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Proper Christmas bonus for maid and gardner?


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19 minutes ago, modeeper said:

^^ Yes, it is comical if you don't leave your house.  

Now you're posted something I can really bite into.    It's number 20.

20. manditory public school attendance.  Boy is this loaded with propaganda!

First, Mexico has a no student fail policy.  Nobody flunks. No student repeats a grade level.  So a dullard can sit there until passing the 6th grade without ever cracking, owning, borrowing a book.

Second,  It's easy to circumvent that 6th grade requirement.  You go to the district office, or DFF, and plead poverty, the child is needed in the work force..

Third, The average level of education in this nation tops out at the 5th grade.  Proof about 20% never attend the 6th.

Forth, Elementary education is very good here.  In fact a Mexican child who migrates to the USA is often placed in a one to two-year advanced grade level.  

Fifth, Children who graduate from public schools are children who never attended private schools.  Little chance their family could afford any universities or prepas with any sort of status.  Maybe UNAM, they are socially conscious but with wait lists that'd rival Harvard.

Six, I was shocked when starting my career to learn students are often ashamed of being top in their class, ashamed of earning good marks.  One, it makes them appear corrupt as grades can be bought, and Two, Kids don't want to stand out, they want to be equal to their friends.

One shining fact is the DFF.  I went there once to report my whore neighbor and how she brought her johns home and shagged them with little privacy, as her kids were always present.   I had a string of observations and went through them one by one.  The official there at the DFF looked bored and I could see she wanted me to get over with it.  Then I mentioned the kids only attended classes twice a week at most.

She flew from her desk chair, grabbed a notebook and demanded her address.  They arrived to her house about a hour latter.  They removed her children and kept them for days.  The kids never missed school after that.

Your many anecdotal stories are good as they keep the different threads going. Some also reveal what some of your problems are living in Mexico and why negativity prevails in many of your comments. ;)

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8 minutes ago, El Saltos said:

Please keep this ON TOPIC!

Oh, caps!  This is serious.

So if you want to get a laugh out of your help and ultimately the entire local community, go to them with your bonus and say, Here, here is 2.146 % of your yearly salary.  This is what the law requires.  Oh, and here's a six of Coca Cola for the kids, free.

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1 hour ago, modeeper said:

So if you want to get a laugh out of your help and ultimately the entire local community, go to them with your bonus and say, Here, here is 2.146 % of your yearly salary.  This is what the law requires.  Oh, and here's a six of Coca Cola for the kids, free.

My maid was quite happy to get her LEGALLY CALCULATED aguinaldo and vacation pay all these years. She certainly didn't laugh at it or me. You must hang out with Mexicans who see you as a mark.

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12 minutes ago, mudgirl said:

You must hang out with Mexicans who see you as a mark.

MC, me, and others give them a months pay. There is no gift in the required amount, they work for that. I have no problem sharing a few more dollars, am not seen as a mark, and do not "hang out" with my help. Merry Xmas to you.

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5 hours ago, modeeper said:

^^ Yes, it is comical if you don't leave your house.  

Now you're posted something I can really bite into.    It's number 20.

20. manditory public school attendance.  Boy is this loaded with propaganda!

First, Mexico has a no student fail policy.  Nobody flunks. No student repeats a grade level.  So a dullard can sit there until passing the 6th grade without ever cracking, owning, borrowing a book.

Second,  It's easy to circumvent that 6th grade requirement.  You go to the district office, or DFF, and plead poverty, the child is needed in the work force..

Third, The average level of education in this nation tops out at the 5th grade.  Proof about 20% never attend the 6th.

Forth, Elementary education is very good here.  In fact a Mexican child who migrates to the USA is often placed in a one to two-year advanced grade level.  

Fifth, Children who graduate from public schools are children who never attended private schools.  Little chance their family could afford any universities or prepas with any sort of status.  Maybe UNAM, they are socially conscious but with wait lists that'd rival Harvard.

Six, I was shocked when starting my career to learn students are often ashamed of being top in their class, ashamed of earning good marks.  One, it makes them appear corrupt as grades can be bought, and Two, Kids don't want to stand out, they want to be equal to their friends.

