Hiring a Maid and social security...

caribmike

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Jul 9, 2009
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Hi,

I did not pay much attention to threads about maids until now. Now needing information I can't find it. So please forgive me if this is coming up again...

Question:

Do we have to pay into the TSS for a help coming 3 times a week to clean and wash and taking care for a kid sometimes on weekends?

Would there be liquidacion to be paid in case of?

How much is the going rate?

Thx
Michael
 
Apr 13, 2011
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As always, make sure to check the current labor laws because they were talking about trying to change things...
For a maid, you pay them the agreed amount of money each month. If full-time, they work 6.5 days a week. They get two weeks of vacation time and they get the "13th Month" vacation pay, there is also something about being able to take time for education. The maid may try to tell you they are due liquidation, but as of now, you are not legally required. It is good to give them something for severance, just be fair.

My recommendation is to come to an agreement for the 3x per week for cleaning on a monthly or bi-weekly pay basis. And then just pay them to babysit on weekends as needed on a separate "pay as you go" basis.

Full-time maids tend to look for around 8000-12000 per month depending on how good they are. I am guessing that only 3x a week might be half that amount. Also, keep in mind that since they are not a "live in" maid, they will be looking for help with money for the moto to get back and forth to work...
 

ExDR

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Jul 31, 2014
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As always, make sure to check the current labor laws because they were talking about trying to change things...
For a maid, you pay them the agreed amount of money each month. If full-time, they work 6.5 days a week. They get two weeks of vacation time and they get the "13th Month" vacation pay, there is also something about being able to take time for education. The maid may try to tell you they are due liquidation, but as of now, you are not legally required. It is good to give them something for severance, just be fair.

My recommendation is to come to an agreement for the 3x per week for cleaning on a monthly or bi-weekly pay basis. And then just pay them to babysit on weekends as needed on a separate "pay as you go" basis.

Full-time maids tend to look for around 8000-12000 per month depending on how good they are. I am guessing that only 3x a week might be half that amount. Also, keep in mind that since they are not a "live in" maid, they will be looking for help with money for the moto to get back and forth to work...

Really? that is all it cost for a full time maid? Wow, i want to give one of them a work visa to come be my maid!
 
Oct 13, 2003
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As always, make sure to check the current labor laws because they were talking about trying to change things...
For a maid, you pay them the agreed amount of money each month. If full-time, they work 6.5 days a week. They get two weeks of vacation time and they get the "13th Month" vacation pay, there is also something about being able to take time for education. The maid may try to tell you they are due liquidation, but as of now, you are not legally required. It is good to give them something for severance, just be fair.

My recommendation is to come to an agreement for the 3x per week for cleaning on a monthly or bi-weekly pay basis. And then just pay them to babysit on weekends as needed on a separate "pay as you go" basis.

Full-time maids tend to look for around 8000-12000 per month depending on how good they are. I am guessing that only 3x a week might be half that amount. Also, keep in mind that since they are not a "live in" maid, they will be looking for help with money for the moto to get back and forth to work...

Good advice, though the amount would be for SDQ - out of SDQ the amount would be a lot less, remember they will be live in, including a room and board.
 
Apr 13, 2011
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Really? that is all it cost for a full time maid? Wow, i want to give one of them a work visa to come be my maid!

That is all it costs in the DR, actually in SD... if being a maid would qualify them for a work visa outside the country (especially the US), then there would be a million dominicanas putting in for such work visas :ermm:
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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The rate depends. I do not know if you could get someone who will work 3 times a week for 1000 pesos a week.. or anything like that. The going rate for a day worker for inside the house was 700 a day six years ago.

Part time workers who live outside the house are MORE expensive. The ones who live in have no expenses since you provide room and board and electric, etc and they do not have to have a seperate home.

Transportation can run as much as 80 pesos one way. So 160 pesos.

So if you were paying the suggested rate.. even the high end. say half of 12000,, 6000 for 3 days a week or 12 days a month.. , that will be only 500 day minus carfare of 160 peso.. leaving 340 pesos or $8 for a full day's work.

