We originally paid 3000 per month to our first 3 helpers but realized that our house is pretty easy to maintain and our daughter very easy to take care of. So we adjusted it to 2500 per month on our 4rd to 6th helper. You may have noticed...6 helpers? Drew and I haven't even reached 2 years by ourselves!
So yes, we do have a LOT of problems with helpers. Gone are the days when nannies and helpers really put their heart to their jobs like what our helpers used to do when we were kids.
The first helper's problem was being separated from her daughter, she wanted to take days off every 2 weeks, which we gladly agreed to. However she ALWAYS failed to get back on time. And not just minutes but hours away from the time she's scheduled to come back. This jeopardizes our sleep to get to work the night shift.Then one day, her family called and informed us they were all food poisoned by red eggs. Fortunately, her daughter wasn't poisoned, but no one is going to take care of her for a couple of days. So she left.
We can't stay without a helper for even a day so we'd really have to replace the first one even if she's offering to come back once her family is well again. So we hired our 2nd helper. The problem with her is that she wouldn't do some chores unless you tell her to. I brief each and every helper before they even start working, but for some reason, this helper may have forgottern her job description. So I keep on reminding her and it got to Drew's nerves. She was reprimanded for this and got better. However, she went on day off and went back ill with a severe UTI. We can't kepp her because she's got chills and had to go every 12 hours to the hospital to take injections c/o us. We let her go with P400 damage.
My uncle then referred another helper. She was boasting about having worked at rich people's houses and having a possibility of working abroad. We were supposed to lower the usual salary to 2500 but she requested we keep the 3000 and tried to prove she was worth it. It was time for Ella's laundry and the helper did that too! The next day, she said her family texted her and informed her that her daughter is sick. It seemed like she's not going to come back, so we discussed this with her. She had a lot of alibis, saying that she may be able to get an update regarding work abroad and may not be able to come back. So we just paid her for a day's work and let her go, not expecting her to come back. Later on we found out that she used bleach on Ella's clothes and ruined most of them. I wonder if that's what urged her to leave or the issues with her family and work abroad.
The helper of one of Drew's aunts referred her cousin. She was ok, so-so. But we're really not expecting anything great because we're kinda used to them helpers. Days went on and she was actually fine. However, she has a half-brother here in Manila whom she goes to every day off. That half-brother is taking over everything in her life...takes her salary, dictates the time she leaves home, etc. One day, she requested to take a crash few hours off to attend her nephew's kindergarten graduation. We obliged, even though it was the time of the month when our company changes our work scheds, giving us only 1 day off as interim, and the night before was our program's anniversary party. The goodness in me left when she arrived late the next day after texting the night before saying she will be late, sending another text saying she'll be late for another 2 hours, and her brother calling in around 9 in the evening saying she can't get home that night because the graduation isn't over yet. Like, HELLO? Kindergarten graduation started at 2 pm and won't be over past 9pm? Come on!
Drew's aunt's helper from Bacolod referred another helper who have never been to Manila. We thought this one's going to last, but we were wrong. In a nutshell, she's an ingrate, she's proud, she eats a lot (--5 times rice and viand a day..beat that!), she refuses to do chores, she's lazy, she speaks mostly in their dialect, she walks away or stays silently angry when reprimanded, she threatens to leave us and work for a neighbor... ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH! This list can go on! If I didn't have asthma the day we fired her, I could've slapped her in the face. Can you imagine? She doesn't have a cellphone to contact anyone, doesn't know anyone in Manila, doesn't have any money (she owed us a total of 1800 for her fare to come to Manila and other stuff) and she had the nerve to show bad attitude?! Drew got sick and tired of her, so drew sent her at the barangay hall, informed them of what heppened and left her there. We don't know what happened with her.
Lastly, our current helper. She was referred by my aunt. I thought I'd be able to put her under reins because she was referred by a close family member. But then again, I was wrong. She was older than us, unlike the helpers who lasted more than a day. When she came over she asked for an advance of P1300 to give to the family she left. During her first few weeks, I was impressed by the work she displays that I was thinking of not subtracting from her salary if she lasts more than a year with us. Good thing I didn't blurt that out. A couple more days with us and she became disorganized and lazy. She failed to do some daily chores that we had to reprimand her a bit create another poster in the house reminding her of daily, weekly and occasional tasks. She was able to follow for a good 2 days but we can't seem to get it right forever. She's originally from the slums, and though I don't have anything against them, they have a unique attitude that people not living in the slums can't seem to live up with. Another problem there is, she sometimes applies those ways to how she manages our house, and my kid! She talks a lot and whenever we have stories to share, she'll share a similar story or something that would top ours. She's also complaining about back pains she got from her previous work affecting her job and tells us of the possibility of her leaving work. Ok, so she's not my favorite helper, but please, next helper: please stand up!
It would really be nice if I could quit work and just stay in the house. I'd be able to boost Ella's development, cook good food day and night (helpers don't do the cooking, btw...), laundry and fold our clothes neatly (our helpers use autiomatic washing machine...), and still have enough energy to do a LOT of things. However the salary we pay helpers CAN NEVER match what I'm earning. *sigh* I guess I'd have to just live with it until such time we have already saved enough for an at-home business and I'd be a work-at-home-mom.
Love lots,
0 comments:
Post a Comment