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satnrose

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If your employee works on a national holiday you are required by law to pay them double salary for that day -- it isn't something you "agree on". It's the law. We usually offer our gardener and housekeeper the choice of working or taking the extra pay. Sometimes they work and sometimes they would rather get the extra money.

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If your employee works on a national holiday you are required by law to pay them double salary for that day -- it isn't something you "agree on". It's the law. We usually offer our gardener and housekeeper the choice of working or taking the extra pay. Sometimes they work and sometimes they would rather get the extra money.

I'm having trouble with this - if they work on a national holiday, they get extra pay - if they don't work they get their usual pay. So something is wrong with your example.

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OK, here is my situation. Last year my maid changed her work day from Sat to Mon.

Now all the "hoildays" regardless of actual day fall on the Mondays , for a bridge week end.

This coming Monday is celebrated Bentio Juarez Day, BUT it was origianll celebrated on March 21st (Thursday)

Like wise Feb 5th, moved to first Monday in month.This Nov, Revolucion Day was Nov 20 (Wednesday) now 3rd Monday in the month

Should I say sorry but you moved day for your convience, but if "actual" date falls on a Monday I will pay you double or time off???

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I think you lost out on that one. And I'd give the maid the benefit of the doubt--she was probably was not thinking about it when she changed days.

You will be in the same boat as me. Both my maid and gardener work on Mondays, and they get the choice of working and being paid double, or not working and being paid regular wages. They always choose to work and are always delighted with the extra pay.

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lakeside7, ofcause she changed to a monday. now you can change her day to tuesday! my p/t maid never asked for a paid holiday. if saturday is a holiday, she will come another day. or skip the week & maybe do an extra day later. we have a loose arrangement, which was discussed several years ago. i dont think she works for other expats.

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OK, here is my situation. Last year my maid changed her work day from Sat to Mon.

Now all the "hoildays" regardless of actual day fall on the Mondays , for a bridge week end.

This coming Monday is celebrated Bentio Juarez Day, BUT it was origianll celebrated on March 21st (Thursday)

Like wise Feb 5th, moved to first Monday in month.This Nov, Revolucion Day was Nov 20 (Wednesday) now 3rd Monday in the month

Should I say sorry but you moved day for your convience, but if "actual" date falls on a Monday I will pay you double or time off???

I cut my maid's hours and the day I cut was Monday. I wouldn't question her motive, rather say Monday is not an option for you.

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Are all of you sitting down? You don't pay double for an employee who works on a legal holiday. You pay the employee his or her regular salary PLUS double. In other words, it's triple pay.

Doubt me? Here: http://www.fiscalia.com/modules.php?name=Foros&sop=verTopico&idTema=25453&idCat=11&p=1#142218

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Are all of you sitting down? You don't pay double for an employee who works on a legal holiday. You pay the employee his or her regular salary PLUS double. In other words, it's triple pay.

Doubt me? Here: http://www.fiscalia.com/modules.php?name=Foros&sop=verTopico&idTema=25453&idCat=11&p=1#142218

If it's the employee's day off and you ask them to work, then you pay triple, but they do not have the obligation to work.

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why does my maid tell me (for example), "tuesday is xmas", i will work on wensday? why hasnt she asked for the paid day off, either double or triple pay? none of the other maids asked either. (3 maids total, 2 quit as they were either ill or got a full time job). strange.

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Bennie, I think your maids are out of the loop and don't network with others who work for foreigners. I agree, stange. I took on my maid from the previous homeowner and verified the hourly salary at 40 pesos an hour six years ago. What did I know? We immediately added a casita and the construction workers worked 8 hours a day plus 6 on Saturday. I was present when the maestro paid them each 500 pesos for the week. I figured something was haywire with the maid salaries at that time, and that was before I learned about severance, retirement, Xmas gift, paid vacation, triple time.

