What is a living wage?

mountainannie · Dec 6, 2013

this from DR1 news

The Minister also confirmed that they would apply the salary increase for military personnel in January, which will be between 12% and 22%, depending on rank. "The enlisted personnel need more resources, more help, for this reason we are carrying out a survey in order to redirect these resources to the ranks in which the volume will be greater, as well as also much more needed," said the top official. On the payroll published on the Ministry of Defense webpage, the monthly salary of a private is RD$6118.16, a sergeant major is paid RD$9,177.26, a colonel earns RD$21,700.51 and a major general gets RD$38,194.92. -----

just by way of constrast.. the consierge who cleans the halls and parking area here in the condo unit is paid $9,000 a month. And we are not an upscale sort of place. I thought the minimum wage had already been raised to 8k.

charlise · Dec 6, 2013

Jesus Christ... my cleaning lady gets paid 4000 pesos per month for 3 days/week, 2 hours/day...
Am I paying too much ??

mountainannie · Dec 6, 2013

Hey, Charlise, chill.. I pay mine that much for one day a week! I checked with several middle class Dominican women who said that for a part time cleaner, 700 pesos a day was a fair price. And that was 7 years ago. I think it is another thing entirely to have someone who is in your home And let us not all rush to the bottom. Mine knows that she is overpaid and keeps doing me favors.

the gorgon · Dec 6, 2013

charlise said:
Jesus Christ... my cleaning lady gets paid 4000 pesos per month for 3 days/week, 2 hours/day...
Am I paying too much ??

what do you think her service is worth? do you think that you would do what she does for that kind of money?

if you would not, then she is not being overpaid.

charlise · Dec 6, 2013

What I meant was her salary in regards of a soldier salary and the difference in their tasks...

the gorgon · Dec 6, 2013

charlise said:
What I meant was her salary in regards of a soldier salary and the difference in their tasks...

what does one thing have to do with the other?

AlterEgo · Dec 6, 2013

It's important to distinguish between expats who overpay for services and those who pay the going rate.

I'm of the belief that we should pay the going rate, and then give extras [cash or gifts] from time to time. We pay our housekeeper SD rate, even though it's much less in campo. But I bring her a lot of clothing, toiletries, gifts, for both her and the granddaughter she's raising. I give her a little extra when we have guests staying with us.

A Dominican pays a live in maid about $7500-$8000 pesos in SD for full time, one weekend a month off. If expats pay her double that, because we think it's worth it, she believes that's what everyone should pay her, plus she brags to her maid friends and they think that's what they're worth. So, we move, we reduce staff, they lose their job one day. Now they expect $16,000 pesos, and they can't get it. They have to work, so they settle for less, which is the actual going rate, and they develop an attitude. They may even steal, because "they're underpaying me".

This is why Dominicans say we ruin workers. Many simply will not hire a maid who has ever worked for a foreigner.

bob saunders · Dec 6, 2013

We pay our non-live-in maid for my mother-in-law 5500 per month plus medical. She eats breakfast and lunch at the house six days a week. She doesn't cook but helps prep the food, washes the dishes, does laundry and mops and cleans. She lives a two minute walk away.

drstock · Dec 6, 2013

100 pesos an hour is a good wage for a cleaner.

AlterEgo · Dec 6, 2013

bob saunders said:
We pay our non-live-in maid for my mother-in-law 5500 per month plus medical. She eats breakfast and lunch at the house six days a week. She doesn't cook but helps prep the food, washes the dishes, does laundry and mops and cleans. She lives a two minute walk away.

I should have specified that ours doesn't live in either, also a 2 minute walk. She eats breakfast, main meal at lunch, [plus puts aside a plate for her granddaughter who gets home from school about 5], and sometimes stays for a sandwich at night. She cooks and cleans - I do our own laundry and hang it on the clothesline and take it down, but she does put it away.

charlise · Dec 6, 2013

the gorgon said:
what does one thing have to do with the other?

It had to do with the OP.... I was simply making a comment as I read that a solider was getting 6,118.16 pesos per month and I was paying 4000 pesos for a part-time cleaning lady.... just the injustice of the difference in tasks vs salary ???

the gorgon · Dec 6, 2013

charlise said:
It had to do with the OP.... I was simply making a comment as I read that a solider was getting 6,118.16 pesos per month and I was paying 4000 pesos for a part-time cleaning lady.... just the injustice of the difference in tasks vs salary ???

the whole world is screwed up that way. look at what athletes get for playing a game they love...

AlterEgo · Dec 6, 2013

drstock said:
100 pesos an hour is a good wage for a cleaner.

I think that's misleading - our maid is in our house about 8 hours a day, sometimes 7 days a week, that's 56 hours - 5600 pesos a week???? I don't think so...... You have to realize that there is a lot of 'downtime' between cooking and cleaning. She sits and does nothing sometimes.

And remember that men in DR work construction, hard physical work, for 500 pesos a day. An unskilled laborer where we live works his butt off for 250 pesos a day. IMO 100 pesos per hour to clean is too high.

dv8 · Dec 6, 2013

military and police know what they are getting into. they agree to do the job because they know there are lots of options of getting some on a side. they do anything from narco trafficking to being private security. there are perks too. this is not so flat and one dimensional as people want to see it.

as for 100 and hour for a cleaner, how about "hell, no"? often dudes in call centers get something in that range and they have actual skill like computers and languages. a cleaner has no skills and no education. overpaying for those services is a mistake. i pay going dominican rate. there is a nice breakfast included and occasionally a razimo of bananas, some clothing and some rum.

PaGuyinDr · Dec 6, 2013

A living wage is always 10% more than what you are earning.

vida · Dec 6, 2013

I don't know how you decide what a living wage is for another person. I know what it is for me. It is not what I pay people. I pay 7000 a month for a person working about 15 hours a week, cooking one meal, cleaning, and doing errands. This person also has another full time job. I pay short term workers, painters, concrete work, repairing things, and other physical labor 200 pesos an hour.
I think there is a connection between corruption and the low salaries of police and military. I would like to see doctors, teachers, police and military have a much higher salary. Priorities are always a problem for any government.

Smart · Dec 6, 2013

Exactly the same as if they weren't soldiers, stand around on street corners in pairs, talking to girls and rubbing their weapons.

Smart · Dec 6, 2013

Sometimes each other's they get so bored.

drescape24 · Dec 6, 2013

Derfish said:
So what are the tasks of a soldier when there is no war, anyway?

Training, training, and more training! Then maintenance of equipment.
Not that applies to the D.R. armed forces. That's what they should be doing to maintain their readyness ( army word)
drescape24

Criss Colon · Dec 6, 2013

"Dres", "Training", "Maintenance", WHAT DR military are YOU Talking About?????????
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I pay 18 year old Dominican Prostitutes 500 pesos for 15 minutes of their time, too often less than 15 minutes!!
For a 40 hour week, that would be 80,000 pesos!!!!!
I think THAT's Way to much!
What do you pay Bob?????
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What is a living wage?

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