What Should I Do?

[carmenshih]

I have a big headache that my maid has been with us for 6 months, she said to me yesterday that she had something urgent to deal with in her own country, need to go back for 2 months and she will come back to work with me again. I asked why it takes so long, she said she wanna spend sometime with her relatives as well coz she hasn't seen them for long. But the point is why 2 months? Why it takes that long for spending time with her friends and relatives? Does she want to quit?

I talked to her last night, I allowed her for holiday and dealing her "urgent" stuff for 1 month only, we will allow her to have her second holiday for another month when we go back to our country for Xmas later this year, and we told her we could pay her transportation fee for that. She hasn't answer me yet. I give her time to consider.( I have a baby of 8 months, my daughter like her very much), but I really don't like the attitude of saying" I wanna to have 2 months holiday", I couldn't even said to my boss I wanna holiday for that long suddenly. What is her problem? We treat very very good.

Can anyone tell me hong long your maid works a day? Live in or live out? How much you are paying? English speaking?

[giddyup]

Tell her you will have to get another maid to replace her, so she may or may not have a job when she gets back. I don't think the same rules apply for a maid as working for a company, she can choose to take as much time off as she wants. Maybe she has a better offer or just doesn't like working for you. Not like she has a contract.

Edited June 29, 2012 by giddyup

[guzzi850m2]

You said in her own country? Is she Burmese or another country, I asume you live in Thailand?

I agree with giddyup, tell her to do as told or don't come back, she is not the CEO of Boeing or similar and be replaced relatively easy.

[arthurwait]

Up to youuuuuuuu.

Sometimes they come back on time.

Sometimes they stay longer and only come back when the money runs out.

Sometimes they only come back when the work they are actually going to do finishes or higher paid illegal work (illegal tree felling) gets shut down.

Sometimes they never come back.

Tell her it's a month or nothing. If she doesn't agree to be back on a specifc date you will have to find someone else.

[dingdang]

i think its normal, that expats go back every 6 months (western expats even earlier)... and its always more than 6 weeks for all i know...

[Soutpeel]

one assumes you have have some form of contract in place which specifies the T&C's of employment, if not then that labour law would apply and if she outside he T&C's then you dont have to take her back...she has broken the "contract"....If you have offered a month, then thats fine...its a take it or leave situation, and you can tell her, take 2 months by all means, but dont expect the job to be there when she gets back

[BirdsandBooze]

Sounds like she's not too bothered about her position with you. We pay ours 500baht a day for a 6 day week and she's officially on call for 8 hours with Saturday as a half day. She lives with us and is more like family than an employee.

[astral]

i think its normal, that expats go back every 6 months (western expats even earlier)... and its always more than 6 weeks for all i know...

Sorry?

Go back where.............??????

Let the maid go and point out that you will needing a new maid immediately

so she will probably not have a job to come back to.

[whistleblower]

Sounds like she's not too bothered about her position with you. We pay ours 500baht a day for a 6 day week and she's officially on call for 8 hours with Saturday as a half day. She lives with us and is more like family than an employee.

Would you pay your family 62.5 baht an hour???

[carmenshih]

You said in her own country? Is she Burmese or another country, I asume you live in Thailand?

I agree with giddyup, tell her to do as told or don't come back, she is not the CEO of Boeing or similar and be replaced relatively easy.

Yes she is Burmese and I live in Bangkok. It's very hard for me to find a English speaking maid ( I max pay 12K, I don't wanna pay more than that, live in, willing help me take care baby 2-3 hours a day only)

[carmenshih]

i think its normal, that expats go back every 6 months (western expats even earlier)... and its always more than 6 weeks for all i know...

Sorry?

Go back where.............??????

Let the maid go and point out that you will needing a new maid immediately

so she will probably not have a job to come back to.

If I can easily find a maid to replace her, I will fire her right away when she said this coz this is not reasonable to tell me she wanna have 2 months holiday next week.

[carmenshih]

Can anyone tell me how much you are paying to your maid?

[giddyup]

Sounds like she's not too bothered about her position with you. We pay ours 500baht a day for a 6 day week and she's officially on call for 8 hours with Saturday as a half day. She lives with us and is more like family than an employee.

