Housekeepers

[Keith]

My girlfriend has had a live-in housekeeper for about a year. She is telling me that the law says we have to give her 2 weeks paid vacation in December, pay her double for the month of December, and 3 months salary for every year she has worked if we ever decide we don't need her any more, for any reason. Is this true?

 

[Charlie]

Sounds like a scam to me. But, in St. Martin there are weird stipulations like that I've personally heard from employers, so I wouldn't be surprised it half of it was true.

 

[Keith R]

K,

At the end of 1999 a new law was passed by the Dominican Congress which gave a bunch of labor rights to domestics, among them paid vacations and the so-called "13th month" of wages/salary every other worker gets in the DR in December as a sort of Christmas bonus. As for the amount of severance pay, I know that they get some, but the amount you report sounds steep. I believe that the new law has been posted on the web (in Spanish); I'll see if I can locate it and report the hyperlink here, okay?

Hope this helps.
Regards,
Keith

 

[BIG DADDY]

sounds normal with the exception of 3 month wages for every year of work.
you may keep her if she is good as it is very difficult to find good and honest housekeepers.
many dominicans kick employees out before december and rehire in january.

 

[Karina]

Housekeepers are under the Category of "Trabajador Domestico" (domestic worker)(Art. 4 Labor Code) and regulated under an special regime (Arts. 258 to 265). They have a right to:
1) 9 hours, at least, of uninterrupted rest, every day
2) 36 hours uninterrupted rest every week.
3) 2 week paid vacation every year of service.

There's not prior notice before firing them.
It is customary to offer the Salario de navidad, or a month's salary as a bonus at Christmas.
(Special regime means no other regulation of this code applies to them, only these articles)

 

[Jim Hinsch]

In general, she is correct, but it depends on when, how it is done, and why.

After 1 year of service, you must give 28 work days notice before you can let them go, else you have to pay them for the 28 work days. Based on a 6 day work week (about 24 days/month), that comes to 28/24 x monthly salary, or monthly wage + 17.5%.

14 work days vacation per year is mandatory, and is 1/2 month salary + 17.5%.

Double pay for December is mandatory.

The serverance pay for 1 year is 21 days, or 21/24 (87.5%) of a month's salary.

There is an additional fee of 15 days pay, or 15/24 (62.5%) of a month's salary of the person is let go through no fault of the worker.

So, if you want to fire a housekeeper with 1 year of service without giving prior notice, just because you feel like it, do it before December and you will owe them 3 1/4 months salary (14 days vacation, 28 days notice, 21 days severence, 15 days for lack of cause). Wait until December and you owe them an additional month.

Legally, you must also notify the secretary of labor.

 

[Helen]

Attn: Jim Hinsch re: Employment regulations in DR

Hola Jim, You seem to be as knowledgeable in this topic as you are in others so, I am posting this to your attention. Does the Hospitality industry (esp. those governing the employees in service & entertainment within the hotels) in the DR have similar regulations? Or, is it mostly unregulated & "fly by the seat of your pants" scenarios?.

 

[Jim Hinsch]

Re: Attn: Jim Hinsch re: Employment regulations in

The regulations apply to all workers, not just housekeepers. It is regulated and enforced. When an employee is let go, the first thing they do is pay a visit to the secretary of labor, and that is the first thing their family and friends will tell them to do.

Smart employers build this into the cost of doing business, up front, and put money into a special account so that letting an employee go isn't an unexpected expense.

Karina posted a site (www.set.gov.do) where the exact code is spelled out.

 

[Karina]

You are confused. In this case "when, how it is done, and why" is secondary.
First you have to determine what KIND of worker we are talking about. (Article 4, Labor Code).

