Most families pick a maid agency on a friend’s recommendation and a scroll through Google reviews. Both are useful, and neither tells you whether the agency’s licence is still current, whether the Ministry of Manpower has penalised it, or how often its placements actually last.
MOM publishes all of that for free on its Employment Agencies Directory, usually called the EA Directory. Every licensed agency that places migrant domestic workers (MDWs) has an entry, built from MOM’s own records and from surveys MOM sends to employers. An agency cannot edit its entry, and it cannot remove a figure it dislikes.
This guide shows where the directory is, what every figure on an agency’s entry means, which of those figures can mislead you, and what to do when the directory has done its job and you still have questions.
Quick answer: how to check a maid agency on MOM’s EA Directory
Open MOM’s EA Directory at service2.mom.gov.sg/eadirectory and search the agency’s name or licence number. Read its retention rate, transfer rate, placement volume, experience and employer rating together, check how many reviews sit behind the rating, and confirm it is not on the surveillance list.
Where is MOM’s EA Directory and how do you search it?
The EA Directory is a free MOM eService at service2.mom.gov.sg/eadirectory, reached from MOM’s "Employment agencies and personnel search" page. No login is needed. Search by agency name or licence number on the domestic worker tab, then open the entry to see its scorecard, branches and registered personnel.
The search page has two tabs, one for agencies placing domestic workers and one for other foreign workers. MOM still labels the first with its older term for MDWs. Stay on that tab, because the figures differ between the two.
From there the process takes a few steps:
- Type the agency’s name or its licence number into the search box. The licence number is the more reliable of the two, because several agencies have similar names.
- Check that the licence number on the result matches the one printed on the agency’s website, its shopfront and its service agreement. If it does not match, stop there.
- Open the entry. The Agency Overview tab carries the scorecard, the employer rating and every branch address. The Agency Personnel tab lists each registered staff member with a registration number.
The personnel tab is worth thirty seconds. Anyone doing EA work must be registered with MOM, so the consultant you speak to should appear on it. If you are comparing several agencies, the Shortlist button lets you set them side by side.
What does each figure on an agency’s entry mean?
Each entry shows four performance figures: retention rate, transfer rate, placement volume and years of experience. The first three are measured over a rolling one-year window that MOM prints on the page, and each is marked against the industry average. Read the definitions carefully, because they measure narrower things than their names suggest.
These are MOM’s own definitions, from the directory’s "Know Your Terms" panel. The figures in the last column are a sample entry, shown so you can see how the numbers are presented. They are not Inter Great’s own.
- Retention rate: Share of MDWs placed by the agency who stayed with the same employer for at least one year; How often the agency’s matches hold past the first year; 63.76% (vs industry average 62.83%), higher is better
- Transfer rate: Share of MDWs placed by the agency who moved to three or more employers within one year; How often a placement unravels repeatedly; 0.6% (vs industry average 0.98%), lower is better
- Placement volume: Number of MDW placed by the agency in last 12 months; How much placement work the agency actually handles; 1105 (vs industry average 49)
- Experience: Number of years the agency has held an active licence; How long it has operated continuously under licence; 12 years (Not averaged)
Note: data is obtained from MOM EA directory on 1 Nov 2026
The averages move with time, so use the one shown on the page on the day you check, not a number from an article.
Does MOM give maid agencies a rating?
No. MOM does not grade or rank agencies itself. The star rating on each entry is an average of answers from employers who used that agency, collected by MOM through an SMS survey about three months after their helper starts work. The maximum is five stars, and a rating only appears after at least three reviews.
The stars are not MOM’s verdict on the agency. They are its own customers’ verdict, gathered by MOM so that the agency cannot choose which ones are shown.
According to MOM’s customer ratings page, the survey asks employers how well the agency explained the application process, fees and contracts, how helpful it was when they needed advice, how well it found a helper who met their needs, and whether they would recommend it to a friend. The entry shows an overall score out of five, a separate score for each of those four areas, the number of reviews, and the date of the latest response.
Read them in this order:
- The review count first. A high average from a handful of reviews tells you very little. A slightly lower average from several hundred reviews tells you a great deal more.
- The latest response date second. A rating whose newest review is old describes the agency as it was, not as it is.
- The four separate scores third. An agency can score well overall and still score lower on explaining its fees, which is the one most likely to cost you money later.
What do demerit points and the surveillance list tell you?
MOM issues demerit points when an agency breaches the Employment Agencies Act, its rules or its licence conditions. The directory lets you exclude every agency currently holding demerit points, and a separate tab lists agencies whose licence is under surveillance, suspended or revoked. Check both before you contact an agency.
MOM’s demerit points system escalates in steps. Each point stays live for twelve months from the date it was issued. At 12 points the agency is placed under surveillance for twelve months, audited, has its Work Permit online accounts suspended for at least three months, and its key appointment holders must retake the certification exam. At 24 points the licence is suspended or revoked. Serious offences can lead to revocation without the points threshold being reached.
