esperanza
May 23, 2011, 4:24 PM
Post #9 of 15
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Another poster mentioned that her part-time household help also works part-time for other people. The same has always been true when I had household help in Ajijic, in Guadalajara, in Morelia, and now here in Mexico City.
The woman who works for me and my partner earns 750 pesos/week here in our house--she's here two and a half days a week. She works a half day a week for a friend of ours, who pays her 400 pesos; he and she know that he overpays her, but that's his choice. She has three other part-time employers who pay her the same wage we do. So, let's see: at 750 pesos X four employers plus 400 pesos from the other, her total salary is 3400 pesos per week. Her children are grown, well-educated, productive citizens and live with their respective spouses. She lives with her husband, who is retired and receives a pension--I don't know the amount. But her 3400 pesos per week total salary is 13,600 pesos per month. That's a good bit more than my Social Security payment. Add in his pension.
Gives you a slightly different point of view, doesn't it?
Mind you, I don't begrudge her one single peso of her salary. Because she is willing to do all the household chores we choose not to do, she makes an excellent living, we have the luxury of free time, the luxury of a clean house, and the luxury of washed and ironed clothing without effort on our part. Her other employers enjoy the same luxuries. It may be appropriate to give her a small raise when she has been with us a year. It's not required.
Consider that when I worked full time, it was normal to receive a 3 to 5% salary increase each year. Social Security has not seen fit to raise its benefits for the last two years. Now, if you're talking about giving your household employee a raise from 50 pesos to 60 pesos per hour, that's a 20% raise. I bet you (whoever you are, reader) would have fallen off your chair if your employer had ever offered you a cost of living raise that substantial. And I well remember that the costs of food, clothing, and shelter in the USA (never mind anything 'luxurious' like a food item I couldn't normally afford) went up relentlessly month after month and year after year...just as they continue to do in Mexico.
IMHO, most foreigners want to assuage their guilt feelings--whatever the source of those--by paying their employees more than the going rate. Sure, there are some people in Ajijic and some anywhere in Mexico who are poor, but part-time employees who are paid the going rate know exactly what they will receive when they take the job you offer.
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