Would you pay your family 62.5 baht an hour???

What's your point? 500 baht a day for live in and I assume all provided, isn't too bad. Would I work for that? No, but I'd be comparing apples and oranges. I believe Australia (my country) now has one of the highest costs of living in the world, so prices and wages are sky high. 500 baht might buy you two beers in a pub.

Edited June 29, 2012 by giddyup

[edwinclapham]

I have just looked at TVF Classified.. there is a Filipino looking for a Nanny's position but looking for B15,000, along with many others. She should be able to speak pretty good English!

For someone good and efficient it might be worthwhile looking to pay a little extra. I did however notice that B12,000 appears to be the going amount.

Its hard to say why your maid would like to have 2 months off, she might well have some very good reasons, but giving such short notice outside of an emergency isnt particularly kind.

http://classifieds.t...itters-nannies/

Edited June 29, 2012 by edwinclapham

[DP25]

Sounds like she's not too bothered about her position with you. We pay ours 500baht a day for a 6 day week and she's officially on call for 8 hours with Saturday as a half day. She lives with us and is more like family than an employee.

Would you pay your family 62.5 baht an hour???

No, you wouldn't need to pay them anything. They might even get a job on the side to help out with expenses.

12k per month plus free room and board is a great salary for Burmese migrant worker. That is what Thai civil servants with college degrees start at, and they have to pay their own rent. And it's certainly better than the 4,000 a month for working in a fish factory most Burmese get.

[travelmann]

Sounds like she's not too bothered about her position with you. We pay ours 500baht a day for a 6 day week and she's officially on call for 8 hours with Saturday as a half day. She lives with us and is more like family than an employee.

Would you pay your family 62.5 baht an hour???

nah way too much 300 a day tops

[travelmann]

I have just looked at TVF Classified.. there is a Filipino looking for a Nanny's position but looking for B15,000, along with many others. She should be able to speak pretty good English!

For someone good and efficient it might be worthwhile looking to pay a little extra. I did however notice that B12,000 appears to be the going amount.

Its hard to say why your maid would like to have 2 months off, she might well have some very good reasons, but giving such short notice outside of an emergency isnt particularly kind.

http://classifieds.t...itters-nannies/

youre looking in totally the wrong place a bit like buying land from a real estate agent or just asking in the village

[h90]

I happens to staff in Thailand that they leave for 1 month or 2 to stay in the temple. But usually they come back after 2 weeks--too boring in the temple......

good maids are hard to get, but 12K is also a good salary.

I think our companies one get somewhere 6-8 K.

I knew one making home maid for a Chinese teacher....get 3000 Baht per month (+food +living)

[edwinclapham]

I have just looked at TVF Classified.. there is a Filipino looking for a Nanny's position but looking for B15,000, along with many others. She should be able to speak pretty good English!

For someone good and efficient it might be worthwhile looking to pay a little extra. I did however notice that B12,000 appears to be the going amount.

Its hard to say why your maid would like to have 2 months off, she might well have some very good reasons, but giving such short notice outside of an emergency isnt particularly kind.

http://classifieds.t...itters-nannies/

youre looking in totally the wrong place a bit like buying land from a real estate agent or just asking in the village

Well thats great! so any suggestions which would be far better than giving a negative reply

[crazykopite]

You are paying her a good rate + free room and other things find a maid and pay her off with a weeks wages as you will find it hard to get a maid just for the time she is away, You are not obliged to pay for her travel expenses either seems to me she is taking advantage I pay my gardner 500 bt a day + his lunch he is a jack of all trades and works his backside off infact I tell him to take it easy but he does not know the meaning which I suppose is a good thing.

[StreetCowboy]

You are paying her a good rate + free room and other things find a maid and pay her off with a weeks wages as you will find it hard to get a maid just for the time she is away, You are not obliged to pay for her travel expenses either seems to me she is taking advantage I pay my gardner 500 bt a day + his lunch he is a jack of all trades and works his backside off infact I tell him to take it easy but he does not know the meaning which I suppose is a good thing.

