Hiring a Foreign Domestic Worker in Singapore: Real Costs and Employer Obligations

The monthly salary you pay your helper is only part of what hiring a migrant domestic worker (MDW) actually costs. Between the levy, insurance, medical checks, living expenses, and one-time fees at the start, total annual costs commonly run from about S$10,500 to S$13,200 on top of whatever you spend upfront to get her here. This guide sets out the real cost breakdown, what MOM requires of you as an employer, and where households commonly go wrong.

The One-Time Costs of Hiring

Before your helper even starts work, expect to pay for:

• Agency fee: S$1,000–S$3,000, if you're hiring through an employment agency rather than sourcing directly.
• Placement fee: often around S$2,750 upfront, separate from the agency fee, depending on the agency's structure.
• Security bond: S$5,000, required by MOM for most nationalities (Malaysian helpers are exempt from this requirement). This is typically arranged through insurance rather than paid as cash outright.
• Work Permit application fee: S$35 when submitting the application, and another S$35 when the permit is issued — S$70 total per permit cycle.
• Settling-in Programme: around S$75, mandatory for first-time helpers, to be completed within 7 working days of arrival (excluding Sundays and public holidays).
• Employer's Orientation Programme: S$35–S$60, a requirement for first-time employers.

Combined, first-time hiring typically totals somewhere between S$6,600 and S$8,700 in one-off costs including agency and placement fees, or S$3,900–S$6,000 if you exclude the security bond arrangement cost and go through a lower-cost route. Maid transfers (hiring a helper already in Singapore, changing employer) tend to run cheaper — often around S$5,590 — since some of the initial onboarding steps don't need to be repeated.

The Recurring Monthly and Annual Costs

Once your helper is working, the ongoing costs fall into several categories:

Salary: Typically S$480–S$700 per month depending on nationality and experience, though rates have been trending upward, with some matching platforms reporting an average closer to S$597. Nationality-based minimum wage guidelines exist and vary by source country.

Levy: This is a monthly fee paid to MOM, separate from salary.

Levy Type	Monthly Rate
Normal (1st helper)	S$300
Normal (subsequent helpers)	S$450
Concessionary rate	S$60

The concessionary levy rate represents a substantial saving — S$240 a month, or nearly S$2,900 a year — and applies to households that meet specific eligibility conditions (commonly households with young children, elderly, or persons with disabilities requiring care). Check current MOM eligibility criteria for the concessionary rate directly, since qualifying conditions determine whether you pay S$300 or S$60 a month, and this is the single largest lever on your ongoing cost.

Medical examinations: Required twice a year, roughly S$35 per visit (around S$70 annually).

Insurance: A basic medical and personal accident insurance plan, which also covers the S$5,000 security bond obligation, runs around S$425 a year for standard coverage.

Living expenses: Food and utilities typically cost S$200–S$300 a month, plus around S$100 a month for incidental transport (grocery runs, errands).

Putting recurring costs together for a typical household paying the normal (non-concessionary) levy:

Category	Annual Cost
Salary (S$480–S$700/month)	S$5,760–S$8,400
Levy (normal rate)	S$3,600
Medical exams	~S$70
Insurance	~S$425
Living expenses	S$2,400–S$3,600
Total (annual)	~S$12,255–S$16,095

Households on the concessionary levy save roughly S$2,880 a year against this total, which is a meaningful enough difference to check your eligibility carefully before assuming the normal rate applies.

The Work Permit Application Process

You can apply for a Work Permit yourself or through an employment agency. If applying directly:

1. Get written consent from the helper to apply for a Work Permit on her behalf.
2. Submit the application via the FDW eService (online) or a paper application form, providing the helper's passport details, your and your family's personal particulars, and your income information.
3. Pay the application fee — S$35 per application, payable by Visa, Mastercard, or PayNow.
4. Wait for processing: about 1 week via the online eService, or around 3 weeks if using the paper form (longer if additional information is requested).
5. Receive an outcome — an in-principle approval or rejection letter, sent by email.