You are explaining the process for a REGULAR WORKER, but, as I said before, Housekeepers (I'm assuming the person is working in a private house not a hotel) are regulated under specials provisions in the Labor Code as I mentioned before, as "Trabajadores Domesticos" or "DOMESTIC WORKERS", and :

THEY DO NOT RECEIVE BENEFITS PROVIDED FOR GENERAL WORKERS.
THERE'S NO PRIOR NOTICE or SEVERANCE PAY
DOUBLE PAY IN DECEMBER IS NOT MANDATORY (it is customary, specially if you want them to return after their vacation!)
YOU DON'T NEED TO NOTIFY THE SECRETARY OF LABOR (can you imagine the chaos if every domestic worker in this country has to be reported to them?!)
YES, YOU CAN FIRE THEM BECAUSE YOU FEEL LIKE IT. (of course, ethic is an issue here).

I'm telling you this as a first as a lawyer and, second, as a Dominican with all my life dealing with domestic workers.
Ask any Dominicans, if they pay "liquidaci?n" or severance pay to a "trabajadora" or domestic worker, and you'll see.
If you know of some foreigner that paid this, well, let me tell you that they were fooled.

If you speak Spanish, check the Labor Code at the link (Articles. 4 and 258 to 265) and you'll confirm my statements. If not, let me know and I'll translate them for you.

SOME ADVICE:
Don't pay them with your company's checks, they can use it to try to prove they weren't domestic but regular workers with more rights, and they can sue you and your company. Pay them in cash, and prepare an invoice for them to sign stating the date and the concept. (they sell invoices at bookshops here, they are called "recibos") If they can't sign they can put their fingerprints.

Ask for reference. If you know people here, ask them to recommend someone. (if not, use a company that provide domestic workers).

Ask them for a photocopy of their "Cedula", (both sides) in case something is missed, or some other problem, you?ll have their data at hand.

Try to hire older than 18, the cases I've seen lately of domestic workers are when they are accused of stealing, they try to defend themselves accusing the male boss of sexual harassment, and it is worst if they are minors. (The best way to handle this is to settle, retiring the accusation of stealing, So, Keep your valuables well guarded, just in case.)

PD: Hotels' workers are not considered Domestic workers. Neither are People working for Condo management.
ONLY workers in private houses.

In general, domestic workers will respond as you treat them. And you can find here people that will work loyally with you for life.
Good luck!

 

[Jim Hinsch]

Thanks for the clarification. I was incorrect in thinking that the general labor regulations applied also to housekeepers.

I don't live in the Dominican Republic, so I don't need advice on hiring domestic workers, but your advice is good info for this board.

I did read the code and I saw the section on domestic workers. It is a very small section. Apparently, there are very few regulations for domestic workers compared to all the protections afforded other types of employees.

 

[Richard]

It is a good thing that lawyers such as Karina contribute to this board. Labour law is no place for amateurs to dabble. Most business people I know in Sosua have a broad knowledge of what they should and should not do when they are terminating employees to avoid problems. As for employees runing right to the labour department after termination is ridiculous. If they have not been terminated as required by law, by all means they should seek recourse from their ex-employer the same as anyone in North America or Europe would if they hadn't received their due. In my case when terminating long term employees (those with over three months service) it made sense to use the services of my lawyer who paid the employees and then of course charged me for the service. It was money well spent. Not once, through several terminations over my years in business in the DR did I have a problem with anyone going to the labour board.

 

[Eddy]

To Keith

I would suggest that your girlfriend FIRE HER on the spot. If she starts quoting the law, what else should you expect. There are plenty of Good, Honest and Hard Working Dominican People out there that need a job.

 

[tgf]

Re: To Keith (Eddy)

Eddy, I find your response a bit disturbing. You assume that this woman is trying to gouge her employers. If Dominican law dictates that these provisions apply, should you not respect it? As an ex-police officer I would expect you to respect the law. Does respect for the law just apply to those laws you believe in? So it's bad to engage in violent crimes and abuse drugs in the D.R., but it's o.k. to ignore labor laws. I may be coming down a little hard on you but I have seen too many working individuals in the D.R. abused by employers without knowing what rights they do have. Workers should know what their rights are anywhere; as should employers know what rights and obligations they have.

