How much for starting salary?

We are currently looking for a helper and have interviewed numerous women all of whom seem to expect a starting salary way above the 4000 per month plus 500 for food we are willing to offer. I feel this is a more than fair starting salary and am willing after a trial period to up this, am I offering too little? We also have a small maids room with its own bathroom, and yes it is small but it has air con its own phone point etc and the bathroom has a shower sink and toilet yet everyone I have interviewed seems to turn their nose up at it!!! We live in mid-levels so space is at premium, what am I doing wrong.....still helperless!!!!

Thanks for all the info, JWM, I was expecting that the $4500 would be a starting salary for the first 3 months only I fully expect that the salary would increase to $5000 after that time. From speaking to friends who have helpers I believe that is on the generous side correct me if I am wrong please. I would also expect to provide some food ie if a family meal is cooked the helper would eat some of that as well as getting a food allowance for incidentals, again I was under the impression that is quite normal. As regards bonuses they would be paid at Xmas CNY etc. I have been quite surprised at the reactions I have recieved at this offer as like I said I was led to believe from others that it is certainly fair, yet that doesn't seem to be the case.

I have had 3 helpers - the first one I paid over the minimum, as she'd been earning more before. She was basically terrible, did the bare minimum work, and even at the very last minute of employment was trying to rip me off. The next 2 I stated at the start that I would pay the minimum salary, no food allowance (they buy what they want from the housekeeping $). They were both perfectly happy, the first one had always earned the minimum, and had bought 2 pieces of land, built a house and a rental building, basically was doing very well. At the age of 32 she has gone back home to be with her family. She worked very well - you don't always get a better helper by paying more.

Good luck.

First helper we paid 4,000 including her food allowance, and allowed her to work out when we didn't need her. She had 16 years experience with an embassy family and was very qualified. When we had our baby we said no more working out and upped her salary to 5000. This was a mistake in hindsight.


We just hired a new helper, at 3,700 (including food allowance) and after first month if all goes well will increase to 4,000. We will hire a second helper (second baby coming) and that helper will only get 3,700.


We also always give extra when we can - ie 500 christmas, birthday. And when family comes to stay they 'tip' the helper 500 as well. If there is an opportunity for extra work, we also ask her or her friends/family first. So this way there are little unexpected but apprecitated bonuses throughout the year.


Our last flat had a large maids room and was an attraction to anyone we interviewed.


Our new flat has a smaller (but still large for HK) maids room, with an A/C own shower, etc... and we have a garden. The garden seems to be an attraction for many of the helpers we interviewed even though the room wasn't as amazing as the last one.


At the end of the day, any helper is going to hope for a wealthy employer, who travels a lot, pays well and has a huge maids room with A/C and satellite TV.... but in reality, they will take the best offer they can, and we will all hire the best helper we can - the most important thing is that it is a good 'match' and that all parties will be happy.


The helper we did hire this time, said she chose us because we were so nice and that our last helper told her that we were nice and good to work for. Also I had a very long chat with her former employer and he told her I was very nice and would be a good boss!


Good luck!

Sorry to be a real bore but what would you consider to be a 'normal' for central HK maids room in square footage.

There are mixed views about which is the most ideal starting salary. Some would say the minimum wage of $3,400 is correct while others would suppose $4,000 is more appropriate.

curiousgeorge1,

The point here is even if you have the starting salary as high as $5,000, things might not even work out because the DH would probably think the way she does things is right to deserve such relatively high paid and makes it difficult for you to correct her (of course, there are exceptions). Most expats consider the minimum wage is too little - think again, after working in HK for ten years, they can buy and build their own land. Can we possibly do the same with that amount (on top of other outgoings, i.e. rent, household, transport) in our home country?

Many families hardly even have a maid's room and regardless of the condition, they opt for only their privacy not a luxurious setting.

It depends on your luck whether you find the right person who is not demanding on you. I've had irresponsible and dishonest helpers who taught me good lessons and now I would just have to be handling more carefully about the pay & rewards. I am raising her salary (reviewed first 3 months then every 6 months) gradually according to her performance and reward her at Christmas, birthdays, gifts. I believe this would motivate her to improve her work than starting with a generous salary which is hardly the norm here in HK. You would just have to be patient enough to screen through that 'right' person for your family and certainly takes time for both of you to adapt to each other's style.

FYI, mine is PH and it took me 2 months for screening. It is rather unusual to hear that the helpers you interviewed demanded way above the minimum wage. Think you should call and have a list of questions in mind before asking them in for interview.

My helper's room: split-type air-conditioner, computer (we offered since we have an extra one available), offered her TV & DVD (but she said she'd rather watch with her friends); no food allowance but she is still happy

Good luck & Happy New Year!

We pay $3,500 plus $500 food allowance. our helper seems fine with this. Agree that paying more does not mean getting a better helper. We would rather award our helper in other ways like extra time off, or the occassional present like a ticket to a show.

You could always bear in mind the way many companies pay their employees. Where I work, if there are a large number of people doing the same job they are all on the same salary scale, regardless of past experience (or previous salary). If they are good, they get promoted and get more money. No one questions it or says that this is unfair - if they don't like the salary they don't take the job.

