salary increment of helper contract renewal

I am thinking to consider to renew the cotract with current helper and tell her hkd 5660 , which is 160 increment from current salary ( hkd 5500).
Her reaction seems disappointed and said “only 160 ?”. She seems expected more.
I don’t know the average increment, of course it depends on her performance.Her performance is basically ok and I think 5660 hkd is not bad, as she has own room and her work is not too hard at the moment , though we will have new born baby ( its a second baby ) 3 month later and her work will be harder than last year.We also think to give renewal bonus of 500 hkd .

What do you think about this increment ?

1 reply

Jane Doe · 25 May

Hello, first of all, congrats on the new baby! In regards to the increment of HKD160 per month, I think the reaction might stem from the fact that while it is an increase, she's really only earning HKD6.67 more every day. (This is assuming she works around 24 days a month,160/24, do the math, its around 7HKD). And assuming she already works more than 8 hours to care for you and your family, earning less than 1/4 of the avg salary in HK is already low. Now, obviously I understand that paying around HKD20,000 is out of reach, but, HKD, 5660, when you really look at it, is quite low considering the hours she probably works. Apparently, the avg working hours are 14hrs per day, and for 5660, thats approximately HKD16.85 per hour. HK's minimum wage is $43.1. So while I understand that a steep increase might not be possible, I would like to acknowledge that the hours worked do deserve to be more rewarded, ESPECIALLY with the new born baby. As you mentioned, you already have one child, and the additional task of caring for a newborn will be no easy feat, which you also acknowledged. Her hours will undoubtedly increase, as will the effort required, which may deserve a higher increment. Obviously, it depends on what your family can manage but perhaps 250-300+? Afterall, her performance seems decent, and she seems capable enough to care for your newborn. I do think that the HKD500 bonus is nice, as is having her own room, which I hope you will not take away after the new baby is born.