For the ladies...Maid Service-am I expecting too much?-My maid woes.

25, 30, 40. It is still peanuts. And expecting perfection for peanuts is absurd.

I especially enjoyed the comments about not letting yourself being taken advantage of by someone you pay 25 pesos an hour.

Who wrote that? not me

Solovino wrote:25, 30, 40. It is still peanuts. And expecting perfection for peanuts is absurd.

What do you pay your maid and what's the law say about it? I was raised perfect or better is sufficient.

You could pay some people 100 pesos an hour and they'd still do crap work while some would be the best for 20 pesos an hour. It is all a matter of pride of workmanship.

UAW vs. Japanese workers, need I say more?

What about the IBM workers that get 10 pesos an hour and work 50+ hours a week in Guad? to say domestic help getting paid 25-40 pesos is peanuts, for what they decided to do with their life, is not to be blamed on us! or the peon that gets 750 pesos a week for digging trenches and hauling 5 gallon buckets of cement isn't peanuts? make me laugh, go ahead! this is mexico!

I had one friend ask me not to hire her maid for what i was paying mine because she'd have to match my pay! Yes, so when others have commented of the imbalance it causes, I understand. But even in the states those who don't work as thoroughly or don't get paid as much. We shouldn't get so pushed out of shape for the fortunes of another. There will always be people with more or less than we have, no matter what!

Feeling guilty? I didn't say that anyone on this board was responsible for the low wages earned by domestic help. But tell us. Did you have a maid NOB?

I suspect few on this board had a regular maid NOB. There was a time when domestic help was very inexpensive. Thanks to illegal immigrants from SOB, it's still a low paid job lacking the perks a legal employee would enjoy.

Somewhere between being an overly demanding householder and letting a lazy maid do slipshod work lies common sense . As someone pointed out on here, if you're spending a lot of time thinking about it..........you need a different approach.

IMO, our OP would be well advised to try turning this over to a cleaning agency and focus on the more important issues in her busy life. You would be amazed at how much cleaning a pair of well trained maids can do in a few hours. When it works out that a good maid can get twice the work done in half the time of a so-so maid.....cost is relative.

Another point is that you are under no obligation to continue with the agency if you try them out and it doesn't work for you......no severance and no hassle. Something to think about.

Solovino wrote:Feeling guilty? I didn't say that anyone on this board was responsible for the low wages earned by domestic help. But tell us. Did you have a maid NOB?

Of course I feel guilty. I feel terrible about the injustices I see in this country but there are injustices everywhere. I dislike the poverty but it'll always be here.

Did I have a maid NOB. Go back and read the thread. Answer my question. How much do you pay your maid? Ok, I'll be fair to you. What do you think a new maid should start at?

You are truly dense. If you (or me or anyone else) pay low wages you can't expect wonders. I certainly won't let it ruin my day if the top of the ketchup bottle doesn't get wiped off before it is returned to the reefer. Life is way to short for that kind of trivial BS. And since you insist, 200 pesos for a 5 hour day and that includes breakfast and lunch, no laundry and occasionally some ironing. She doesn't do a perfect job and she isn't expected to. The only thing I personally demand is that she leaves my home office alone except for sweeping and mopping.

Read gringal's last post.

No agency. I do learn from my mistakes. Have an interview this afternoon.

This is rather comical though. Reminds me of the I Love Lucy program when Lucy hires a maid. Not really but the first time there are nerves, and then it gets to be normal business.

Solovino wrote:If you (or me or anyone else) pay low wages you can't expect wonders. I certainly won't let it ruin my day if the top of the ketchup bottle doesn't get wiped off before it is returned to the reefer. Life is way to short for that kind of trivial BS. And since you insist, 200 pesos for a 5 hour day and that includes breakfast and lunch, no laundry and occasionally some ironing. She doesn't do a perfect job and she isn't expected to. The only thing I personally demand is that she leaves my home office alone except for sweeping and mopping.

Read gringal's last post.

You forgot to mention how big your house is. Includes breakfast and lunch, is she cooking that or you're providing it for her?

For a perfectly or almost perfect clean house what should one expect to pay?

Solovino wrote:You are truly dense. If you (or me or anyone else) pay low wages you can't expect wonders. I certainly won't let it ruin my day if the top of the ketchup bottle doesn't get wiped off before it is returned to the reefer. Life is way to short for that kind of trivial BS. And since you insist, 200 pesos for a 5 hour day and that includes breakfast and lunch, no laundry and occasionally some ironing. She doesn't do a perfect job and she isn't expected to. The only thing I personally demand is that she leaves my home office alone except for sweeping and mopping.

