MOM does not require a written house rules document, but it does expect certain things in writing, and house rules work best alongside them. Keep the employment contract (MOM encourages one), the signed safety agreement (required), signed salary records if you pay cash, and her written consent for any salary cut. Add a short house rules sheet covering routines, phone use, cameras and rest days, written in plain language she understands, and give her a copy.
Documents MOM expects
- Safety agreement: signed by you, her and the agency, and each keeps a copy. Source: Contracts and safety agreement.
- Employment contract: encouraged by MOM, covering salary, placement loan, rest days, compensation for rest days worked, notice period and pay in lieu of notice.
- Salary records: if you pay in cash, keep records signed by both of you, and be ready to produce them. Source: Salary guidelines.
- Written consent before reducing her salary, and before arranging care for family at a relative's home.
What to put in a house rules sheet
- Daily routine and duties, kept to household chores at your address, as MOM requires.
- Rest day: which day, full day or two half days, and how deferrals work. MOM allows one rest day a week, agreed by both of you.
- Phone use: MOM's Ask Jaya column suggests reasonable rules, such as no phone during cooking, childcare or giving medicine, and a schedule for calls home.
- Cameras: MOM says you must tell her about any video recording devices and where they are, and must not put them where she sleeps, changes or bathes.
- Safety: window cleaning in line with the safety agreement, and emergency contacts.
Sources: Rest days, health and well-being and Ask Jaya: phone access.
Keep it fair and legal
- Do not include rules that hold her money, bank book or bank card. MOM forbids this even if she asks.
- Do not ban her phone outright. MOM's guidance stresses it is her property and her link to family.
- Go through the sheet with her and translate it if needed.
Related guides
- Where to sign and store contract copies
- Digital vs paper employer records
- Mobile phone and data costs
This is a practical guide, not MOM. Rules and fees change, so confirm the current position on mom.gov.sg before you act. Last reviewed: 11 October 2026.
