Maids - renumeration

[stevewool]

31 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

One reason people move here for retirement is that household help in your later years is more affordable than in our home countries.  You can't take care of of everything forever.  I used to take care of a huge yard, pool and house myself at my last house in the U.S.  Now I can't do that due to my hip problem and my wife is bearing the brunt of the workload.  Good sized house and big yard now too.  With 2 small kids and a teenager, believe me, we need help, especially for the yard!

I understand if the house and grounds are huge you may need help in the later years or like you say for health reasons too.

[Tommy T.]

36 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

One reason people move here for retirement is that household help in your later years is more affordable than in our home countries.  You can't take care of of everything forever.  I used to take care of a huge yard, pool and house myself at my last house in the U.S.  Now I can't do that due to my hip problem and my wife is bearing the brunt of the workload.  Good sized house and big yard now too.  With 2 small kids and a teenager, believe me, we need help, especially for the yard!

I agree with your thoughts and reasons, OMW.

I have mentioned this previously...

L and I have had working students - she for times before I met her - and they mostly seem good. We are investing in their education and futures and receive reasonable return from their cleaning and cooking and whatever other chores we assign. They are kids from poor families who cannot afford to pay for their education costs and sometimes can barely afford to feed them. We also give them an allowance and supply whatever they require for clothing or other needs.

They have a decent place to sleep and eat the same food as us. When the home is finished, we have one boy who will probably live in the current worker bunkhouse. We will supply materials and tools so he can improve that small house to make it more livable and secure. He enjoys, especially, gardening but we have to constantly guide him from being too "creative." If he works out, we will pay to send him to university or - I think most likely since he is not the best student - a trade school. We want him to succeed and lecture him as if he were an adopted son - which, in a sense, he really is...

Still, all in all, he mostly does well. It seems to me to be a good alternative to hiring a maid?

Edited February 11, 2020 by Tommy T.

[Onemore52]

1 hour ago, Tommy T. said:

I agree with your thoughts and reasons, OMW.

I have mentioned this previously...

L and I have had working students - she for times before I met her - and they mostly seem good. We are investing in their education and futures and receive reasonable return from their cleaning and cooking and whatever other chores we assign. They are kids from poor families who cannot afford to pay for their education costs and sometimes can barely afford to feed them. We also give them an allowance and supply whatever they require for clothing or other needs.

They have a decent place to sleep and eat the same food as us. When the home is finished, we have one boy who will probably live in the current worker bunkhouse. We will supply materials and tools so he can improve that small house to make it more livable and secure. He enjoys, especially, gardening but we have to constantly guide him from being too "creative." If he works out, we will pay to send him to university or - I think most likely since he is not the best student - a trade school. We want him to succeed and lecture him as if he were an adopted son - which, in a sense, he really is...

Still, all in all, he mostly does well. It seems to me to be a good alternative to hiring a maid?

That is a very good idea, I will pass this onto my gf and see what is in town, but I have to tell you that we tried that before with one of our gardeners, we offered to put his daughter through university because he was always saying how poor they were, well the daughter wasn't interested in that she said she wanted to be a stay at home Mum (which is short for lazy hctib), then we found out that the reason he was always crying poor bugger me was that he had a drinking problem, as well as his two sons who we employed as labourers over at the factory, they were always absent from work, saying they were sick, I suppose being hungover is sick isn't it.

You just can't help some people.

[Tommy T.]

36 minutes ago, Onemore52 said:

You just can't help some people.

Yeah... I hear you, One.

You are absolutely right. Some people are truly beyond help for whatever reason and I am not saying that about just Philippines, but universally... I have seen it so many times and in so many places. It saddens me when people are too lazy to pick themselves up and work.

It is a bit easier for us to find working students since L is a high school teacher. She has had duds before - students with attitude or lazy or just downright stupid? I hate to say that, but sometimes it's true... There are also a number of kids with learning disabilities... we cannot care for them full time...

Perhaps you have a teacher acquaintance or friend who might be able to refer a worthy kid or two to you? Just like in USA and elsewhere, sometimes networking can help you find someone you could assist?

Edited February 11, 2020 by Tommy T.

[Onemore52]

It was a slow day in one of the factories yesterday, so one of the girls came over to help in the house.

This young lady came through like a whirlwind, didn't have to be told what to do just got into it and got the job done.

This was all happening while I was tending to the yard outside so when I cam in for lunch this lady was still at it, she took 15 minutes off for lunch and then back into it again.

So I asked my partner what do we have to do, or pay to keep the lady here instead of the factory, but it turns out if she is going to be a maid somewhere she wants to go overseas, it must be very good pay and conditions for overseas workers?

Now this lady has a young son of school age who lives with a cousin in another province, so I suggested to offer to the lady that she can bring her son and live in here, no dice. I even got out the cream biscuits for her at the afternoon break, that didn't work either.

Oh well, at least I tried and now I have seen what a good maid is like, not like that other oxygen thief.

[OnMyWay]

9 minutes ago, Onemore52 said:

but it turns out if she is going to be a maid somewhere she wants to go overseas, it must be very good pay and conditions for overseas workers?

One of the typical starting places for this is Hong Kong.  My SIL tried this after her 2 daughters were in late teens and could take care of themselves.  Daddy was working in the middle east.  This SIL is a very hard worker; also a whirlwind of activity.

She went through two employers in Hong Kong before calling it quits.  Both worked her to death.  Typically they expected her to be working from 6 am until after midnight.  Both had very low opinions of Filipino workers in general.

[Onemore52]

I have to be honest here, I am not that keen on how my gf treated that young lady yesterday, it was 8 p.m. when I put my foot down and said "That's enough", let her go back to her quarters and after she had left I told the gf that she had better be giving the worker some extra money for her work.

Maybe, just maybe that is why the maids don't stay, but the gf reckons I am too soft, maybe I am but one has to be fair to people and treat them fairly.

[Tommy T.]

1 hour ago, Onemore52 said:

Maybe, just maybe that is why the maids don't stay, but the gf reckons I am too soft, maybe I am but one has to be fair to people and treat them fairly.

It's always a balance between fair and being too generous. As you are discovering, there will be trial and error until you find the best fit.

[hk blues]

9 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

One of the typical starting places for this is Hong Kong.  My SIL tried this after her 2 daughters were in late teens and could take care of themselves.  Daddy was working in the middle east.  This SIL is a very hard worker; also a whirlwind of activity.

She went through two employers in Hong Kong before calling it quits.  Both worked her to death.  Typically they expected her to be working from 6 am until after midnight.  Both had very low opinions of Filipino workers in general.

I'd agree with this.  My wife was a Domestic Helper in Hong Kong for 16+ years - same employer throughout so she was lucky and they treated her well but this is the exception.  Pay is very good relative to here - about 30,000 php per month and accommodation and food included as well as free healthcare.  

Easy to see why it's hard to find good help here i suppose.