How much do you pay your cleaning lady?

amother

Floralwhite

Sun, Jan 20 2019, 3:28 am

7 euro/hour (she is fantastic, honest, friendly, likes kids, cleans fast, reliabe)

I know other families pay her up to 10/hour. I cant pay so much, she still comes to us, eventhough we pay much less (she has worked for us for almost 9 years now), she is loyal and understands our situation. an amazing woman

Ruchel

Sun, Jan 20 2019, 6:49 am

12 - paid back some, so I spend 10

amother

Scarlet

Sun, Jan 20 2019, 7:05 am

amother wrote:

$2 an hour (approximately) but I live in South Africa. Plus she lives in so I buy her food, pay for her child’s school supplies etc.... I am aware that it is pathetically little, but it is more than minimum wage here. And yes, everyone I know has full time help. With the Zimbabwean crisis I can only imagine an increase in people desperate for work here.

What in the world????

Raisin

Sun, Jan 20 2019, 7:35 am

amother wrote:

What in the world????

What are you questioning? That she pays so little? Or the Zimbabwean crises which no news outlets seem to be reporting on? (I only know about it since I have zimbabwean friends who mentioned it on FB).

I imagine wages in SA in general are lower.

Ruchel

Sun, Jan 20 2019, 8:09 am

amother wrote:

What in the world????

jealousy jealousy

amother

Tangerine

Sun, Jan 20 2019, 8:56 am

Monsey- $12 an hour

mommy3b2c

Sun, Jan 20 2019, 9:09 am

Recently raised her to $13 an hour. Plus I pay for a Lyft to take her home.

amother

Blue

Sun, Jan 20 2019, 9:23 am

amother wrote:

What in the world????

I’m trying to understand your question.

South Africa is a third world country with hogh rates of unemployment (approximately 27%).

Additionally, the largely unreported humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe, which borders this country has already caused a huge influx of people into South Africa desperate for work.

Minimum wage is a complicated concept in this country as is varies per industry and whether you are in a rural or urban area.

However, as of January 1st, 2019 they introduced into law a minimum 20 rand per hour minimum wage (rand to dollar fluctuates between 13-15 to the dollar so today that comes to $1.45). This is much higher than many people were paying. This minimum wage, which again used to be much lower in certain areas is being phased in slowly. So currently the agricultural sector minimum wage is 18 rand and domestic workers minimum wage is 15 rand. I pay 30 rand which is DOUBLE current minimum wage.

Is it pitiful? Yes. I acknowledge that. But would every person have a full time domestic worker (or two) if it was 100 rand an hour. No they wouldn’t. And then there would be an unemployment rate of 45%.

Economists are split on whether the minimum wage introduced in January is going to be helpful to this country or not.

Time will tell.

I try to treat my domestic workers kindly. I have found a job for her sister and her cousin. She has access to my WiFi, she has hot water electricity and I buy her watever food she writes for herself on my shopping list. She gets an entire extra 13th check in December. As well as 3 full weeks paid vacation. I buy stuff for her son in Zimbabwe and send as necessary. I have even offered to bring him here for school and pay for government schooling for him. Depending on how much longer the current crisis lasts that might happen. If she needs a doctor or dentist I don’t make her wait in endless lines at government clinics but Uber her to my private doctor or dentist and then they email me a bill which I pay for. I am paying for her to have driving lessons etc. I do my best to treat her respectfully etc. and I think she is happy(ish) at her job. She’s definitely overqualified for the work and she is attending a bit of night classes and I hope that gives her more opportunities in her life.

Hope that makes sense.

amother

Burlywood

Sun, Jan 20 2019, 11:25 am

1untamedgirl wrote:

What is the process for legalizing the nanny/cleaning help? Wouldn't it be easier to go through an agency?

In my experience, most good cleaning help stops working for an agency as soon as possible because they get such a small percentage of the amount paid. As soon as they can build up a client base, they go independent.

And I just don't want the hassle of having to train a cleaning woman or have to worry about whether I can trust her. My cleaning lady isn't the best at spotting dirt but she is very willing and honest. So it's really on me to point out things that she missed - and sometimes I'm not the best at that :-).

In terms of making someone legal, it's a bit of a hassle because you have to set up a payroll system so that your tax contributions are done correctly and you withhold her FICA share and whatever income tax she wants to report. So unless you want to do the payroll taxes yourself, you need to find a payroll company to do it for you - and most of them aren't that interested in a small client.

And for better or worse, cleaning ladies generally want to be paid in cash. It's short sighted of them and not something I feel particularly comfortable with because it's tax avoidance and also they will come to regret it when they need SS or Medicare. I have a friend who is a retired realtor who didn't pay appropriate FICA taxes for many years - I.e. she underreported her income and was pretty much of a wastrel. So in her retirement years she is suffering because the amount she is getting from SS is so small compared to what she might have gotten if she had paid the FICA taxes on her actual income. Actually, if she had just INVESTED the money she didn't pay in taxes rather than spending it on frivolous stuff, she wouldn't be in economic disaster now.

amother

Fuchsia

Sun, Jan 20 2019, 5:25 pm

I pay 5 €. The going rate here for the not registered ones. They are desperate for a job. If I pay 7 I can get the registered ones. AND I don't get paid much more then that an hour...
1 of them told me that at home (in ukraine ) she worked for a bank and earned 50 € a month! So here she earns 50 € a day!

ROFL

Mon, Jan 21 2019, 1:01 am

To all imamothers that pay off the books and are paying below minimum wages. Please be aware that there are immigration lawyers that are encouraging domestic workers to sue their employers for paying them below minimum wages. They are not going after them for being off the books and paying cash - but they are suing for below minimum wages and winning !

dankbar

Mon, Jan 21 2019, 1:02 am

Blue she's probably even more thrilled to have a roof than the job & pay if she's a refugee.

Also seems like you are paying her for all her expenses not only necessities but luxuries...why not?

amother

Red

Mon, Jan 21 2019, 1:23 am

I pay £8 per hour which is the standard price here in Stamford Hill

Raisin

Mon, Jan 21 2019, 5:10 am

amother wrote:

Where are you???

doctorima

Mon, Jan 21 2019, 11:01 am

Interesting to hear about the minimum wage issue. I checked and in NYC it's now $13.50 (for less than 10 employees). Those who pay $13 plus transportation are probably okay, but less than that could be an issue it seems.

amother

Gray

Mon, Jan 21 2019, 11:19 am

$100 for half a day or so for an apartment. I've no clue how many hours -- she does what she does, and then she leaves.

amother

Brunette

Mon, Jan 21 2019, 11:34 am

amother wrote:

What in the world????

$2 sounds like insanely little...

But she’s providing a room & bed, showers, food, even her kids school supplies! I’m sure many other things which have monetary value too.

Tzutzie

Mon, Jan 21 2019, 1:06 pm

NOTHING
She didn't show today after promising me late last night she will.....
Yes - in hopping mad.

Zehava

Mon, Jan 21 2019, 2:18 pm

amother wrote:

No need to justify yourself to jealous posters. Imamothers can go crazy when it comes to others having more than they have.
You are being incredibly kind to her! I know not everyone does what you do.
And SA is an amazing place both the people and the land. Enjoy it!

amother

Fuchsia

Tue, Jan 22 2019, 3:12 pm

Raisin wrote:

Where are you???

Belgium