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How much do I pay my Cleaning Lady?


kosika

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I raised my maid to 55P per hour.  Paid 50P per hour for years so time for a raise.  Also give her 10P for bus trip home.   Vacation time and Xmas bonus also. She runs when she cleans needs no direction and always shows up or calls.   She is part of our local family.  We also get a nice gift for her when we travel.  Some say we pay too much. I don't think so but can understand how others might feel different.  She works four hours on our house and two in our casita a week.  A good maid is such a blessing and a bad one is such a pain in the butt.  We have had them both.  

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1 hour ago, sue said:

Mudgirl it is not fair to convert to what you think is the american equivalent.  The maid was given a 10% raise pretty decent by any standards,

 

 

Well, I just see a lot of people who can afford to go out to eat several times a week, buy fancy imported groceries, are hooked up to internet, satellite TV, a fully equipped kitchen with lots of fancy appliances, have a really nice car (or 2), take Fifi to the groomers, etc, but don't pay their employees what I would consider a living wage. Which is not to say I think gringos should be paying something totally out-of-line with local wages, just that maybe one's maid might like to be able go out to eat with her family once in awhile, too, instead of just scraping by. The poster I was responding to said the maid has been working for them for years without a raise, so 10% raise, i.e.5 pesos/hr. seems pretty piddling to me.

But I don't know the financial circumstances of the poster, so maybe that is a big outlay for them.

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There are hundreds, if not thousands of expats living/visiting here who take it upon themselves to get involved in all kinds of local charities, as well as create like endeavours themselves. Places like Casi Nueva, orphanages, musical scholarships, HaveHammers... pet shelters, dog rescuers, church groups... the list goes on and on and on. The concept that someone who is better off must either a: shell out larger proportions of money, or b: cannot possibly be taking life around them into consideration because they didn't give a bigger raise... is misguided, and overtly judgmental. In fact, back home, pretty much the opposite rings true: the more I got, the less I am giving away, and my government better see it my way... don't be taxing me just 'cause I got, dammit!

A 10% raise anywhere is pretty good. Particularly if it's based on an equitable wage. Just because many of us are used to spending everything we have to buy everything we want NOB, does not mean the same "greed from birth" applies to this community. Further, we are in a bubble here at lakeside; one who's financial situation is completely out of whack with much of Mexico.

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6 minutes ago, ComputerGuy said:

In fact, back home, pretty much the opposite rings true: the more I got, the less I am giving away, and my government better see it my way... don't be taxing me just 'cause I got, dammit!

Canadians seem to think differently than the US Liberals.

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On 1/18/2017 at 8:17 AM, Xena said:

You obviously have not regularly read here the complaints posters have about their cleaning people. Do you honestly believe that every employee everywhere is prompt, hard working, honest, careful, and reliable? Yes, those are the traits of a good employee. No, not every person hired has them.

Oh I have indeed and frankly am tired of hearing " she does not steal", but"she is honest" .  That is ridiculous.  I ran a company of over 350 employees in states and quite frankly never said oh but she or he does not steal.  If they did they were fired. I did not keep an employee cause they were honest or did not steal, they are not supposed to do that.  That is my point. 

 

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Wow Mudgirl you must be a blast at a party!   Who peed on your wheaties this morning??  They asked what I payed and I told folks. We also do much more for her and others like supporting her granddaughter so she can go to high school and  Techschool or whatever she wants after high school.  We just finished getting one local kid through high school and now we are putting him through college. He is the first kid ever to finish high school in his family. When he finishes college we will give him a trip to the US on us.  Is that enough for your standards????   Really you shouldn't judge folks until you know them. Oh yea we loaned her family with no interest money to buy a truck after the family rig was stolen.  They paid it off after six month as thats the kind of folks they are.  No I am not a goody two shoes but I do think about my adopted country and the people.  You comments to me are why many folks won't post on this board.

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7 hours ago, bezerk said:

Oh I have indeed and frankly am tired of hearing " she does not steal", but"she is honest" .  That is ridiculous.  I ran a company of over 350 employees in states and quite frankly never said oh but she or he does not steal.  If they did they were fired. I did not keep an employee cause they were honest or did not steal, they are not supposed to do that.  That is my point. 

 

Not one person on this thread said they kept an employee because they did not steal. They did list honesty as one of the traits they valued. I also have never known anyone who kept an employee who stole from them. I ran the Human Resources department of the U.S. branch of an international corporation. Honesty was a valued trait in any employee. Sorry that the mention of it offends you. 