On the directory itself:
- The demerit points filter sits in the search filters as "Exclude agencies with Demerit Points". Tick it and any agency currently carrying live points drops out of your results.
- The Under Revocation/Suspension/Surveillance tab lists every agency in one of those three states, with the state shown against its name. An agency under surveillance can still be trading. That does not make it safe to engage.
Points are not automatically disqualifying, because one administrative breach is not a pattern. Ask the agency about them. A specific answer, naming what happened and what changed, is a good sign. A vague one is not.
How do you read the numbers together without being misled?
Read the figures as a set, not one at a time. A perfect retention rate means little from an agency that placed two helpers last year, and a slightly lower one from an agency placing hundreds is the stronger result. Put placement volume beside every percentage before you compare agencies.
When we checked in November 2026, a number of very small agencies showed a 100% retention rate and a 0% transfer rate, both flagged as better than the industry average, but on placement volumes in single digit. With one or two placements in a year, one good match is enough to produce a perfect score. The figure is accurate, but it says almost nothing about what will happen with yours.
A sensible order of reading is:
- Placement volume and experience. These tell you how much weight the percentages can carry.
- Retention rate. Compare it with the industry average shown that day.
- Transfer rate. Expect it to be low. A figure clearly above the average deserves a question.
- Employer rating and review count. Use it to confirm or challenge what the first three suggest.
- Demerit points and the surveillance list. A pass or fail check that applies whatever the other figures say.
If you are hiring for a specific kind of care, the general figures only take you so far. An agency can have a sound record overall and still places few helpers with the experience your home needs, whether that is a newborn or a parent recovering from a fall. Ask how many placements it makes for elderly care or infant care specifically, and how it screens for them.
What does the EA Directory not tell you?
The directory is a compliance and performance record. It does not show an agency’s fees, which consultant will handle your case, or how it supports you if a placement does not work out. Those decide how the next two years feel, and you can only learn them by asking the agency in writing.
Four questions sit outside the directory, and each one is worth asking before you pay anything:
- What will I pay, and to whom? Agencies set their own fees and price them differently, so ask for an itemised quote that separates the agency’s own charges from government and third-party costs such as the levy, insurance and security bond. Our breakdown of maid agency fees in Singapore explains which lines are fixed by MOM and which are set by the agency.
- When do I pay? Ask what is payable at each stage and what is refundable if the application does not go ahead.
- What happens if the placement does not work out? This support is not published anywhere, so ask for it in writing.
- Who will I deal with? The personnel tab shows who is registered. It does not show who will answer your calls three months after placement.
If you are still working out what separates one agency from another beyond the directory, our page on choosing a maid agency in Singapore sets out the other checks we think matter.
Summary
MOM’s EA Directory is the one place where an agency’s record is published by the regulator rather than by the agency. It shows whether the licence is active, whether the agency is on the surveillance list or carrying demerit points, how often its placements last at least a year, how many helpers it placed in the past year, and what its own customers said in MOM’s survey. MOM does not rate agencies itself, and every percentage on the page should be read beside the placement volume behind it.
Use the directory to build a shortlist, then take the questions it cannot answer to the agencies on it: the itemised fees, when they are payable, the support if a placement does not work out, and who will handle your case. If you have checked us on the directory and want to go through those questions for your household, speak to one of our consultants and we will start from what your home needs. Inter Great holds MOM EA Licence No 14C6931, and we would rather you looked it up than took our word for it.
Get in touch with us today @ +6597766988. Inter Great Employment Pte Ltd (MOM EA Licence No: 14C6931). Follow us on Instagram and Facebook.
(Disclaimer by Inter Great: All above information and/or monetary figures are meant for reference only. Please refer to MOM’s official website for updated and accurate information, or approach and consult our recruitment consultant if you need professional advice and consultation.)
Frequently Asked Questions About MOM’s EA Directory
How do I check a maid agency’s rating on MOM’s website?
Search the agency’s name or licence number on MOM’s EA Directory and open its entry. The rating shown is an average of employer responses to MOM’s post-placement survey, out of five stars, with the number of reviews and the date of the latest response beside it.
Does MOM rate or rank maid agencies?
No. MOM does not grade or rank agencies itself. It collects ratings from employers about three months after their helper starts work and displays them once an agency has at least three reviews.
How do I know if a maid agency is licensed in Singapore?
Search its name or licence number on MOM’s EA Directory and match the licence number against the one on the agency’s website and service agreement. Then check the Under Revocation/Suspension/Surveillance tab to confirm the agency is not listed there.
What is a good retention rate for a maid agency?
Compare it with the industry average the directory shows on the day you check, and read it beside the agency’s placement volume. The rate measures how many helpers stayed with the same employer for at least one year, so a perfect figure from a handful of placements carries little weight.