Advice on pay for dom. help please

AvidTrekker

Hidimbaa was the demon girl, after whom we have the famous Hidimbaa temple at Manali (the romance is said to have occured in this area)

The son was GhaTotkacha who knew the demonic arts to vanquish his enemies on the battlefield.

kRShNa manipulated everything.... i mean literally everything, as He was God incarnate..... but of course everyone has a right to agree or disagree with his manipulations

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Nick-H

That's the one! If I ever go to Manali I'll make sure I visit that temple. Always enjoyed this story
Indeed! growing and swelling to enormous size and then... falling over in the right direction
The way I see it is that he did whatever was necessary to bring about the results that he saw to be necessary, and, when dealing with cheats and liars, had no problem whatsoever with cheating and lying.

Domestic servants... anyone know if that Hidimbaa has any time free these days?

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capt_mahajan

Dunno, but Ghatotkach's sister sounds like we employed her in Bombay.

That lady of err, ample proportions, destroyed all our bedside table lamps by bumping into them as she bent to mop

coleville

I think the first problem is forgetting that people in Indian won't always behave the way we expect. What you are experiencing is not uncommon in India.

A few points:
1. If you are looking for help, best to get referral from other tenants, both for people and for pay. You want to be competitive.
2. Domestic help is not really organized in India, so there are not really any rules you can follow. They are not "official" employees. Despite the laws, you are talking about people who are getting paid in cash and take jobs when they can and where they can. And there is no daycare. Some will stay and some will leave.
3. Don't know what your Indian language skills are, but it might help to understand what background the person is coming from. Often, these women have families with a lot of responsibilties and maybe no phone, etc. They are not accostomed to asking for time off, calling in sick or calling if you will be late or unable to work.
4. If you want to know why she isn't coming, ask, and then set ground rules for anyone you hire. If you expect them to call, tell them.
5. If you continue to have problems, find someone else.
Often, it is not money that keeps them from coming back, but personal circumstances.

As for money, prices range depending on where you live. But n larger metros, $800-$1500 is good depending on the size of the house, tasks needing completed, what the competiive rate is in your area and what you expect or want to pay.

I know people who have kept help for 10 years and literally run the house -- have keys and attend to chores without the residents even being there! Talk about trust. They are rare, but there are good workers out there.

** jeanneleez **

I'm on Kolkata, so your pricing may be different.

I've just started hiring help. I have a young woman who comes in everyday to clean my house. I have a three bedroom flat with a large terrace. I pay 2,000 rupees a month. She doesn't clean bathrooms (I have three of those, too), but she washes clothes.

I have a cook that delivers food for breakfast and dinner every day. She makes South Indian veg. for two. With delivery twice a day, it comes to about 4,000 rupees a month.

Both of these women were arranged through people I knew at work. I never got a chance to interview them or check references as I would have in the states. Here it has been simply a conversation and a handshake. They've both been with me for a little over a month. The cleaner doesn't always show up, but she couldn't call us anyway. She speaks no hindi or english. I would probably call my co-worker if there was a problem. The cook is on my speed dial because I sometimes need to cancel dinner. Her english is really good.

Hope this helps...

-- Jeanne

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Noodle

Thanks, guys!

Well, it's been three months or so since I started this thread. In the meantime I have found a cleaner and she is ok. She cleans well. She sometimes takes days off and I told her I will not pay for those free days if they get too many. So far so good ... she's been working for 6 weeks now. It's all I want.

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sanjaymehra

you are not the only one. It is the story all around. Deduct her salary and be a little hardhearted about it.