I agree. Its fairly easy to find someone workshy, and possibly dishonest, for a lot less than 500 a day. If you think she's a good maid, then try to sort something out with her. If you think she's not, then its a good chance to take second go at finding a good maid.

In my opinon, no-one here is going to give you any worthwhile advice, because it depends on your own personal circumstances, and too many of us just post to exercise our spleen, make ourselves feel big and clever, or in the hope of raising a titter amongst the bystanders

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[Rimmer]

Inflammatory post and quoted replies removed

[Sharp]

I have a big headache that my maid has been with us for 6 months, she said to me yesterday that she had something urgent to deal with in her own country, need to go back for 2 months and she will come back to work with me again. I asked why it takes so long, she said she wanna spend sometime with her relatives as well coz she hasn't seen them for long. But the point is why 2 months? Why it takes that long for spending time with her friends and relatives? Does she want to quit?

I talked to her last night, I allowed her for holiday and dealing her "urgent" stuff for 1 month only, we will allow her to have her second holiday for another month when we go back to our country for Xmas later this year, and we told her we could pay her transportation fee for that. She hasn't answer me yet. I give her time to consider.( I have a baby of 8 months, my daughter like her very much), but I really don't like the attitude of saying" I wanna to have 2 months holiday", I couldn't even said to my boss I wanna holiday for that long suddenly. What is her problem? We treat very very good.

Can anyone tell me hong long your maid works a day? Live in or live out? How much you are paying? English speaking?

She's leaving mate just givin enough space/time just in case it goes tits up ....IMHO.....

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

[SteveLynch]

12 k month is a good salary and live in I assume but finding maids isn't easy many want to work less hours and be able topic up extra work in condos or another house

I pay my nanny 15k a month she lives in I pay her food and she doesn't want to take days off I have to make her take a few days ,usually by going to the beach myself and leaving her at home

My maid I recently let go as her attendee was terrible ,she wanted a live out position she worked five days a week 9am -3 she got 600 baht a day but she usual thing around ironing or playing with the kids till 5 or six

My nanny daughter is now my new maid I pay her zero and between her and her mum they sort out all the work ,she lives and eats for free ,she is uni most of the day and her mum would have had to shell out 5k a month for her living expences

Ideal situation for me as they both dote over

Which area are you living in as I find this a huge factor if they have to travel far to work

[spacemand]

#firstworldproblems

[evadgib]

Assuming this isn't a troll thread what are the implications re employing someone below the radar/without a work permit?

[carmenshih]

Assuming this isn't a troll thread what are the implications re employing someone below the radar/without a work permit?

She has work permit. She is legally working for me

[BigJohnnyBKK]

OP, she obviously doesn't care if she loses your job, but up to you if you think she's worth cutting such extraordinary slack.

I would do so for mine, she's almost primary caregiver now I'm working more hours, my kids love her like a second mum and she's probably only taken half a dozen full days off in three years outside Song Kran break (she can take one every week if she wants but is paid by the day).

Assuming this isn't a troll thread what are the implications re employing someone below the radar/without a work permit?

Pretty much non-existent, if you have enemies that would make trouble over something that common you've got much bigger problems.

[noise]

Tell her you will have to get another maid to replace her, so she may or may not have a job when she gets back.

This is the best approach.

I stopped reading here as nothing else I could say applies. Our maid wanted to do something similar after a year and arranged for her aunt to take her place, intending to come back to work for us. By providing a relative as her (expected to be at the time) temporary replacement, she felt confident she could get her job back and we felt confident we would continue to get the superb work ethic we had gotten used to.

Our maid providing a relative as her replacement is the key, in my mind: reputations are at stake. In your case, if she really wants her job back at the end of 2 months, she will do her best to provide a good worker. If you get your own replacement, you have the luck of the draw.

Just a thought for consideration.

[phuturatica]

Tell her that you will have to find someone to replace her so the chances of her having her job back after 2 months is slim. It's her choice then. Also, I agree with maybe asking her to find a temporary replacement so that it acts as a guarantor for her coming back in 2 months.