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15 hours ago, ComputerGuy said:

I have no idea what your connection is there.

In the US, it appears that the Liberals want those who have earned the most money in their lives to pay a disproportionate share of taxes to pick up the increasing tabs on welfare, etc. You sound like that is not how the Canadians feel. Just sayin' !

 

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Your thoughts were eye opening on several levels. I had not considered what would happen if the US dollar went back down. I would certainly feel terrible if I had to decrease her wages. I have decided that I am giving her a fair wage and I will leave it the way it is. For now I too am living on pesos not US dollars so this has helped me to better understand how others think and feel.

This is a great board for information. Thank you everyone!

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Please remember that the people do NOT live in/on the USA economy. So you want to raise them because the imported items you use cost more but they don't your employee more? So you really think that you can lower their rate of pay when the dollar goes down?  If this is what you are after get them to agree to be paid in USD equilivent. The USD is massively over valued and economist everywhere think it is going back down. It has been at historic highs against world currencies for two years now and has increased more with more light on the horizon in the last co,uple of months. Ask your help if you can lower their salary when the rate goes back down. I can guess what the answer will be. Why change it only when the dollar rate changes, change it with the euro too. If you wan to be a reasonable person watch Mexico's announced inflation rate available in Janurary and adjust wages for inflation 2-5%. Having a company that had 1oo+ persons for years I can tell you that the business schools recommend that raises be based on increased performance, or better performance. Rare is the employee who is perfect. So the only possible justification for a raise is inflation or better performance. More work in less time perhaps?

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I once lived in a small Mexican fishing village and enjoyed "negotiating" with the local man who sold seafood twice a week off his old pickup. One day, he asked me to tow his pickup home for him because it had broken down. When we got to his home, I saw he lived in a one-room cement house with no water or electricity, with his wife and child. I never again negotiated with him.

 

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Maids in Chapala on average are paid far better than in GDL. Cost of living lakeside is less.  Maids here make more than a construction foreman for example, because of the expat community paying so much. Typical in GDL $250 - $300 for a full day. That is what my relatives pay. Same maids for years. 

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4 hours ago, Mostlylost said:

Maids in Chapala on average are paid far better than in GDL. Cost of living lakeside is less.  Maids here make more than a construction foreman for example, because of the expat community paying so much. Typical in GDL $250 - $300 for a full day. That is what my relatives pay. Same maids for years. 

Similar situation in Mexico City, arguably the most expensive city in Mexico.  The woman who works for me arrives at 7:30AM and leaves at 3:00PM or sometimes later, depending on her own schedule here.  I pay her the going rate for domestic workers: 400 pesos a day.  No one here--as far as I know--pays domestic workers by the hour.  She brings something with her from the street for breakfast (coffee and a pan dulce, usually) and prefers to go home for comida with her family rather than eat a meal here.  

We have a purely business arrangement: I don't know her family, I don't know her financial circumstances--although I know that she has other domestic work every day--and I don't loan her money, bring her gifts from any of my travels, support her two children's education, or otherwise treat her as other than an employee.  She's worked for me for about four years; she's happy, I'm happy.  

When retired foreigners ask me why I'm not involved with her personal life, I usually ask, "Remember when you worked?  Was your employer involved with your personal life?  Did he or she support your children's education, or bring you gifts from his or her vacations?  Did your employer loan you money?"  The answer is generally no--you did your job, you got your paycheck, you had a business relationship with your employer.  Friendly in the office or the plant, of course--but that was it.  That's certainly how my work life was.

YMMV.

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  • 1 year later...

An update re this year-old post: as everyone knows, during the last year or so, the cost of everything has skyrocketed.  Some of us really feel the pinch, others not so much, some not all.  About a month ago I had one of those lightbulb-going-on moments: your housekeeper has to feel the pinch, she needs a raise.  I'd been paying her the going rate (400 pesos/day) for a long time.  I upped her salary to 500 pesos a day.  She's happier, I'm happier.    

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I'm hearing a lot of guilt and accusations, most of which is born of ignorance of the individual situations. All of the above is one of the reasons I use the Spring Clean service.  When they think their maids should have a raise, they increase my fees, and I don't have to worry about whether I'm being a good employer, or not.

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29 minutes ago, gringal said:

All of the above is one of the reasons I use the Spring Clean service. 

 

Please share with us what you pay Spring Clean. With that information, many of us can make an informed inquiry without surprises.

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