Ethiopian maid/nanny salary

[Canlady]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to Dubai. I interviewed an Ethiopian Nanny/Maid who's been working here for 5 years. She has a transferable visa. She demanded 2000 AED salary. Is this reasonable?

[Gavtek]

I would say so, yes.

Some people will tell you to barter her down to a quarter of that, but what she's asking for is fair and it'll mean she won't spend most of her time looking for another job while she's working for you.

[AK47]

I think that is unreasonable. 2K is high. I think that the minimum salary for an Ethiopian maid is AED800(Guide from the powers that be) so if you go around 50-70% of that figure I think it should be reasonable. You also need to take into account Maids Visa + deposit+ flight home + bonus+ food etc.....

[Ogri750]

What value do you place on the well being of your children?

These threads do get my hackles up, epsecially when there are replies suggesting that she should be paid a little over £100 per month.

No doubt people that only want to pay a maid/nanny that much are the same ones who did their upmost to negotiate a nice package for themselves. She is only doing the same.

[Felixtoo2]

Completely agree with Ogri and Gavtek, this is someone that is gonna live in your house, look after your kids and probably only have one day off a week. Ask yourself how much you would want to be paid to swap places?

[AK47]

Originally Posted by Ogri750

What value do you place on the well being of your children?

These threads do get my hackles up, epsecially when there are replies suggesting that she should be paid a little over £100 per month.

No doubt people that only want to pay a maid/nanny that much are the same ones who did their upmost to negotiate a nice package for themselves. She is only doing the same.

Does this make sense to you? Or do you think its still exploitation. I have not taken into account the times you decide to give the maid extra compensation for doing a good job etc and and and....?

Monthly Yearly
Visa 5000 5000
Salary 1400 16800
Food 300 3600
Toiletries 200 2400
Flight Home 3650 3650
Bonus + 13 1400 1400
Yearly 32850
Total/month 2737.5

[Gavtek]

Originally Posted by AK47

Does this make sense to you? Or do you think its still exploitation. I have not taken into account the times you decide to give the maid extra compensation for doing a good job etc and and and....?

Monthly Yearly
Visa 5000 5000
Salary 1400 16800
Food 300 3600
Toiletries 200 2400
Flight Home 3650 3650
Bonus + 13 1400 1400
Yearly 32850
Total/month 2737.5

Assuming the maid works 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, that works out at 8.7 Dhs per hour. And she won't actually receive all of that of course. 200 Dhs a month on toiletries might be pushing it a bit too, and a FlyDubai flight to Addis Adaba only costs 1410 Dhs.

Just pay her a bit more and make her life a bit less miserable.

[MaidenScotland]

Originally Posted by Gavtek

Assuming the maid works 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, that works out at 8.7 Dhs per hour. And she won't actually receive all of that of course. 200 Dhs a month on toiletries might be pushing it a bit too, and a FlyDubai flight to Addis Adaba only costs 1410 Dhs.

Just pay her a bit more and make her life a bit less miserable.

And she would be lucky if she only has to work 12 hours a day.

Live in maids are exploited in the fact that regardless of the hours they are told they will work they are always expected to be on call.

Pay her a decent salary for looking after your most valuable item.. your child.

[MaidenScotland]

Originally Posted by AK47

Does this make sense to you? Or do you think its still exploitation. I have not taken into account the times you decide to give the maid extra compensation for doing a good job etc and and and....?

Monthly Yearly
Visa 5000 5000
Salary 1400 16800
Food 300 3600
Toiletries 200 2400
Flight Home 3650 3650
Bonus + 13 1400 1400
Yearly 32850
Total/month 2737.5

Yes I think it is.. these maids work far harder than we would ever do for a fraction of the money.

[rsinner]

Originally Posted by MaidenScotland

Yes I think it is.. these maids work far harder than we would ever do for a fraction of the money.

So their salary should be higher than ours?
I am not being flippant and if I ever get a maid full time they will definitely be paid higher than market (I already spend 2x-3x the price of full time maids on part time maids).

However, what is a fair salary? 5,000? 10,000? 20,000? This is still less than what a lot of expats earn. They would be taking care of my child who is priceless. They work harder than me.