One shining fact is the DFF.  I went there once to report my whore neighbor and how she brought her johns home and shagged them with little privacy, as her kids were always present.   I had a string of observations and went through them one by one.  The official there at the DFF looked bored and I could see she wanted me to get over with it.  Then I mentioned the kids only attended classes twice a week at most.

She flew from her desk chair, grabbed a notebook and demanded her address.  They arrived to her house about a hour latter.  They removed her children and kept them for days.  The kids never missed school after that.

What is DFF?  I know about DIF but not DFF.

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13 minutes ago, Brian Dalziel said:

This will be a bit long-winded, but . . . For part-time workers, for vacation and aguinaldo pay, why do advisors say to divide by 365 or by 7 to determine a proper part-time rate or ratio? 

For example, for a person working 1 day per week for you, or 52 days per year, making $525 pesos per day.  For aguinaldo, advisors say divide 52 by 365 = the person is working about 14% of the year part-time for you.  Advisors say take the daily pay of $525 times 15 days times the 14% part-time ratio.  But there are not 365 working days in the year.  There are more like 260 working days in the year (5 days x's 52 weeks) or perhaps 286 working days in the year (5-1/2 days x's 52 weeks).  This means the person is working for you 18%-20% of the time, not 14%.  This makes a big difference in the amount to be paid. 

Or, for a person eligible for 8 days of vacation pay, working 2 days a week for you, making $475 pesos per day.  Advisors say to divide 2 by 7 = the person is working about 28% of the time for you.  Vacation pay is then 8 days x's $475 x's the vacation premium factor 1.25 x's the part-time ratio 28%.  But there are not 7 working days in the week -- there are 5 working days per week or perhaps 5-1/2 working days.  The person is working 36%-40% of the time for you, not 28%.  Once again, dividing by 5 or 5-1/2 instead of 7 makes a big difference in the calculations. 

Sorry for all the math details -- it's the accountant in me coming through. 

The last sentence was a jewel.

I confess I've never had domestic employees.  But lots of local guys have been invited here to cut the grass and such.  I'm a tipper.  They ask for 150, I give them 200. 

I use my friends as Uber drivers quite often.  The last one wanted 200 to drive me to the FedEx bodega in GDL  That's about 60K round trip.  The petro would probably be about 150!  I gave him 400.

If a person has been under the thumb of the system here all of his/her life, why not give him a break?  It's healthy for one's Ego to get a kudo once in awhile. A little kindness goes a long way, as my pop used to say.

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As per my web site, link above, to calculate daily wage divide total weekly pay by 7 (even if employee works 6 or less days per week). Example: a person works only 1 day a week making 300 pesos. The wage used in the calculations would be 300/7 = 43 pesos. If that person works 3 days a week making 300 pesos a day that is 900 / 7 = 129 pesos per day for the calculations.

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16 hours ago, mudgirl said:

if you have done the calculation correctly.

OMG!  The calculations!  Damn that says a lot about you.  An incestuous father has a better reputation in the local community than some cheap a.s.s. Gringo.  There, I've said it.

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Modeeper, for someone who admits that they've never had domestic employees, you sure have a lot to say on the subject. This is NOT about tipping or cheapness. It is about the Labour Law which should be followed to the last digit. It becomes very important to have done the calculations properly and to have them signed for should you sell your home or should you have to terminate your employees for other reasons... both of which require a Finiquito. The Law is the LAW. If you wish to give your employees a GIFT at Christmas or help them out in any other way throughout the year, then the sky is the limit.

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16 hours ago, Tingting said:

Our maid and gardener both work 2 days/week, so the 2.14 calculations work out very closely to 3 weeks salary. We pay 3 weeks plus give them a decent basket (ham, nibbles, whatever) and a bottle of some decent beverage. For us, it's just a slightly extra touch to show our thanks. At the very minimum, go with the RollyBrook site. He's gone, as has been mentioned, but his wisdom remains. Happy Holidays to all!

You're absolutely right. I was focused on the end and not how to get there. Thanks for pointing that out! Of course, the bottom line is it takes so little to show your appreciation and I think sometimes we forget that.

