Salary For Maid/helper

[robert k]

Correct Thomas, 2500 in Manila, where Scott H pays 3500. In the outback provinces it's 1500 and SJP says $45 or about 2000 php. 1000 piso more in Manila vs 500 piso more in the province.

 

I said : "If they are a good employee, I would pay them more". :)

 

 

Please expand on your point? Thomas, I am starting to think you are what I would politely call a focussed person, one who latches on to one thing and is then blind to everything else and it's difficult to have a reasoned discussion with such people. :no:

 

I pay lawyers hundreds of dollars an hour, I don't think I would need to pinch pennies on paying a maid but that does not mean that someone else is as fortunate financially or that if they only paid the minimum that it would be a bad job.

 

Americano does not pay his wifes relatives, but provides an excellent living environment. I also seem to recall that Americano's wife helps the cousins chat with potential foreigner husbands, that is certainly value added. :thumbsup:

 

 I will likely not have a maid although I may hire help temporarily from time to time.

 

When I was a young man in the army, I was fed housed and given funny clothes to wear by my uncle sam and paid a ridiculously low wage, or so it seems, but for a single man to have about $600 a month to spend on whatever he wished, in retrospect I was a king! 15 years later I worked with married men [we both made at least $600 a week] who were fortunate if their wives gave them a $30 a week allowance! To spend at US prices. :no:

[MikeB]

What has worked very well for my wife and me is whenever one of her many cousins graduates from high school we bring her up from Mindanao to Cebu. She lives with us, eats the same food as us, goes on trips with us, we buy cloths for her and a cell phone if she doesn't already have one, she watches TV with us and we teach her how to use one of our computers and let her use it some each day. We buy all the personal items she needs but we don't pay her a salary.  Being younger than us she does most of the dish washing, clothes washing and house cleaning.

Hiring relatives is a common ploy to get around the Kasambahay Law. They're much less likely to file a complaint. But if they are doing common household work on a regular basis they are still covered by the law and the requirements for contract, minimum pay, etc. still apply.

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---ilo-manila/documents/publication/wcms_211050.pdf

[gmb8585]

If i was hiring a maid fulltime to live in my house and she was required to work 8 hrs per day I would pay the going minimum wage for a store clerk which is about 337p per day.  She would get 1 day off per week. Out of that wage i would deduct 1500 per month for her accomodation and 100 per day for 3 meals per day. Then I would deduct SSS, taxes etc.  That way she is being treated like others working in Cebu.  Why people seem to think that maids are second class citizens worth only 2000-4000 per month is beyond me.

[scott h]

WOW GMB this is sure to open up a can of worms :lol: . Naturally we are free to pay our help whatever wage we believe they are worth. I for example pay our maid/wife companion more than the law demands (she is not live-in by the way) she has been working for our wife's family since she was 14 (now mid 30's I think and single mother). If we have a function her sister in law comes into help. If we have projects around the house her brothers come into help. I might change a light bulb around the house, but that is about the extent of my manual labor :thumbsup:

 

As to being 2nd class citizens (and I might get in trouble here). To an OBJECTIVE observer, Filipino society is one of most class based around. One of the first is skin color and even hair texture. I was shocked on my 1st visit in '96 when my bride made the comment about "hill people" when pointing to very dark skin, fuzzy haired people along the side of the road. (notice the number of skin lightening products advertise as well as hair straightening products. Look at the politicians, The majority are mestizo and very light skinned. In fact the countries vice president has actually had to defend his dark skin (he does it with a lot of class by the way). Another class is location. I can't count the number of times, when I have asked where a someone I am used has gone to and am told "they went back to the province" it is said with such a tone of voice its like in the states when your told "they went back to the farm".

 

Another is "tribe and language" Its funny when someone says "I can barely understand their dialect" again you have to read between the lines and the tone of voice.

 

Then you have the "grease people" these are people who live on the street and get their name from the dirt and grime that is ingrained into their skin. They are like the "untouchables" in India and Japan. I have seen folks actually cross the street to avoid going near them and the looks on their faces tells all.

 

Don't forget the squatters (i'm sorry, I mean "informal settlers"), these are the ones who live under bridges and along the expressways, throw and extention cord over the wall and are charged by the home owner to buy electricity. These are also the ones who's kids hang around at intersections and will come up and tap at your window asking for pesos.

 

I am a child of the 60's and 70's raised in Southern California one of the most color blind areas of the U.S. and I speak under correction from our FIL-AM members (JJ?, Jake?) but to my observation there are many classes here in the Philippines.

[Thomas]

 

1500 piso is the minimum wage for a maid in some areas. 2,000 piso would be minimum wage plus SSS and Philhealth.

