Indonesian maid salary to be increased to $450???

[verykiasu2010]

hquek:

verykiasu2010:

who decides on the $450 thingy ? MOM or agencies ?

agencies. I'm sure MOM will answer that this is private employment matter.

must we be held ransom by the agencies who are out to form a cartel? they can't even have a minimum uniform standard for the maids they bring in - so why must the pay be uniform ?

I (or anyone else) am willing to pay - those with good attitude, experienced in household chores, can cook, child care etc .... but not those with horror stories mentioned forumers herein

[Funz]

verykiasu2010:

I (or anyone else) am willing to pay - those with good attitude, experienced in household chores, can cook, child care etc .... but not those with horror stories mentioned forumers herein

Yah. And those who have good attitudes will generally not look solely at salary.

I have to say I am lucky to have a helper with such an attitude. I upped her salary starting Jan, that was b4 the news was out. Compared to new helpers, she is drawing a higher pay but considering her years of experience, I believe she can command more especially from expat families.

Likewise for a couple of my friends' helpers. Also very good attitude and neither did they broach the subject of pay increase.

For these girls, stability, a good working environment, and good relations with their employers are more important. Plus I guess, over the years, they have formed some attachment to our families, especially our kids.

[3darlings]

hi... a colleague told me that an agency she called to enquire for new maid from indo...


$450 - new maid
$500 - experienced maid

:scared:

[autumnbronze]

Funz:

Yah. And those who have good attitudes will generally not look solely at salary.

For these girls, stability, a good working environment, and good relations with their employers are more important. Plus I guess, over the years, they have formed some attachment to our families, especially our kids.

Agree with Funz. My helper has the same attitude as above.

According to our maid agency, the $450 pay is not compulsory.

We have just renewed ours for $400, no off day.

But we cover all other aspects of her expenses, ie toiletries, phonecards etc ... She does get hefty ang pows and bonuses annually too.

This is her third year with us and she has been a gem.

We are very fortunate

[Busymom]

seems like all the experienced ones (not just Indon) that I saw recently are asking for $500 with at least 2 off days.


We don’t mind paying $500 if the maid is good, but without prior experience with the maid, it is a kind of taking a leap of faith…

[jtoh]

CMF:

sheryl:

Yes, DH is thinking of $450. If she dun accept, we will just let her go. Dun want her to be yaya or play hard to get.

When u offer her $450, u should work thru with her that since there will be no agent's fees involved, as opposed to her going home and coming back again and being able to get $500, she will be effectively be better off staying on with u. As straight away she will be pocketing cash of $450 vs at least 6 months of deduction of $200-$300 even if she will be able to get $500 with new employer. Sometimes, they are not very far sighted and don't realize such details.

I agree. Even if she goes home and comes back to work for a new employer, she's likely to draw a salary of $450 rather than $500, plus she has to pay off her loan.

[DesertWind]

Funz:

Yah. And those who have good attitudes will generally not look solely at salary. I have to say I am lucky to have a helper with such an attitude. I upped her salary starting Jan, that was b4 the news was out. Compared to new helpers, she is drawing a higher pay but considering her years of experience, I believe she can command more especially from expat families. For these girls, stability, a good working environment, and good relations with their employers are more important. Plus I guess, over the years, they have formed some attachment to our families, especially our kids.

Agree too.
But I would also say for such a good maid, you would also not want to risk it and pay her less. Rather you have automatically upped her pay plus other factors to consider ie. home environment, living conditions, home leave, bonus, ang pows etc... that your maid will add it all up and decide to stay on. All the more since such experienced and good maids did not ask for pay increase you would have rewarded her automatically.

For those who ask directly, employer already \"sian\" a bit and wonder at the \"attitude\" already no matter how legitimate the request.
:celebrate:

[DesertWind]

autumnbronze:

Funz:

Yah. And those who have good attitudes will generally not look solely at salary. For these girls, stability, a good working environment, and good relations with their employers are more important. Plus I guess, over the years, they have formed some attachment to our families, especially our kids.

Agree with Funz. My helper has the same attitude as above.
According to our maid agency, the $450 pay is not compulsory.
We have just renewed ours for $400, no off day.
But we cover all other aspects of her expenses, ie toiletries, phonecards etc ... She does get hefty ang pows and bonuses annually too.
This is her third year with us and she has been a gem.
We are very fortunate

Am glad that you got such a good maid!
It is a good idea for those of us thinking of \"risking\" the maid to check with your maid agency directly whether they increase the new maid's pay or not to SGD450? If they don't practise this yet, then presumably maid cannot return back to agency and then hope to get the higher pay. But if the maid agency is one of the \"cartels\", then you may have to consider matching the pay....
:celebrate:

[autumnbronze]

DesertWind:

autumnbronze:

[quote=\"Funz\"]
Yah. And those who have good attitudes will generally not look solely at salary. For these girls, stability, a good working environment, and good relations with their employers are more important. Plus I guess, over the years, they have formed some attachment to our families, especially our kids.

Agree with Funz. My helper has the same attitude as above.
According to our maid agency, the $450 pay is not compulsory.
We have just renewed ours for $400, no off day.
But we cover all other aspects of her expenses, ie toiletries, phonecards etc ... She does get hefty ang pows and bonuses annually too.
This is her third year with us and she has been a gem.
We are very fortunate

Am glad that you got such a good maid!
It is a good idea for those of us thinking of \"risking\" the maid to check with your maid agency directly whether they increase the new maid's pay or not to SGD450? If they don't practise this yet, then presumably maid cannot return back to agency and then hope to get the higher pay. But if the maid agency is one of the \"cartels\", then you may have to consider matching the pay....
:celebrate:[/quote]Hi DesertWind,

Thanks :celebrate:

Don't think he is one of the cartels lah. He is actually very strict with his maids because I have seen him 'handling' them when they misbehave. He is also very particular about his reputation and takes pride in his selection of maids. I also find him fair. He can actually tell when the maid is lying and whether the employer has been fair with the maid. I had a chance to experience this when I was at the agency and saw him tackle a matter with the maid.

Actually, we have been maintaining very good relations with the agency. We made it a point to do that by only liasing with the boss, who will then direct us to someone responsible in his company. We go thru the agency for all renewal matters as well.

[Busymom]

jtoh:

CMF:

[quote=\"sheryl\"]Yes, DH is thinking of $450. If she dun accept, we will just let her go. Dun want her to be yaya or play hard to get.

When u offer her $450, u should work thru with her that since there will be no agent's fees involved, as opposed to her going home and coming back again and being able to get $500, she will be effectively be better off staying on with u. As straight away she will be pocketing cash of $450 vs at least 6 months of deduction of $200-$300 even if she will be able to get $500 with new employer. Sometimes, they are not very far sighted and don't realize such details.

I agree. Even if she goes home and comes back to work for a new employer, she's likely to draw a salary of $450 rather than $500, plus she has to pay off her loan.[/quote]By the way, just to share, we almost confirm someone a few weeks ago at $450, but she apparently got her employer to pay her $500 thereafter. The point is, there is no way to know if your maid actually got offers at $500 outside.