I learned the hard way...4K is a really good starting salary for an experienced helper and they will take it! Provide bonuses based upon performance. I asked about 30 people about what they paid their helpers and the rate was 3500 to 4K with bonus. I WAY overpaid my helper and I'm paying the price for it after 3 years. My recommendation is stay within the 3500 to 4K rate with bonus and you and the helper will be happy.

Most people using this site are expats and therefore most views are very expat and indeed many think the pay helpers get is not enough. I went for a haircut the other day at a local salon where the girl washing my hair began chatting with me. She is local, works 10 hours a day and makes $25 an hr. She cannot believe the DHs complain about what they have.


Most locals will pay the min. with some bonus on special occasion. $4000 is more than generous. If they are not satisfied then they are not the right ones for you. Keep interviewing. My DH has been with me for over 7 years. She gets a little more than the min. plus bonus on special days. It obviously also depends on what the DH has to do.

Something to think about in terms of the helpers who are asking for higher salaries - I am assumming that most of them are from the Philippines. If you look at the DH statistics you can see that now about half (so something like 100,000 helpers) are from Indonesia, as basically the vast majority of local (Chinese) employers are employing Indonesians for various reasons. Where I live I never see Filipina helpers any more. I would happily bet that the majority of these helpers are being underpaid (which I don't condone, so no defensive replies, pls), and so sooner or later there will need to be some change in the DH salary structure as right now it is a bit of a joke. Either the govt will abolish the minimum wage and let the market decide, or they will need to crack down on underpayers and then who knows what will happen. I know plenty of people who genuinely believe that they are doing nothing wrong by paying their helper $2000 a month, and in some ways they are right - the helper is happy to work for this or wouldn't. I shouldn't fret too much about the helpers who are asking for $5000 or so - if they are really good then they will be employed easily. If not, they won't be.

(As I type this I can hear the (local, HK) street cleaner sweeping outside. She gets $4200 for a 6-day week, sweeping and emptying huge bins all day long. No housing, no food, no medical insurance, no return trips home...)

Of course at an interview you won't start by saying you'd be happy to be paid the minimum, you always ask for more than what you expect and then you negotiate with the employer.

Are you asking them how much they're expecting or are you the one telling them how much they will get ?

As far as we are concerned when we were looking for a maid 2 years ago, I was letting the candidates know even before the interview (ie on the phone) that the wage would be minimum wage. Still a lot of helpers showed up, and we found an excellent one.

Her contract is expiring soon and she told us she will not renew because her salary is too low, HKD3,320 which was the minimum when we hired her I think. I totally understand her point of view, she's doing all the household chores, taking care of 2 babies, cooking etc.

However my husband is currently unemployed and my salary barely covers for the flat rental + the helper's wages so...

I think it is great that some people are able to pay their maids more than the minimum wage, especially as most of them really deserve it, but not everyone is wealthy in HK...

I'd say offer what you feel is a decent salary, and HKD4,000 + allowance is definitely (I don't have that at the end of the month !), and once you've appreciated her work, pay her what she deserves if you can afford to !

I wish I could pay my maid more !

Many of the helpers who have lived in HK for more than 2 years will ask their potential "expat" employer for more money than they will ask a local Chinese family.

For the Filipinos it's a no lose situation.

They will tell their prospective employers that it is "normal" to get paid way over $4000 per month.

They will also tell you that their previous employer gave them so much more for food, holidays...etc...


Many of them wouldn't dream of pulling these lines with a local chinese family because they know that they will be shown the door.


there are expats that will pay above the minimum wage if they feel that a helper has skills that most other helpers are lacking such as

western cooking skills, very good command of English, can work independently...etc.


many of them just pay minimum wage and will give a Bonus if they feel they deserve it and have earned it. in addition to monthly bonuses, extra income or other gifts may be given during Chinese New Year, Birthdays, Christmas time.


the YWCA offers a wonderful course on tips for newcomers on employing a domestic helper.

they offer a wealth of information from how much to pay them, giving them instructions, hiring, termination, holiday schedule, training etc.


some domestic helpers are like taxi drivers who know that you are "new" in town. they will literally take you for a ride.


when you hire a helper check for references.

try not to hire someone with no references.

many of the helpers with bad references will use the line "sorry my previous employers have left for GOOD".


I am all for paying "extra and bonuses" for those who do a really good job. However, bonuses are earned and not just granted before they even start their first day of work.

i think this is the case in practically any job you take.

Thanks so much for all the information which has been posted here. I hear what you say F100, about being green to helpers but don't feel I fall into that category even though this is my first full-time helper. I have lived in HK for 3 years and have employed part time help all of that time so I thought I had a good handle on what was an accepted norm for hiring a full-time helper. What has shocked me the most is that the women I have see are not trying it on as I have spoken to their employers who corroborate how much they get paid. It just appears there are a lot of Expats in this town who clearly do not post on here who pay their helpers quite a significant amount above what I consider to be a fair starting salary. Not that I would blame anyone for trying to get the best deal for themselves that they possibly can, after all we all do that.....right!!!