 

[Eddy]

Re: To Keith Tgf

All I want to get accross is that if they start refering to their rights, the laws etc., a little "Red" flag should come up and you should realize that they are potential trouble makers. I'm sure, that even you would want to get rid of a trouble maker. If not "Lot's of Luck" you'll need it. It happened to me in 8 or 9 years ago, and I "let that person go". I also warned the people who hired her. Guess what : 20,000.00 or so pesos later they came back and said "We should have listened to you"

 

[tgf]

Re: To Eddy

All I'm saying is perhaps she was just asking for what's due her, i.e. a paid vacation or time off at Christmas to be with her family. Neither you nor I know what is going on in the household, so let's leave it at that. I agree that troublemakers exist and that they should be avoided. I also believe all individuals should get a fair shake if they deserves it.

 

[D.D.]

For whatever it's worth

For what ever it is worth, I would like to share my experience with everyone. Four years ago I hired a cook. Before I hired this fellow I consulted a low firm on what I should and shouldn?t do. The firm, located in Santiago, is one of the best in the country dealing strictly with labor law issues and represents numerous big companies including ours. I did exactly what they told me. In fact, I did a lot more than the law states. For starters, I adjusted his monthly salary to compensate some of the rights he loses by being described as a domestic worker as opposed to a company worker. Believe it or not I was paying this guy 10,000 pesos a month, he got paid-vacation and Christmas bonus.

Six months ago I had to fire him because he was doing a lousy job. I paid him off based on calculations prepared by the lawyers. All in line with what he has coming as a domestic worker. He sued me for 100,000 thousand pesos claiming he deserves a payoff as a company worker. To make a long story short, after five months of frustration appearing in court and hauling witnesses for the hearings, a labor judge in Monte Cristi ruled against me !! My lawyers appealed the judgment to a higher court and the case is still open. My lawyers are confident I will win. Well... may be I will win the case but can you imagine having to go through all this inconvenience for being nice? The frustration? The lawyer fee? The law doesn?t seem to apply as intended to foreigners. I have Dominican friends with domestic workers and believe me the law does not exist for them. Workers wouldn?t dare sue them either. Any ways, my point is please be careful. Don?t fall for this fulano/a is an angel?. he/she wouldn?t do such a thing crap. Always use the CYA policy (Cover Your A . . )

 

[Lynda]

Re: Attn: Helen re: Employment regulations in DR

The guys that work in animation at resorts get paid if they are fired but nothing if they quit. That is why they do things to get fired on purpose. You get 1 month pay for each year of service. My friend was fired after working for 2 years with a hotel over a minor reason. Then he went on 2 months paid vacation. This is standard practise with guys that want to change hotels after a few years.

 

[Helen]

Thanks! Lynda

They certainly don't do things like we do here, do they?! Sometimes, I get so sick & tired of hearing about "them" changing jobs 'cos it's too hard or the hours are too long, etc.
Why don't they just stay put, for goodness sake?! Never mind...just venting! You probably know where I'm coming from.
Thanks again for the info.

 

[BIG DADDY]

Re: For whatever it's worth/correct

it only shows that being nice to domestic employees just causes you inconveniences and problems.if you take a housekeeper or domestic employee they do what they want and as they like.you call their attention,criticize their work,tell how to do it better or as you would like to have it and immediatly they feel bad and leave you with the work half done,steal whatever they may can or may do other things more or less harmful to you.like running to the secretario de trabajo,courts etc.
treat them right away with a strong hand and make it clear who is the boss and you may get some more respect and better work done for your money.sometimes make a check on their take along bag and you may find a surprise or two.also supervise as much as possible and let them know that you are on top of things.
besides paying more does not mean you will get a better job done!!!
there are also exceptions but to few against the masses of parasitos!!!

 

[Eddy]

Re: For whatever it's worth/correct

There are still several Dominicans consider "being nice to people" as a sign of weakness. Guess what happens to the weak.