You may find some cleaners who will work for that but not the best ones with the best references. (I am talking SD,, Campo prices may differ)

I pay 8000 a month for twice a week.. or rather 1000 pesos a day. That is considered top dollar.

For that, she does all the cleaning, laundry, ironing, changes sheets, cleans windows, does shopping and cooking if I ask her to and will come whenever I call her....

So you have your range there. Somewhere between those two figures of 500 to 1000... be sure that she has references. Also that she is not a "disrupter" in that you can still be in your house and function while she is there. She should not have to be told to do anything.. just be able to work on her own.
 

Africaida

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Jun 19, 2009
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The rate depends. I do not know if you could get someone who will work 3 times a week for 1000 pesos a week.. or anything like that. The going rate for a day worker for inside the house was 700 a day six years ago.

Part time workers who live outside the house are MORE expensive. The ones who live in have no expenses since you provide room and board and electric, etc and they do not have to have a seperate home.

Transportation can run as much as 80 pesos one way. So 160 pesos.

So if you were paying the suggested rate.. even the high end. say half of 12000,, 6000 for 3 days a week or 12 days a month.. , that will be only 500 day minus carfare of 160 peso.. leaving 340 pesos or $8 for a full day's work.

You may find some cleaners who will work for that but not the best ones with the best references. (I am talking SD,, Campo prices may differ)

I pay 8000 a month for twice a week.. or rather 1000 pesos a day. That is considered top dollar.

For that, she does all the cleaning, laundry, ironing, changes sheets, cleans windows, does shopping and cooking if I ask her to and will come whenever I call her....

So you have your range there. Somewhere between those two figures of 500 to 1000... be sure that she has references. Also that she is not a "disrupter" in that you can still be in your house and function while she is there. She should not have to be told to do anything.. just be able to work on her own.

8K pesos a month for 2 days of work sounds like a lot to me.

I pay the lady which does everything you listed and more (since I have 2 kids), 500 pesos per day (3000 pesos a week), and every single Dominican told me that I am overpaying her (but I think it is fair since I am there for short amount of times).

In fact, I was once told by a Dominican that they will never hire someone who has worked for foreigners for these reasons: overpaid and even lazy.
 

william webster

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Jan 16, 2009
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I pay 450/day in Cabrera....3 days/week..... not live in.... wife of the gardener

about normal... maybe a touch high.... so I'm told

He gets 550 / day
 

Mauricio

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Nov 18, 2002
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Number of vacation days are 14 I think, not 2 weeks. Ofcourse pro rato, so if working 3 days: 3/5 or 3/5.5 x 14 days.
 
Apr 13, 2011
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Number of vacation days are 14 I think, not 2 weeks. Ofcourse pro rato, so if working 3 days: 3/5 or 3/5.5 x 14 days.

Good clarification. It is 14 days of vacation time. I said "2 weeks" because there are 14 days in 2 weeks, but they do not need to take the vacation time all at once - they could take it one day at a time as needed. And the normal holidays are time off also...
 

mountainannie

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8K pesos a month for 2 days of work sounds like a lot to me.

I pay the lady which does everything you listed and more (since I have 2 kids), 500 pesos per day (3000 pesos a week), and every single Dominican told me that I am overpaying her (but I think it is fair since I am there for short amount of times).

In fact, I was once told by a Dominican that they will never hire someone who has worked for foreigners for these reasons: overpaid and even lazy.

My cleaner may be overpaid but she certainly is not lazy. I did get the price of 700 pesos a day from a group of Dominicans.. not foreigners.. not maids, but middle class Dominicans. And that was six years ago and I had a smaller apartment.

And I know that it is true that Dominicans will not hire a maid who has worked for a gringa. My last maid turned down a job for a Dominican who was offering twice as much as I paid her.. because, she said, she would be treated badly.

I do not know what that means exactly. I could not find MORE work for her to do than she finds for herself.

My cleaner never takes a break. Never sits down. Always finds something to do.

I know the cost of living here and how it has gone up.

You pay 500 with a concho ride of 50 pesos up in LT. I pay 1000 with transport of 160. So you pay $10 a day and I pay $20. Or say for an 8 hour a day.. $1.25 an hour vs $2.50.