Yes, and minimum 2500p in Manila.

Plus SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-Ibig, food and a decent sleep place.

Correct Thomas, 2500 in Manila, where Scott H pays 3500. In the outback provinces it's 1500 and SJP says $45 or about 2000 php. 1000 piso more in Manila vs 500 piso more in the province. I said : "If they are a good employee, I would pay them more". :) Please expand on your point? Thomas, I am starting to think you are what I would politely call a focussed person, one who latches on to one thing and is then blind to everything else and it's difficult to have a reasoned discussion with such people. :no:

What are you talking about??!!  I did just COMPLEET part you didn't say (except I forgot the 13th month JJReyes reminded of) so people living in Manila don't miss the MINIMUM salary is higher there...

[robert k]

Now that last post is completely unintelligible.

[Thomas]

Now that last post is completely unintelligible.

For anyone else than you?  :mocking:

What's to hard to understand with this???

You told:

the two lowest, SSS and PhilHealth

and I added:

the third (=Manila) minimum salary, plus the obligatoric Pag-Ibig fee

to make the information compleete (but I forgot 13rd month salary).

[gmb8585]

WOW GMB this is sure to open up a can of worms :lol: . Naturally we are free to pay our help whatever wage we believe they are worth. I for example pay our maid/wife companion more than the law demands (she is not live-in by the way) she has been working for our wife's family since she was 14 (now mid 30's I think and single mother). If we have a function her sister in law comes into help. If we have projects around the house her brothers come into help. I might change a light bulb around the house, but that is about the extent of my manual labor :thumbsup:

 

As to being 2nd class citizens (and I might get in trouble here). To an OBJECTIVE observer, Filipino society is one of most class based around. One of the first is skin color and even hair texture. I was shocked on my 1st visit in '96 when my bride made the comment about "hill people" when pointing to very dark skin, fuzzy haired people along the side of the road. (notice the number of skin lightening products advertise as well as hair straightening products. Look at the politicians, The majority are mestizo and very light skinned. In fact the countries vice president has actually had to defend his dark skin (he does it with a lot of class by the way). Another class is location. I can't count the number of times, when I have asked where a someone I am used has gone to and am told "they went back to the province" it is said with such a tone of voice its like in the states when your told "they went back to the farm".

 

Another is "tribe and language" Its funny when someone says "I can barely understand their dialect" again you have to read between the lines and the tone of voice.

 

Then you have the "grease people" these are people who live on the street and get their name from the dirt and grime that is ingrained into their skin. They are like the "untouchables" in India and Japan. I have seen folks actually cross the street to avoid going near them and the looks on their faces tells all.

 

Don't forget the squatters (i'm sorry, I mean "informal settlers"), these are the ones who live under bridges and along the expressways, throw and extention cord over the wall and are charged by the home owner to buy electricity. These are also the ones who's kids hang around at intersections and will come up and tap at your window asking for pesos.

 

I am a child of the 60's and 70's raised in Southern California one of the most color blind areas of the U.S. and I speak under correction from our FIL-AM members (JJ?, Jake?) but to my observation there are many classes here in the Philippines.

What I actually was trying to convey was the fact that maids, housekeepers etc. seem to be paid much less than other unskilled workers here such as shop assistants. At 2500 to 3000 per month what is someone capable of doing to provide for relatives, their future, savings etc. Even the cebu minimum of 337 per day is low but at least some semblance of a life can be enjoyed or at least tolerated. Of course the downside of those jobs is no job security-5-6 months after you're hired you are gone. My way of thinking is if I can afford a housekeeper I should be able to afford to pay somewhat decently.  

[Thomas]

What I actually was trying to convey was the fact that maids, housekeepers etc. seem to be paid much less than other unskilled workers here such as shop assistants. At 2500 to 3000 per month what is someone capable of doing to provide for relatives, their future, savings etc. Even the cebu minimum of 337 per day is low but at least some semblance of a life can be enjoyed or at least tolerated. Of course the downside of those jobs is no job security-5-6 months after you're hired you are gone. My way of thinking is if I can afford a housekeeper I should be able to afford to pay somewhat decently.

(If I remember corect, which I'm almost sure I do   :)

/The salaries for the domestic helpers are PLUS food and a decent sleep place. Basic health care too (?)

/while other workers have higher minimum salaries, but then the law don't demand food and sleep place. (Some get anyway, but most of them have to pay such by THEMSELVES.)

 

So if the domestic helper get proper food and room, then that can be BETTER than the unskilled worker get...

[robert k]

I don't know Thomas, maybe it's a misunderstanding, along with a creative spelling of "complete" along with missing words one of which I would presume to be the word the. Other than that, probably one of your better efforts. :mocking: