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or many households that have long relied on domestic helpers for everyday household chores, the Idul Fitri holiday can be a daunting time of the year, when most maids return home to celebrate the religious occasion with their families.

To deal with the situation and avoid doing any housework themselves, some families employ multiple helpers who take turns going home for Idul Fitri, hire infal (temporary maids) or use app-based cleaning services.

Infal helpers are usually paid Rp 100,000 (US$ 7.17) to Rp 150,000 per day.

Meanwhile, app-based cleaning services such as Gojek’s Goclean can cost between Rp 35,000 and Rp 280,000 an hour if customers have their own cleaning equipment, and Rp 45,000 to Rp 360,000 an hour if they use the company’s tools.

Yohana Dewi Irawan, 32, employs two maids and a nanny to help her with domestic chores at her home in Central Jakarta.

This year, one of her helpers is leaving for Idul Fitri.

“However, my helpers take turns if they want to go to their hometowns. The one remaining in Jakarta will take her leave after the other comes back,” Yohana told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

She said the maid who agreed to stay for Idul Fitri would receive an additional weeks’ pay on top of her monthly salary.

She will also hire an infal for backup, she added.

As for app-based cleaning services, Yohana acknowledged that she had tried them in the past, when both her maids took time off at the same time, but would not be using their services in the future.

“They [online cleaning services] cannot be flexible with their work [schedule]. If I really need help, I would hire one of my neighbors to help around the house for half a day. It is much cheaper and more flexible,” she said.

The nanny, meanwhile, helps her take care of her child. But her absence would not be much of a burden.

“I usually take care of my children by myself, the nanny only helps occasionally. Besides, if it’s my husband’s day off, he can do his share in taking care of our child, or I can ask my in-laws if it’s urgent,” Yohana said.

For Yuliana, 33, a resident of West Jakarta, having no domestic helper during Idul Fitri would not be a problem, because she had gotten used to doing household work herself in the past three months.

“I now only employ one maid to help take care of my children. I can do the household chores in the morning,” she told the Post.

Yuliana conceded that she had depended on several helpers in the past, but they usually failed to return after Idul Fitri or quit upon getting married.

“The last assistant we hired ran away with a man at 3 a.m. after only a month of working for us,” she said, adding that she would still need another helper and planned to look for one after Idul Fitri.

For Roshi Rossa, 21, who lives in an apartment in Senen, Central Jakarta, with her parents, brother, sister-in-law and niece, the upcoming holiday will be a tough time for her family because their maids will be starting their mudik (exodus).

“We usually employ a temporary helper this time of year. However, the helper that we just hired ran away a few days ago,” she told the Post.

“We’re probably just going to use an app-based cleaning service,” she said, adding that her brother had arranged for a temporary helper to take care of his daughter. (ami)