This is the first time I've had a helper over the CNY holiday and I've heard that it is customary to give them a holiday bonus. Is this true and how much would you typically give?
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Ours will get $300. Neither of us is Chinese but it gives her a bit to spend over the holidays.
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Given the range of replies already, I think it is pretty useless to compare what other people are doing when it comes to how they spend their money unless you ask more detailed questions about their standard of living and income source(s).
I haven't decided on an amount yet. I think I gave $500 or $1000 to my last helper who we loved. I am not so enamored with my current one, so I am thinking about something between $200 and $500, as a courtesy, not for performance.
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cd
17 yrs ago
Neither ourselves nor our helper are Chinese, so neither celebrate Chinese New year as such. We will probably give $100 in a lai se packet, after all, the whole point of the lai se packet is to bring luck, (as I understand it), so its the gesture not the amount thats important.
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Unless the helper is chinese not sure why you need to give anything, it's just like xmas all about money and gifts and nothing to do with the meaning of the holiday.
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We will give $100 in a lai se packet just as a courtesty. She is not Chinese, nor are we.
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I am planning to give $888 for good luck to my Indonesian helper.
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So the belief goes if your Chinese maybe However we have been told consistently since being in HK by locals you just give 20.00 Dollars in a Lai See not hundreds of dollars. I agree that based on some of the salaries helpers are paid they will appreciate it but i give extras etc when i see fit and believe in paying my helper a reasonable wage in the first place so she isn't relying on money gifts at every turn for holidays that mean nothing to either of us. I'm not saying it's wrong for others to do it just how i feel myself about it.
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cbdc
17 yrs ago
we gave our helper her one month bonus at Christmas time, with the understanding that it was her CNY bonus. we will give her a few hundred dollars.
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i got 2 packets with $50 each from previous chinese boss. and loads of packets with notes ranging from $10-$50 from the relatives we visited.
the more you give the more luck you get.. so the saying goes.. but then again, its the gesture that counts.
anyway, i just find it nice to get something from the boss... even if it just $50... :-D
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We gave the bonus at Xmas, $3k for one who'd been with us half a year, and $12k for the other, who's been with us for 3 years. But we also take an interest in how they use the bonus, and encourage them to use this bonus to work for them .. the latter one has put her's into rice fields which generate income.
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I think rather than being chinese or not, t's about a gesture to celebrate the holiday. I had a Jewish boss once who cave all of his 20-something staff a christmas present just because most of us celebrated christmas (the economic holiday, not the religeous meaning!) and he was nice. It's funny to think that he in fact gave christmas pressents to the Jewish guy who worked there too!!
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isnt it a sort of a rule to give helpers 13th month salary around that time? we do our bonus (1 month salary) around X-mas as they go home for hols and sure can use it then! For CNY will do $500, and for her b-day $500... $20 to someone who lives with you and (for some of us) looks after your children in my books is an insult... for your doorman, maybe, but not for helper..
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Lai see (red packets , usually with a small denomination new note inside) is different from the CNY bonus, also a common practice in HK.
When i was working, bonuses (a mimimum of 1 months' salary) were paid to all employed staff at CNY. In addition, lai see packets were given to secretaries (by the people they directly worked for) with anything from $100 to a couple of months salary in them. The average was $500. So, the firm gave the bonus and the "boss" gave the lai see. More token amounts ($10, $20) were given to the office amahs, messaengers etc
When we first arrived in HK, my husband's firm used to pay our DH's salary and would allocate a month's salary as a bonus at CNY.
Now, we give our helper a lai see packet with $500 to $1000. We give our security guards $100 - 200 (they are great!) and other "support staff" such as the shuttle bus drivers, cleaners etc $20.
Neither we nor our helper is Chinese - it is just the way that we mark the holiday.
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