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6 minutes ago, Ferret said:

Modeeper, for someone who admits that they've never had domestic employees, you sure have a lot to say on the subject. This is NOT about tipping or cheapness. It is about the Labour Law which should be followed to the last digit. It becomes very important to have done the calculations properly and to have them signed for should you sell your home or should you have to terminate your employees for other reasons... both of which require a Finiquito. The Law is the LAW. If you wish to give your employees a GIFT at Christmas or help them out in any other way throughout the year, then the sky is the limit.

Exactly!  This is my first year with a household worker, so I researched to try to do it correctly.  We had the employee sign for the aguinaldo and the vacation pay (just as we have him sign for his weekly pay).  We offered him a copy of our calculations, as well.   

We put our personal gift to him in a Christmas card conveying our thanks to him for his work throughout the year.  

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16 hours ago, mudgirl said:

It doesn't matter how many days a week your employees work- the formula should work out to just a little over 2 weeks pay if you have done the calculation correctly.

You're right and I responded to myself (above) instead of your posting. Sigh...technodino strikes again!

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2 hours ago, Tingting said:

the bottom line is it takes so little to show your appreciation and I think sometimes we forget that.

That's the ticket!

I doubt it matters if I've never had domestic help or not.  I've had plenty of human contact.  If people are here working in my house they'd have to be people I liked.  If not they wouldn't be here.

IMHO you folks are waaaay too fixated on "The Laws."  And not just on this matter but a lot of other matters as well.

These people whom you call gardeners and house keepers are poor.  That's why they're gardeners and house keepers and not doctors and lawyers.

Don't know anything about what your jobs paid before your retirement, but my job in the State of California paid about 8X more per hour there than here.  So we come to a land where crime and poverty is rife and we're quick to forget we're the rich kid on the block.  Sorry, I just don't get it.

Ever heard of a notion called, The Fallacy of Visual Knowledge?  You have the idea your employees go home and never mention the Gringo they work for with their friends and family?  You don't know cause you're not there.  The absolute last thing you want to be in Mexico is to be anything close to frugal (Is frugality some Christian value or what?).  And the more you are a person of means the more powerful that jacket of cheep charlie becomes.  It also would target you for ill will, like a home invasion.  Mexicans learn early on not to bite the hand that feeds.

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The problem with expats who adopt a "more Mexican than thou" attitude is that they seem to operate on the assumption that no one else notices what's going on around him/her, hasn't the slightest idea of how their neighbors and employees live and what proper behavior toward them should be.  That's just plain insulting, so why make multiple posts repeating it? 

In defense of the terrible "frugal" expats, I know of some retirees who couldn't make ends meet in the U.S. and moved to Mexico so they could...sometimes barely so.  Some can't hope to be "permanente" due to lack of income and they get by renewing tourist visas. They might like to be more generous, but simply can't afford to be.  I wish them well, and can't possibly condemn their "frugal" behavior.  IMO, the only people who should be ashamed of themselves are those who are well off and are cheapskates anyway.

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34 minutes ago, gringal said:

I know of some retirees who couldn't make ends meet in the U.S. and moved to Mexico so they could...sometimes barely so.

They most likely don't have any domestic workers to pay or give bonuses to.

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It doesn't matter what you think Brian. That is what the LABOUR LAW states and that calculation is what anything to do with labour law is based on.

I don't understand why people can't wrap their heads around the separation of what the Labour Law requires and what a GIFT is. If you want to gift your employee with a brand new Ferrari then DO IT... but it has nothing whatsoever to do with the Labour Law requirements.

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10 minutes ago, Ferret said:

the Labour Law requirements.

Those Labor Law requirements were written for nationals.  You know, those people who have 1/10 your education, opportunity and God's blessing?  Oh Canada, oh Canada.  Am I warm? 

Some of y'all are just plain Freudian delights.  I'm talking about the only one of His theories that has survived about 20 thousand Masters and PhD thesis assaults; anal and oral types.  Damn if I'd rather be def dumb and blind living in a hollowed log than anal.

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7 hours ago, moderator-2 said:

Sonia, I want to take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of this board for being such a great resource here and wish you and your esposo Feliz Navidad y Feliz Año Nuevo!

How kind of you and thank you. Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo

We are looking forward to our annual trip to Ajijic and this coming year's chile cook-off.

 

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