Yours is clearly not in high demand since she is available for part time work when you come home. Mine has work for all the other days of the week. She makes 15,000 a month for the other three days that she works.

Perhaps that is too much. Perhaps she is just in high demand because she is very good.

Personally, I feel bad that I cannot pay her more.

Watching her mop is like watching a fine ballet performance.

Watching me mop is like watching a Marx brothers cartoon.
 

AlterEgo

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Jan 9, 2009
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8K pesos a month for 2 days of work sounds like a lot to me.

I pay the lady which does everything you listed and more (since I have 2 kids), 500 pesos per day (3000 pesos a week), and every single Dominican told me that I am overpaying her (but I think it is fair since I am there for short amount of times).

In fact, I was once told by a Dominican that they will never hire someone who has worked for foreigners for these reasons: overpaid and even lazy.

I've been told the same about foreigners Aida, that they pay too much and demand too little, and 'ruin' good maids.

The wages outside of Santo Domingo are much lower. In SD my in-laws tell me it's risen from 7-8000 pesos to 10-15,000 in a few years. The one who pays 15,000 does so because they entertain a lot and wanted someone who can cook international/gourmet meals, not just "everything guisado & fried".

We pay 6500 for 6 days a week, about 8 am until after lunch. She literally walks across the street. Only two of us in a small house. She eats breakfast and lunch [plus takes home lunch for her granddaughter], mops & cleans, cooks lunch and cleans up, changes bed linens, etc. No laundry, no ironing. A lot of 'downtime' when she sits out back in the shade. When we have overnight guests or a big dinner we pay her extra.

We also bring down clothing for the granddaughter and lots of 'stuff' for her.
 

mountainannie

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What could I demand beside the cleaning? Yes, perhaps I could also ask her to cook me lunch when she is here. I have done that on occassion but it takes so much time and I end up with so much RICE.. and the pollo guisado that I eat for days. Besides, I like my own cooking.

Irons with starch. Cleans toilets. Takes the bathmat out and scrubs it. Takes the curtains down and washes them. Takes the odd bits of clothing home and sews them. Puts groceries away. Empties cabinets and cleans them on a regular basis. Ditto with fridge. Dusts the books and book cases. Takes the fans apart and cleans them. Waters the plants. Sometimes takes the dog out for a walk. Dusts the picture frames.

Now I was never a champion house cleaner and I certainly may be missing something.

What else would a Dominican boss ask her to do that I do not ask?

(actually, I do not ask for any of it, she does it all of her own initiative.)
 

Africaida

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Jun 19, 2009
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My cleaner may be overpaid but she certainly is not lazy. I did get the price of 700 pesos a day from a group of Dominicans.. not foreigners.. not maids, but middle class Dominicans. And that was six years ago and I had a smaller apartment.

And I know that it is true that Dominicans will not hire a maid who has worked for a gringa. My last maid turned down a job for a Dominican who was offering twice as much as I paid her.. because, she said, she would be treated badly.

I do not know what that means exactly. I could not find MORE work for her to do than she finds for herself.

My cleaner never takes a break. Never sits down. Always finds something to do.

I know the cost of living here and how it has gone up.

You pay 500 with a concho ride of 50 pesos up in LT. I pay 1000 with transport of 160. So you pay $10 a day and I pay $20. Or say for an 8 hour a day.. $1.25 an hour vs $2.50.

Yours is clearly not in high demand since she is available for part time work when you come home. Mine has work for all the other days of the week. She makes 15,000 a month for the other three days that she works.

Perhaps that is too much. Perhaps she is just in high demand because she is very good.

Personally, I feel bad that I cannot pay her more.

Watching her mop is like watching a fine ballet performance.

Watching me mop is like watching a Marx brothers cartoon.

It s OK, MA I have nothing against your maid and I am not judging you. I am sure she is good. I don't necessarily need a "high demand maid" but one that leaves my house spotless, cooks well and wouldn't steal a goyava from our tree.

