Maids - renumeration

[Onemore52]

What do you people think should be a fair wage for a maid out here in the province, considering:-

A. The duties would be cooking, cleaning, doing the washing (automatic washing machine, nothing by hand) and preparing food for the dogs.

B. Acommodation and food provided, by accommodation I mean own room with CR and shower, tv and all linen supplied,

C. 1 day off a week on a Sunday.

The people in the house is me and my partner.

[Mike J]

It will depend a lot on what the prevailing pay is where you live.  As an estimate I would say 3000 - 4000 per month plus PhilHealth and social security.   

[Onemore52]

Thanks for that Mike, we were paying the previous maid 5000 a month, so I reckon we were in the ball park with her pay.

Here is the thing I don't understand, a couple of weeks ago our maid asked us if we minded her going home for the town fiesta, "no problems take 10 days off" that was after she was with us for four months, she couldn't cook but did an ok job doing everything else, so we paid for her bus trip, gave her a bonus of 2 thousand on top of her pay, and we kept on asking her did she intend to come back, she said "most definitely" but I had a gut feeling she was telling a porky pie, after I saw how many bags she left with, so we found out this morning she ain't coming back.

What I cannot figure out for the life of me is why these people cannot be upfront and tell the truth, it has happened to us so many times where people get paid their weekly salary and just leave in the middle of the night.

Just saying.

[Mike J]

1 hour ago, Onemore52 said:

What I cannot figure out for the life of me is why these people cannot be upfront and tell the truth, it has happened to us so many times where people get paid their weekly salary and just leave in the middle of the night.

Just saying.

I think it is part of the "saving face" thing.  They are afraid you might be upset, disappointed, maybe even angry.   It provides a way to avoid any potential conflict.  Seems to be quite common. 

[Marvin Boggs]

My wife also suggested 3-4K per month, noting that a Filipino employer would only pay about 2.5K for what you describe. 

 

[stevewool]

I’m free.

[Onemore52]

12 minutes ago, Marvin Boggs said:

My wife also suggested 3-4K per month, noting that a Filipino employer would only pay about 2.5K for what you describe. 

 

Thanks Marvin and to your wife for that valuable piece of information.

[Onemore52]

26 minutes ago, Mike J said:

I think it is part of the "saving face" thing.  They are afraid you might be upset, disappointed, maybe even angry.   It provides a way to avoid any potential conflict.  Seems to be quite common. 

Thanks Mike, I didn't realise that it was quite common, I had an inkling that what you described was the case, but no locals here would admit to that fact.

[Tommy T.]

1 minute ago, Onemore52 said:

Thanks Mike, I didn't realise that it was quite common, I had an inkling that what you described was the case, but no locals here would admit to that fact.

I have experienced this often. L explained exactly what Mike J described. It has to do with being what they call "shy" - hesitant to interact with foreigners and especially to tell them the truth of what is in their minds. But it also has happened to her, born Filipina,  when she has relied on someone for something and that individual simply "flakes out" and disappears. It irritates her a lot.

Saving face is all important here...

[Onemore52]

Yes saving face, and keeping the money after the fact, and the presents we gave her, for her mother and her child, sure makes me harden up and in future give them SFA apart from their pay.