a one-day, MOM-mandated course every first-time migrant domestic worker in Singapore must attend within three working days of arrival. If your helper has worked in Singapore before, she is exempt.

  • Duration: 1 day (roughly 8 hours, classroom-based).
  • Cost: approximately S$75, payable by the employer.
  • Content: safety (working at heights, window cleaning rules), employment conditions and rights, stress management, relationship management with the employer's family, and adapting to life in Singapore.
  • Providers: MOM-accredited training centres. Your agency typically books the slot for you.
  • Transport: arrange transport to and from the SIP venue, or instruct her clearly on the bus/MRT route.

The SIP is also when she learns — from a neutral third party — that she has a right to keep her own phone, her own Work Permit, and a weekly rest day. Smart employers welcome that. It removes ambiguity.

Employer's Orientation Programme (EOP)

If you are a first-time employer of a migrant domestic worker, you must complete the EOP before her In-Principle Approval is issued. It is a separate course for you (online or classroom, about 3 hours, around S$35).

Weeks 2-3: Routine building and training

By week 2 she has slept properly, attended SIP, and seen the house. Now you build the actual routine.

Write down the weekly schedule

Don't keep it in your head. A simple printed schedule — Monday: bedrooms + laundry, Tuesday: kitchen deep clean, etc. — removes 80% of the "why didn't you do X" arguments. Pin it to the fridge.

Cooking

Cook with her, not at her, for the first two weeks. Show her how your family likes rice cooked, how much salt, which oil. Most helper-employer cooking disputes come from assumptions — yours and hers.

Childcare and eldercare

If she is caring for a baby, toddler, or elderly parent, shadow her for at least the first 7-10 days of that duty. Do not leave her alone with a vulnerable family member in week 1.

Phones, social media, and visitors

Agree the rules in writing: when she can use her phone, whether friends can visit, and the house Wi-Fi password. MOM expects her to have reasonable access to her phone — banning it outright is a red flag.

Banking and remittance setup

Most helpers want to send money home by the end of month 1. Help her do it properly:

  • Bank account: POSB, DBS, and several other banks offer accounts for migrant domestic workers with the Work Permit and passport. Your agency can usually walk her through this in week 2.
  • Salary transfer: from 2024 onwards, MOM strongly encourages electronic salary payment. Pay into her bank account and keep a written or digital record she signs each month. See our 2026 helper salary guide for the current benchmark figures.
  • Remittance: licensed remittance providers (Wise, Western Union, Remitly, BigPay, and bank channels) are all legal. Let her choose. Do not handle her remittance for her.

Rest day arrangement conversation

Every migrant domestic worker in Singapore is entitled to a weekly rest day. As of the 2023 reform, she is entitled to at least one rest day per month that cannot be compensated away — the remaining rest days can be compensated in cash if she agrees in writing.

  • Which day of the week is her rest day? (Sunday is most common but not required.)
  • Does she want all four taken as off-days, or compensate some?
  • If compensating, the rate is at least one day's salary per rest day worked.
  • Document it. Both of you sign. Keep a copy.

Full breakdown on our rest days resource page.

Cultural and dietary considerations

  • Religion: Muslim helpers need a halal kitchen workflow. Catholic helpers may want Sunday off for church. Buddhist helpers may have specific fasting days.
  • Food she eats: she does not have to eat your family's food if she has religious or strong cultural preferences. Provide a reasonable food budget or buy her preferred staples.
  • Homesickness: the first 3-6 weeks are the hardest. A 10-minute video call home every evening costs you nothing and prevents a lot of grief later.

End of month 1 — what good looks like

By day 30, in a well-run household, you should be able to say:

  • She has attended SIP and the certificate is filed.
  • She has a Singapore bank account and has sent her first remittance home.
  • She knows the weekly cleaning routine without being reminded daily.
  • She can cook two or three dishes your family eats.
  • She knows the rest day arrangement and it is signed.
  • She has called home several times and seems settled emotionally.
  • You have paid her first month's salary on time, with a payslip, into her bank account.

If three or more of these are missing at day 30, slow down and fix the gaps before adding duties.

Preparing for the first 6-monthly medical (6ME) at month 6

Diary it now. Every migrant domestic worker must undergo a 6-monthly medical examination (6ME) at a Singapore-registered doctor, screening for pregnancy and infectious diseases. The first 6ME falls due roughly 6 months after her arrival date.

  • Book the appointment 2-3 weeks ahead.
  • Employer pays for the 6ME.
  • If she fails the medical (e.g. pregnancy or a notifiable infection), MOM-specific rules apply.

Full process and clinic options in our 2026 helper medical check-up guide. Also confirm her helper insurance is active.

Common employer mistakes in the first month

  1. Withholding her passport or Work Permit. Illegal. MOM can revoke your employer eligibility.
  2. Skipping the SIP. Not optional. You can be fined.
  3. No phone access. Cutting her off from her family in month 1 produces the exact opposite of the loyal helper you want.
  4. Throwing all duties at her on Day 2. She will burn out, make mistakes, and you will lose trust in her by week 3.
  5. No written rest day agreement. Verbal "we'll figure it out" never survives month 4.
  6. Paying salary in cash with no payslip. If a dispute lands at MOM, you have no proof.
  7. Ignoring early red flags. If she is crying daily, refusing food, or asking to go home in week 2, read our guide on what to do when a maid wants to terminate the contract.
  8. Forgetting to log her employment history. Use our FDW employment history template.

First-month settling-in checklist

  • Day 1: Airport pick-up, simple meal, shower, call home
  • Day 1: Hand Work Permit card to helper (do not retain)
  • Day 2-3: House and neighbourhood walk-through
  • Within 3 working days: Attend Settling-in Programme (SIP)
  • Week 1: Set up phone, WhatsApp, emergency contacts
  • Week 2: Open Singapore bank account
  • Week 2: Written weekly schedule pinned in kitchen
  • Week 2-3: Cook together; build routine
  • Week 2-3: Rest day arrangement signed in writing
  • End of month 1: Pay first salary into bank, issue payslip
  • Diary now: Book first 6ME at month 6

If you are reading this before your helper has arrived: you have done the hardest part by planning. If you are reading this in the middle of a chaotic week 2: pick three items above, do them this evening, and add the rest over the next seven days. Settling in is a process, not an event.

Reviewed by Wendy Tan, EA Personnel, Upwill Employment Services. MOM EA Licence 24C2628. Wendy has placed over 1,200 migrant domestic workers with Singapore families since 2018.