I don't convert in dollars but compare with what others make (maid and others professions) in the country, and would try to pay her a little above the rate. The same way, I don't convert back everything in Euros when I am back in the US.

On the other hand, I always come down with a bag of clothes for both her children who are close to my children's age (her hubby is a motoconcho by the way). Her kids even come to my house regularly and play with my children. They probably eat more galletas, helados and pizza in a month stay that they eat the whole year. And sadly, same for going to playas since I take them with me along with my kids.

I could pay her more, but I don't and I don't feel bad.

I know I am heartless. :cheeky:
 
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AlterEgo

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What could I demand beside the cleaning? Yes, perhaps I could also ask her to cook me lunch when she is here. I have done that on occassion but it takes so much time and I end up with so much RICE.. and the pollo guisado that I eat for days. Besides, I like my own cooking.

Irons with starch. Cleans toilets. Takes the bathmat out and scrubs it. Takes the curtains down and washes them. Takes the odd bits of clothing home and sews them. Puts groceries away. Empties cabinets and cleans them on a regular basis. Ditto with fridge. Dusts the books and book cases. Takes the fans apart and cleans them. Waters the plants. Sometimes takes the dog out for a walk. Dusts the picture frames.

Now I was never a champion house cleaner and I certainly may be missing something.

What else would a Dominican boss ask her to do that I do not ask?

(actually, I do not ask for any of it, she does it all of her own initiative.)

I can only speak about my in-laws.

Well the cooking is a given in a Dominican home, and keep the kitchen spotless. Demand food presentation to their tastes. And all the other stuff you mentioned. They do the laundry, hang out clothing, take in when dry [assuming no dryer], iron and put away. They sweep and mop inside and outside, often more than once a day. Moving the furniture to clean under is expected and done. Clean windows. Make beds and change sheets frequently. They call out to her to bring them something specific to drink. They send them to the colmado to buy things. Depending on the family, they're often treated as invisible and not a lot of respect is shown or given to the maid.
 

mountainannie

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Dec 11, 2003
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No, I do not think you heartless. Just going with the local rate, which is .. as said.. lower in LT and other places in the Campo.

There are lots of folks who pay a lot less, that I do know.

A friend's sister is always trying to get a maid to work full time for $4000 pesos a month. She does seem to actually find them but they always leave after a month or two.

Another had a full time maid who lived in, whom she paid $12000 a month and .. well, the woman was Haitian and simply did not know what to DO with all that money.

I know that I could not afford to keep my cleaner full time, should I need someone full time. And that I would have to get someone else!

And that there are actual nurses.. maybe not RNs but perhaps more like LPNs who will work full time for 10,000 in SD Este.
(and they do some cleaning and cooking.. so I would get one of them, should I need it!)

I guess one of the issues is that I do live here and do see the prices and how expensive things are.

(and perhaps remember that I used to pay $80 a day for a cleaner in North Carolina, which I know should not be relavant but it is to me since it is work that I really hate)

Higuey.. ok. 500 pesos a day
 

Mauricio

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Nov 18, 2002
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Good clarification. It is 14 days of vacation time. I said "2 weeks" because there are 14 days in 2 weeks, but they do not need to take the vacation time all at once - they could take it one day at a time as needed. And the normal holidays are time off also...

But it's also working days, so in case of a 5 day work week, it's almost 3 weeks. If you work 5.5 or 6 days, it's 2.5 weeks.
 
Apr 13, 2011
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But it's also working days, so in case of a 5 day work week, it's almost 3 weeks. If you work 5.5 or 6 days, it's 2.5 weeks.

Sounds good... Vacation days was one item that I never had a problem with any of the maids we had. If they needed a day, they let us know and we would say ok. I do not recall anyone seeming to take advantage or try to get extra days. I say "seems" because I do not think I ever actually kept tabs on the number of days they took.
Sometimes they took an extra day around a holiday. Sometimes they took a couple of days in order to go to the campo. Or they took days because they had to take care of someone sick.
I think only once did we have a maid that took more than a couple of days at any time - and that was for a funeral out in the campo when she stayed for the whole "9 day" period.