Read gringal's last post.

Good grief! Lightning may strike. I agree with Solovino. I sure paid a heck of a lot more NOB (or southeast of the border in the Caribbean in my case) and I'm paying more than the going rate here but Solovino is Mexican so all those broad generalizations about what Mexicans pay & how gringos are wrecking the economy don't always seem to hold water.

Chapalagringa wrote:
For a perfectly or almost perfect clean house what should one expect to pay?

Perfect to you is probably much different than perfect to us. When and if I want something done perfectly (a rare occasion and more so as I get older), I do it myself. The rest of the time I adjust my expectations according to the circumstances.

thank you chapalagringa. (forgive me if this is a repeat, the other post didnt go thru). no humor, i am serious. yes, you do like to serve others, stop serving this maid. there are 2 sets of rules for employers, one for mexicans & another for americans. (the american stuff gets more bizarre over the years, dont pay attention). medical insurance is only for FULL time help (on contract), not part time. stop paying. mexicans do not give xmas bonuses they give presents. i give cash, as the help likes that better, & i started that way. xmas bonus is optional, but a nice thing to do. i gave 300 pesos @ first, then 500, maybe more this year for her 1 p/t day. vacation pay for p/t is: one weeks salary. for example: if she works between one day a week & sometimes two (3 1/2 -4 12 hrs), i give an an "average" between, or bring it up to the maximum 2 p/t days. i cannot find anything about a "30 day" rule, i will ask my mexican friends. they are all professional people & have p/t help. i pay more than mexican employers do, i choose this. as inter-casa said, good work is good work, & excessive salary does not promise that. theres a middle window of pay. & it should be @least 40pesos per hr for a maid. mine got that 4 yrs ago & has not asked for a raise. the lower end pay, is for full time help w/medical soc sec. and a big package for termination. do not have anything in writing for p/t arrangements. (even receipts for pay, nothing). you dont want a worker to sue for compensation, but thats another topic. suing americans is "side" business, the lawyers take a group of workers together & take 60% of amount sued. & YOU have a hire a lawyer to go w/you to court. you will be taken to the cleaners across the board. most of this is bogus, its part of that "system" here that americans fell victim too. i cannot advise on this, as i dont know your existing paperwork.

and you owe her nothing. you have gone way over the limit for someone who has no skills. no experience, no capacity to learn. yo have NO obigation to find her work. you have tried 10 different combinations & its no go w/that "maid"! unless you enjoy this wasteful mindless interaction. shame on you. & good luck w/the interview for the new worker.

First of all, I did have maids in Canada, both live in and cleaning services, also cleaning ladies. Comparing NOB to here is kind of pointless. My last ones up north were a family, so could basically be trusted. Four of them came in and did wonders in about an hour and a half. Costs were high, but they were also a partial business write off since I was self employed.

When I first came here, the going rate in my area was 12 pesos an hour. It is now getting to between 35 and 40. Some pay a lot more, others less.
I don't think that many people expect ketchup bottles cleaned off. Nor do they expect total perfection. Just a clean house. Luckily my maid likes ironing and does a good job. So that's a bonus. If I want to keep her happy, obviously I'm not going to insult her by paying below the going rates. She provides first rate service.

Also ladies, in this case size really does not matter, unless you're talking about over 5,000 sq. ft. It is often easier to clean a larger house because there is more storage space, therefore less clutter. Let's face it most kitchens have roughly the same items, cleaning off a bit more counter space, doesn't take a lot more time. Ditto for bathrooms.

If you want shopping or other specialized jobs, you have to provide extra time. Any maid working more than 3 hours should be provided with lunch IMO. YMMV.