Once approved, there are preparation steps before she arrives:

• Arrange the S$5,000 security bond (via bank or insurer) — this must take effect from the date she arrives, and cannot be backdated or adjusted if timed incorrectly, so get this sorted with enough buffer.
• Purchase medical and personal accident insurance.
• Register her for the Settling-In Programme if this is her first placement.

After arrival:

• Send her for the Settling-In Programme within 7 working days (first-time helpers only).
• Arrange her medical examination within 14 days.
• Get the Work Permit card issued, nominating up to 3 authorised recipients who can collect it.
• Pay another S$35 to have the permit issued.
• The Temporary Work Permit is valid for 1 month from issue — if travel plans change, request an extension before it lapses.

Some helpers are required to register fingerprints and photo at MOM's Services Centre within 1 week of the permit being issued; check her Temporary Work Permit to see if this applies, and book the appointment promptly since it's time-bound.

Your Obligations as an Employer

Beyond the financial commitments, MOM sets clear rules on how you can and cannot employ a helper:

• Your helper requires a valid Work Permit at all times, and can only work at the residential address declared to MOM.
• She can only perform domestic chores — she cannot be deployed to another household, a business, or tasks outside the scope of domestic work.
• Illegal deployment (having her work for someone else, or outside the declared address) carries financial penalties of up to S$10,000 for the employer.
• Rest day, salary payment, and leave arrangements need to be handled according to MOM's employment rules — these govern minimum standards even if you and your helper agree to different arrangements informally.

Given the penalties involved for deployment violations specifically, this is not an area to treat loosely, even for seemingly minor favours like having her help a relative's household occasionally.

Common Mistakes Employers Make

• Assuming the concessionary levy rate applies automatically. It doesn't — you need to meet specific eligibility conditions and often apply for it explicitly.
• Timing the security bond incorrectly, so it isn't active when the helper arrives — this can result in her being refused entry and sent home immediately, with no ability for MOM to backdate the bond's effective date.
• Underestimating total annual cost by focusing only on salary and forgetting levy, insurance, and living expenses, which together often exceed the salary itself.
• Missing the Settling-In Programme or medical exam deadlines for first-time helpers, both of which are time-bound requirements, not optional steps.
• Deploying the helper outside the declared address or to help another household, even informally — this is illegal deployment and carries real financial penalties.

Renewal, Transfer and Termination

Work Permits require periodic renewal, and employers need to track expiry dates to avoid lapses. If a helper wants to change employer (a "transfer"), the process and costs differ from a fresh hire — transfer-related total costs tend to be lower since some onboarding requirements have already been completed under a previous employer. Termination and repatriation obligations (arranging her return home, settling final salary) also fall on the employer and should be planned for rather than handled reactively if the working relationship ends.

FAQs

Is the S$5,000 security bond a cash payment I lose? No — it's typically arranged through an insurance product (a bond guarantee), and the annual insurance premium covering this bond is around S$425, not a S$5,000 cash outlay each year.

Can I hire a helper without going through an agency? Yes. You can apply for the Work Permit directly through MOM's FDW eService, which reduces the agency fee portion of your one-time costs, though you'll need to independently arrange interviews, contracts, and helper sourcing.

Does the levy rate depend on the helper's nationality? No — the levy structure (normal vs concessionary) depends on your household's eligibility criteria, not the helper's country of origin. Salary minimums, by contrast, do vary by nationality.

What happens if I miss the medical exam deadline? This is a compliance requirement with a fixed window (14 days after arrival, twice-yearly thereafter). Missing it risks non-compliance with MOM's rules — schedule this proactively rather than treating it as flexible.

The Bottom Line

Salary is the cost people plan around, but levy, insurance, and living expenses combined often add more to your annual total than the salary itself — and the concessionary levy eligibility check is the one detail most likely to change your real cost by thousands of dollars a year. Confirm your eligibility for the concessionary rate before budgeting, get the security bond timing right before her arrival, and track the Settling-In Programme and medical exam deadlines as fixed compliance dates, not flexible to-dos.