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Bennie, your maid may simply want to spend Christmas with her family. The actual celebration of Christmas is on Christmas Eve, often including an all-day tamales making party, late-night Mass and then a big dinner and other family festivities until morning. In the Lake Chapala area, those Christmas Eve festivities frequently include a big bonfire in front of the house, an outdoor carne asada with friends and neighbors in the wee hours, and more partying till the sun comes up. I surely would not want to crawl to work after all that, not even for double or triple pay!

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how is it possible that my maid (s) does (did) NOT know this info??? my current maids mother has been a full time housekeeper for a mexican family for 30yrs. her husband is a full time gardener for a mexican family. my 1st maid worked for an expat (german) full time, but had several hours to spare & came here one day per wk for 3 hrs. she left when she didnt need to xtra $$. the maid inbetween worked similar scedule, may have worked for expats p/t as well. one day she didnt show up. i tried to find her & waited 3 weeks. i went to her house, they said she was sick, wont be return to work. around 8 months later 2 friends of hers showed up to return to house keys! noone asked for $$. the following year i ran into her. she was friendly, thats all. then i asked if she wanted to work "occassionly". she seems happy, i did explain is was to "subsitute" if my maid was ill, or if i needed additional work. i worked just fine. satnrose: are you saying that expats have different rules? yes i know these conversations have been going on & on. somehow my experiences are radically different. btw, i would never let myself "inherit" help. seems there are different customs in this area for retirees. every year it gets more exagerated. later it will be quaduple pay for holidays. wait & see.

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liana, i was using "xmas" as an example. i am referring to ALL legal holidays. she always changes the day, no request for double pay. only one person asked for that, it was a driver. i said no, you are p/t. either work for pay or take the day off. she worked part of the day for wage. i am not trying to change anyone on this board, please continue to respect the so called labor laws.

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Well, yeah, I would never hire inherit help again. One can only learn from their mistakes. I think there is a fear factor propelling some of this. First, foreigners have no understanding of the legal system here, and professional legal advice is inconsistent in this area of part time employees. For some, it's "better safe than sorry" to pay these questionable requirements and for others "their maids deserve it ".

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satnrose, i have made mistakes as well. best that the forum members do NOT listen to me. i would feel aweful if they were sued by the labor board. i only knew mexicans when i came here, so did what they do. my family was here for 30yrs prior. so far it has worked fine. the only mistake i made was to pay vacation for the p/t maid. xmas bonus IS required. i am going to see if i can stop that, but i was advised by mexicans that she may quit. a delicate situation. there are many customs unique to lakeside & expats. i suggest that most folks follow them. when my maids see mexicans visiting me, maybe that changes the picture. who knows. i did pay a garden person much more than normal. i could have had 2 people for that price, a better job etc. but he came only when i called, & was very pleasent, never late, even called to cancel. he worked 2xs a week, or 3'xs a month. sometimes just sweep, other times he brought machines. i liked the flexibility, i didnt have to be home to let someone in unless i was planning to be home. later he did handiman work in the house. he did my roof, all the for mexican price. nice man, no games, never worked for expats.

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  • 2 weeks later...

. In areas of Texas, you can get a house cleaner for $20-$25 a day, actually much cheaper than a 60 peso maid here for 8 hours work. Just seems to not make much sense to me why maids are so much more expensive here.

So that is $25.00 per day divided by 8 hours or a fraction over 3 bucks an hour. This would all be legal of course, right Steve?

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I've read a few articles about maids working for middle class mexicans. They often hire Indios, pay room and board and not much else. The conditions sounded horrible. There is also a lot of abuse seen in the North using undocumented workers where wages are under minimum. It's the opposite here with the foreign employees. I've hear maids complain about the 50 pesos an hour, working 5 hours for one foreigner and not being able to feed their family on that. Ummmmm....who could ever, anywhere, feed their family on 5 hours a week work?

50 pesos x 40 hours. = 2000 pesos a week. Not a bad Wage for Mexico.

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