Salary for helper back in Philippines

I have already posted this on the Manila page but realised that there could well be people reading the Hong Kong page who might be able to give me an answer. SouffleQueen?


"Please can someone give some idea of current salary levels for a house maid working in Makati? (no children and no cooking)


I am not employing a full time live in helper but someone living in their own accomodation who will be paid on either an hourly or daily basis.


is any insurance needed?"


Thanks

Ooppss no wonder I was compelled to come out from hibernation, I was being summoned ;)


I cannot help much but I was told by the woman who stayed with us last month that the ongoing starting rate is 2.5 pesos ( HK$500.00 ) for a full time, all around girl for a family of four.


If you just need someone to come and clean, you could be paying less. There is always someone around who could do that, but unless you really, really trust the one who recommended her to you, you better get one from a legal agent. Or you may end up robbed.

Daily rates are from PhP300-500 (1HKD=PhP5), depending on how big your house in Makati is and what her chores will be. PhP2500 a month is on the low side but you are free to offer this as a starting base and give her an increase if she performs well after say 3 months on the job.


There are no written contracts between you and your helper in Manila, and usually there is no insurance. If you're not providing food, tell her in advance; often times, they expect to be fed.


Most, if not all, are paid on the 15th and 30th of each month if they are stay-in helpers. You can make arrangements for a helper to come say 2-3x a week and pay her on a weekly basis. It all depends on what you want and what you require.

I definitely agree 2500 is on the low side. Our staff were making 8000 each when we left Makati in 2005, and most people we knew were paying between 6000 and 10000. The lower end was typically for new employees or those on probation, the higher end was mainly those that had been with the same expat employer for a few years. Should point out that my circle was mainly Western expats, and we perhaps overpaid according to the local market, but people we hired typically came from another departing expat family so they were more familiar with what was expected by a western expat, and came with a recommendation.


Yes, there are people earning 2500 in Makati. My experience was that they were usually working for a local family, and if they were in upscale barangays, quite often they'd have many staff each with a specific job at 2500ish i.e. laundry girl, car wash girl, cook, yaya for child #1, yaya for child #2 ....


We started with a part-time but quickly saw the light and hired a full-time. This increased to a few people working for us when we had three children under two years old, and I traveled abroad significantly with work.


The price isn't a lot different between part time and full time, and full time will often live out if you want. We found you needed someone at home most of the time to take care of the endless stream of people coming to the house. Trying to get internet installed was four trips to the house, spraying for bugs was monthly, store deliveries don't understand that no one will be home when they want to come, etc. There always seemed to be someone coming to the house to repair something or deliver something.


Far more household work in Makati than you would probably have at home. The poor air quality required the floors to be washed daily or your feet would be black, very hot and humid so much more laundry to be done, shopping was much more difficult than home as you may have to go to multiple stores to get everything you need but we sent out maid (and she got much better prices at the market).


We loved our time in Manila and would go back in a heartbeat. One of the reasons we loved it is because we had great staff, and this allowed us the time to enjoy our young kids, sit around the backyard when we wanted, socialize with friends, go out for dinner and movies, do what we wanted:)


Insurance? no, didn't have insurance, and don't think anyone we knew had maid insurance.


Hope you enjoy Manila.


tmk