My House Assistant Wore Me Out





We usually hire house assistants.  A Housemaid, is the one who takes care of the daily household chores and a yaya, a Filipino term for a nanny, or a childminder is a person who looks after the child or children of another family. 

Reasons why we hire a house assistant:
  1. To have someone to take care of our household chores, and tend to our children while we are away or doing something else for work. 
  2. We employ them for us to have more time for our family.
In my case, I do not hire a yaya because I am a hands-on Mom to my children, thus I only employ a house helper or a housemaid. 



Over the years of hiring a house help, I still find it hard to look for a very good one, someone whom I can trust to the fullest, and take upon work considering the house as her own. One who has concerns in helping me in economizing energy, water and other house supplies like laundry detergents, fabric conditioners, cooking supplies, etc. One who takes good care of the things inside the house.  Most of my assistants stay only up to three years the most and I discontinue their services for the following reasons:  
  • Work attitude - they are becoming so lax, neglectful and tends to be forgetful too. 
  • Behavioral changes – always in a frowning face especially upon waking up in the morning and seems to be irritable when I remind her of doing something else.  
  • Manner – becoming unconcerned, abusive and telling lies. 
I keep on reminding them that being a house helper is their occupation for which they are being paid, a lot of people are out of work and they are lucky that they have their job, receiving monthly remuneration to support their families. We made sure that we give them extra benefits like medical benefits and day off.  We allow them to eat the same food as we do, free boat or bus ticket after one year of service plus two weeks yearly vacation in their hometown.  We provide their grooming kit (soap, shampoo, toothpaste, sanitary napkins) so they won’t scrimp on their hygiene and because we want them to be clean as possible.  We give Christmas bonus and birthday bonus too.  We also increase their salary after 6 months and yearly thereof.   

Every household has policies and established rules to abide by, and I explain this carefully before a house helper joins our household.  I personally train them on how I would like the work being done. I do background checks before I hire them.  Their work history (like why do they left their previous employers), medical history (which is very important for me, I ask for a medical clearance or medical tests), use of cell phones and educational attainment (at least she can read and write).  It’s scary to hire a complete stranger, so I ask for recommendations or referrals from friends and relatives.

My present assistant will be on her second year with us by May this year, I am thinking of terminating her services on or before May, 2011.  In her first year of service, she’s doing good, we even raised her salary twice (on her 6th month and on her first year), but as she stays longer with us, she’s starting to act differently and does work unpleasantly and unsatisfactorily.  My kids are starting to complain about losing their things, my husband complains too, when he asks her something, she seems to be not listening at all.  I fully understand that she’s human and not a robot that she gets tired too and she might be having personal problems.  I do not overload her work, for I am helping her by doing some of the daily house chores. We are very considerate of her, and respect her privacy (we do not just get in to her room).  Last December aside from the monetary bonus, we gave her a package of goods, old clothes, toys for her children and a new cell phone to communicate with her kids.  We consider her as a part of the family but there are limitations and boundaries as well.

There are no changes no matter how many times I’ve tried talking to her.  She’s beginning to be a pain in the neck, so it’s about time to search for her replacement. 

Comments

  1. same problem with our current house help and previous ones...

    our current HH is quite lazy and needs to be reminded over and over again, and they do not do their jobs properly, especially with the cleaning aspect within the kitchen...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Maybe she is already tired of being a domestic helper....then it is about time for her to go and for you to search for another one...which can be a little complicated these days...

    Tom
    http://www.bigbeartube.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Santelmo! it's really very hard to get good ones, nowadays. sad that we share the same dilemma

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello Tom! You're right,maybe she's already sick and tired of doing routine house works. i am already looking for her replacement :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Housemaids had become more demanding nowadays....perhaps they know that they are indemand and soughted, nevertheless they should also realize that it is hard to find an "amo" who will really treat them well.

    ====
    Brown Pinay
    My Point of View
    PartyPreppies
    GCircles

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello Tom! You're right,maybe she's already sick and tired of doing routine house works. i am already looking for her replacement :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Maybe she is already tired of being a domestic helper....then it is about time for her to go and for you to search for another one...which can be a little complicated these days...

    Tom
    http://www.bigbeartube.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sounds like you think are so much better than your "household help." Shame on you! Need you remind them that they are "lucky" to have a job?  Sounds like an endentured servent to me. They are probably X'ing off the days until they no longer have to listen to the harping, and complaining. Oh joy! Only 117 days until she fires me!!  

    ReplyDelete

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