Is it fitting? | Imamother

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Nov 29 2016, 2:58 am

Raisin wrote:

I would expect to pay a lot more to a native english speaker. Most cleaners speak very poor english.

What does speaking the language have anything to do with one's cleaning ability?
The cleaning guy that I use is not a hebrew speaker (Im in Israel) and speaks english so so, but he is an amazing cleaner, seriously, and so I pay by that, not by one's language skills.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Nov 29 2016, 3:06 am

Most of the cleaning ladies in my area are Arab, and DH is nervous to have one in the house. Jewish cleaning ladies are nearly impossible to find, and when you do, they charge more. I have no problem with that. Kashrus is important to me, and I need someone who I can explain things to (English speaking).

Even the kindest, smartest, most well meaning non Jew just won't fully "get it", because they don't live the life 24/7.

On the subject of "demeaning work", the first frum lady who worked for me had really bad anxiety, and a touch of OCD. She was having some shalom bayis problems, and her DH was controlling her money. By giving her a job, I was giving her freedom. She also loves to clean, because she says it helps focus her mind, and she thinks more clearly while she's doing mundane tasks. That helps her get away from her house and kids, and she can work out what she wants to do about her life. She kept thanking ME for letting her work, and even refused to accept tips. I felt lucky that I was in a position to help another Jew in her time of need.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Nov 29 2016, 3:13 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

For a short while I had a Hungarian lady who didn't speak much English. She didn't know the words for bathroom, mop, kitchen, dishes, or dusting. How do I work with that? We ended up playing charades, and it was not fun for either of us. She was also not self motivated, and wanted me to explain every little thing. Um, if it looks dirty, just clean it! How hard is that to understand? It's not like I'm asking her to write a thesis paper for me. I'm not even picky if you miss a spot here and there.

She kept cancelling on me, and then quit after two months, saying that I was messing up HER schedule. (That has nothing to do with the language, maybe. It could be that she was frustrated with the communication issues, or maybe she just found a job with more hours.) Anyway, if we could have understood each other better, we could have worked out why she was unhappy with me.

Raisin

Tue, Nov 29 2016, 3:16 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

it's hard to explain complex tasks and instructions to a person you don't share a language with. For example, my cleaning lady helps me with cooking. But I can't just give her a cookbook and ask her to follow a recipe. Being able to do that would be immensely helpful on occasion.

Of course, if your house is fairly neat and orderly and you just need someone to do basic stuff like cleaning floors, bathrooms etc a common language is not that necessary.

Also, my cleaning ladies have mostly been from eastern europe. NONE of them seem to know how to sort toys. I find my measuring cups in the toy drawer, lego with the clics etc. I'm assuming part of that is coming from a different (less consumerist?) culture and their kids did not have such toys.

shabbatiscoming

Tue, Nov 29 2016, 3:18 am

Raisin wrote:

Fine, but to pay over the norm for someone who DOES speak your language? To me that makes no sense.

Tue, Nov 29 2016, 3:18 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

What does speaking the language have anything to do with one's cleaning ability?

Being able to communicate in a shared language has nothing to do with cleaning ability, but greatly enhances employability. It helps if your employee is able to understand your instructions easily and ask questions as needed (and then understand the answer).

JoyInTheMorning

Tue, Nov 29 2016, 4:25 am

OP:
1. Your suggested ad sounds great, but make sure to proofread before you post it. (It's "household angel" rather than "household angle" for example.) Also, if you don't mind the whole process of doing laundry (stripping beds, putting it in the wash, drying it, as well as making beds again), say so. As I saw in a previous thread, many people find the task of changing beds and putting on those tricky quilt covers quite challenging. (That includes me!)

2. There used to be something called a Girl Friday, someone who could pinch hit in basically any capacity (referring to Robinson Crusoe's Man Friday.) If that term is understood in the UK today, you might use it.

To Shabbatiscoming and others: not only is an English speaker able to command a better salary, but certainly someone with more knowledge of her clients' needs should be worth more. In contrast to other household help, for example, OP wouldn't have to be trained in keeping meat and dairy dishes separate. In fact, OP could advertise herself as knowing the laws of kashrut. That makes it more likely that her employers would be comfortable with her cooking. They could also trust her to run out to the grocery store to get something: no need for a lengthy explanation about hashgacha, where to look for it on the package, etc.

If I could get someone for $12.41 per hour to help me with all the household tasks, I'd be on it in a minute. I live in an area where housecleaners charge around $25 per hour, and expect a minimum of 3-4 hours. And I don't really have 3-4 hours worth of cleaning to do. (Well, I do, but the organizing that I would have to do makes it totally not worth it!) What I need is someone who is exactly like you, and wouldn't mind doing an hour of cleaning, an hour of laundry, an hour of chopping up vegetables or other errands. That is *exactly* what so many women need to make their lives easier.

Good luck building up your business!

Last edited by JoyInTheMorning on Tue, Nov 29 2016, 4:38 am; edited 1 time in total

33055

Tue, Nov 29 2016, 4:38 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

Fine, but to pay over the norm for someone who DOES speak your language? To me that makes no sense.

Frum people command a premium for services where I live. I think it is smart to price a service and to get it for the best possible cost as long as the people doing it are comparable. I can't tell you the number of times I have been told that I should give a job to a frum person because they are frum. Said person may have no experience, not be properly licensed and insured, the job may be complex and their price not close to the lowest, yet folks think I should hire them.

I have a friend who inherited a large sum. Our mutual friend's husband decided to become an investment advisor without going through proper licensing. You can guess the result.

It is completely within the norm here to pay the frum premium.

Rosemarie

Tue, Nov 29 2016, 5:57 am

It's totally not the norm here for frum women to work as cleaners. But honestly, I would be thrilled to have a frum woman cleaning for me. I take full time help and am having such a hard time finding reliable good help! So if I found someone good, hurray! And if she could help with childcare, cooking, organising... BONUS! I don't really have enough work to fill the full time, more like 3/4, but I take full time because that is supposed to help obtain and keep good help. That other 1/4 of the time, if it was someone who spoke my language and understood my lifestyle, there is so much they could do, organize my closets, cook or prepare food for cooking, childcare... I would totally be willing to pay a bit extra for these benefits.

Anyone who wants to come do all that for me, please let me know! My latest lady didn't show up today