susan wrote:thank you chapalagringa. (forgive me if this is a repeat, the other post didnt go thru). no humor, i am serious. yes, you do like to serve others, stop serving this maid. there are 2 sets of rules for employers, one for mexicans & another for americans. (the american stuff gets more bizarre over the years, dont pay attention). medical insurance is only for FULL time help (on contract), not part time. stop paying. mexicans do not give xmas bonuses they give presents. i give cash, as the help likes that better, & i started that way. xmas bonus is optional, but a nice thing to do. i gave 300 pesos @ first, then 500, maybe more this year for her 1 p/t day. vacation pay for p/t is: one weeks salary. for example: if she works between one day a week & sometimes two (3 1/2 -4 12 hrs), i give an an "average" between, or bring it up to the maximum 2 p/t days. i cannot find anything about a "30 day" rule, i will ask my mexican friends. they are all professional people & have p/t help. i pay more than mexican employers do, i choose this. as inter-casa said, good work is good work, & excessive salary does not promise that. theres a middle window of pay. & it should be @least 40pesos per hr for a maid. mine got that 4 yrs ago & has not asked for a raise. the lower end pay, is for full time help w/medical soc sec. and a big package for termination. do not have anything in writing for p/t arrangements. (even receipts for pay, nothing). you dont want a worker to sue for compensation, but thats another topic. suing americans is "side" business, the lawyers take a group of workers together & take 60% of amount sued. & YOU have a hire a lawyer to go w/you to court. you will be taken to the cleaners across the board. most of this is bogus, its part of that "system" here that americans fell victim too. i cannot advise on this, as i dont know your existing paperwork.

The aguinaldo (christmas bonus) is NOT optional, neither is vacation, for p/t help. Both should be pro-rated appropriately.

susan wrote:t medical insurance is only for FULL time help (on contract), not part time. stop paying. mexicans do not give xmas bonuses they give presents.

Couldn't be more wrong.

susan, i'm deeply indebted for your permission. ;0) She's not our only employee at present. Nor is this the first time we've had to let someone go. I do hope the information you took the time to post will be helpful to someone.

For the most part, with some exceptions, we've been treated as Mexicans but there are some who $ee us and think otherwise. We know when to walk away.

Looking forward to tomorrow. Training the new maid! HooRay! DH, decided he'd handle the other one. Knowing her personality type she was probably relieved, lol

This new gal looked at my window block wall and shower and told me I'm going to love how she does it. Everyone she's worked for loves how she works. She was telling me how she needs to move the furniture. I can see kitchen in her future if she passes the probation period. Not just to clean but teaching her how I cook. Not that teaching me an occasional Mexican dish wouldn't be wonderful! She'd probably enjoy learning how to bake pita & focaccia bread, basil pesto, pizza & fresh pastas.

Situations like this have happened to me soooo many times over the years. This was an area I needed to learn how to toughen up. Remembering my midish 20's and the first college student interns I was training, how finally I had to tell them that there were several ways of doing the same thing and they'd be an asset to whom they work for/with by being flexible/able to learn how their leaders/employers want to do things. Next semester, college students contemplating faces I asked what it meant? "Oh, just listening, there's a 1,000 ways to do this and just wanted to know how you'd like to do it." Wanted to fall off my chair.

This gal may or may not work out for the long haul but I've got an out and so does she after the probation period. Her story would yank your heart out. Glad she's on this side of things in her life.

raqueteer wrote:First of all, I did have maids in Canada, both live in and cleaning services, also cleaning ladies. Comparing NOB to here is kind of pointless. My last ones up north were a family, so could basically be trusted. Four of them came in and did wonders in about an hour and a half. Costs were high, but they were also a partial business write off since I was self employed.

When I first came here, the going rate in my area was 12 pesos an hour. It is now getting to between 35 and 40. Some pay a lot more, others less.
I don't think that many people expect ketchup bottles cleaned off. Nor do they expect total perfection. Just a clean house. Luckily my maid likes ironing and does a good job. So that's a bonus. If I want to keep her happy, obviously I'm not going to insult her by paying below the going rates. She provides first rate service.

Also ladies, in this case size really does not matter, unless you're talking about over 5,000 sq. ft. It is often easier to clean a larger house because there is more storage space, therefore less clutter. Let's face it most kitchens have roughly the same items, cleaning off a bit more counter space, doesn't take a lot more time. Ditto for bathrooms.

If you want shopping or other specialized jobs, you have to provide extra time. Any maid working more than 3 hours should be provided with lunch IMO. YMMV.

How long ago was that? 12 pesos an hour? Actually, a few years ago we looked at a house to rent and were told a f/t maid would be 80 pesos, same for the gardener. Now, I can understand the maid we just let go being happy with that. She's so laid back, doesn't have drive. But I don't want someone hanging out all day. We too enjoy our privacy. However, I'm thinking that I'm going to click with this new maid. She's sanguine, like myself. Not afraid to say what she can and cannot do. She's begged me for a job for almost a month now. I'll iron your clothes, clean your house, anything. I can do it all. The last gal, I had to convince her that she could drive all the way over on the libramiento to get to my house. Quite a difference from having someone eager to work, willing to ride the bus and walk to get to you from having to convince someone to work. Maybe I've just found that person like myself that I'd written in an earlier post. Hallelujah! Will update tomorrow how it goes. I gave her a 2 week trial. If it goes well we'll have a 3 month probation. I figured by then we'd be past the "30 day" rule and I have a hunkerin by the time 3 months is up, she'll either be a worker or a talker and I'll know before that time whether I want her to stay.

You'll know in 28 days (it's not 30) or if you decide later you pay 3 months severence. Best to learn the labor laws.

vacation pay is NOT optional i never said that! the xmas bonus w/cash is usually not given by mexicans. they give gifts. i said that the bonus for p/t may not a legal thing. unless when mexicans work for mexicans, the "gift" is the bonus? i myself am not comfortable w/a gift & do give the cash bonus. my mexican peri-donist friend (in guad) gave her nanny a watch. actually i should not be giving this as an example, as no one here should try that, including me. also workers in ajijic get paid more than the surrounding little towns. its more expensive here, even for them food prices walmart, rent is more than outskirts.

David wrote:You'll know in 28 days (it's not 30) or if you decide later you pay 3 months severence. Best to learn the labor laws.

David, you are correct, however, I had Spencer draw up a temporary contract....for 90 days....which the maid signed....cost approx. 400 pesos....

1) if i had this much mental energy invested in a maid, id choose s dirty floor. each to his own. good luck. you sound like a nice person, but all too over focused. 2) i never knew anyone (mexican or american) who pays med insurance for a p/t worker. no worker ever even asked me! they know "who" to ask, im not that person. i had 3 different maids here over 14years. (that does not include guad). if you want to pay you can, labor laws are very different for "full" time help. especially for 1day-2 half days a week! i also know wealthy mexicans who have full time help & pay no insurance. thats not right, i would not do that. maybe they get them to sign something. also the help dosnt stay very long in these situations. sounds like the united states. 3) as for spencer doing a "contract", this is a new thing? i hope this is for full time. the plot thickens between americans & mexican workers. sounds like spencer will be very busy after these posts!! more power to him, its another OP. what ever makes you feel better, ok!

Chapalagringa wrote:susan, i'm deeply indebted for your permission. ;0) She's not our only employee at present. Nor is this the first time we've had to let someone go. I do hope the information you took the time to post will be helpful to someone.

For the most part, with some exceptions, we've been treated as Mexicans but there are some who $ee us and think otherwise. We know when to walk away.

Looking forward to tomorrow. Training the new maid! HooRay! DH, decided he'd handle the other one. Knowing her personality type she was probably relieved, lol

This new gal looked at my window block wall and shower and told me I'm going to love how she does it. Everyone she's worked for loves how she works. She was telling me how she needs to move the furniture. I can see kitchen in her future if she passes the probation period. Not just to clean but teaching her how I cook. Not that teaching me an occasional Mexican dish wouldn't be wonderful! She'd probably enjoy learning how to bake pita & focaccia bread, basil pesto, pizza & fresh pastas.

Situations like this have happened to me soooo many times over the years. This was an area I needed to learn how to toughen up. Remembering my midish 20's and the first college student interns I was training, how finally I had to tell them that there were several ways of doing the same thing and they'd be an asset to whom they work for/with by being flexible/able to learn how their leaders/employers want to do things. Next semester, college students contemplating faces I asked what it meant? "Oh, just listening, there's a 1,000 ways to do this and just wanted to know how you'd like to do it." Wanted to fall off my chair.

This gal may or may not work out for the long haul but I've got an out and so does she after the probation period. Her story would yank your heart out. Glad she's on this side of things in her life.

Doesn’t this statement give you any clue? You only want to hear what can be a benefit to yourself. Being equally fair is not in your agenda. You offer nothing, to no one and yet expect to live in lower middle class. Learn something; anything that will also help others and then you will have earned success.

Equally fair? Parker, you are unique. You got excited about something but your thoughts are unclear, irrelevant and do not apply.

Must I clarify, situations of growth? As in, learn it the hard way first, work through your struggles and the second time around is much easier? We don't all learn the same way Parker.

Chapalagringa wrote: Equally fair? Parker, you are unique. You got excited about something but your thoughts are unclear, irrelevant and do not apply.

Must I clarify, situations of growth? As in, learn it the hard way first, work through your struggles and the second time around is much easier? We don't all learn the same way Parker.

But you refuse to learn. If it doesn’t benefit you financially, you don’t want to hear the truth.