The homeowner has not received the new salary, but the maid has asked for more income.

Ask for bonus, ask for raise

For over a week now, Ms. Luong Thi Thu Thao (Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi ) has been feeling like she's sitting on a bed of fire after making dozens of phone calls to her "summer vacation" maid but no one answers the phone.

Both husband and wife work all day, the children are 6 years old, the children are over 2 years old and have no one to look after them, while the maternal grandparents live in Thai Binh and the paternal grandparents are old and weak, so since having children, for Ms. Thao, a maid is indispensable to the family.

Not having someone to look after children while they go to work is a concern for many families in Hanoi (Photo: Van Quan).

"My family hires a maid for 7 million VND/month, the main job is to look after the children, clean the house, and cook dinner. Hiring a maid is difficult, finding someone who sticks around for a long time is even more difficult, so whoever we hire, my husband and I respect and treat them well, from the salary and bonus to the way we behave and respond on a daily basis.

For some unknown reason, the family has not yet been able to find a "loyal" maid as desired," Ms. Thao confided.

She said that last Tet, in order to retain the maid, in addition to giving her an extra month's salary, she and her husband also prepared gifts and 1 million VND as transportation allowance. However, this person still left and never returned.

"At that time, the maid firmly promised that she would come on the 5th day of Tet, but when she returned to her hometown, she immediately quit her job, with a reason that I don't know if I should believe or not: "My husband was seriously ill, his leg hurt so much that he had to be hospitalized," Ms. Thao shared.

Still patient, Ms. Thao begged the maid to take care of her husband and then come back to work later, but received a blunt refusal: "I probably can't come back to work, my dear. The salary is low and I have to be far from home. Mrs. Ha works next to my house, the owner pays her 8 million VND, a bonus of more than a month's salary, not to mention new clothes, phone cards every month... but she still doesn't want to go to work, my dear.

People laughed at me when I told them to go to Hanoi to work as a maid. Well, you stay home with your uncle and live off of vegetables and porridge so the family can be reunited. He is also sick and very weak."

Every time the maid asks for leave, many families feel like they are sitting on hot coals.

After three years and more than a dozen attempts to find a domestic helper, Ms. Thao said that most of the domestic helpers came from rural areas, and many only considered the job temporary. Some quit because they had other plans, or some moved to another family because they were promised a higher income.

They usually don't pick up the phone, stay quiet and disappear after a holiday, and only call to quit their job at the worst possible time. Some people bargain, staying home until the end of Tet, the end of the month, the end of the planting and harvesting season... before coming back.

"Every time the maid quits, my family feels like they're sitting on hot coals. We have no choice but to pay a high price to hire someone to do the work," Ms. Thao sighed.

With great difficulty, Thao and her husband found a regular maid at the beginning of April through the recommendation of a colleague at the same company. They had just breathed a sigh of relief when, last weekend, the family's maid suddenly announced that she wanted a salary increase of 1 million VND, or else she would quit.

"I asked why and he said that on July 1st, she got a salary increase from the government, so he had to give me a raise too," Ms. Thao was shocked, she herself had not yet received her first month's salary.

Salary increase "bonus" trip home to pick up maid

Also having to "depend" on the maid, last Saturday, Mr. Nguyen Tuan (Truong Dinh ward, Hoang Mai district) had to drive all the way to Tuyen Quang to pick up the maid because there was no one to look after the children so he could go to work.

"The maid is so "powerful", the house really needs someone so I have to give up. My little girl is used to this maid, she won't accept another. The maid promised to go back to her hometown for 2 days and come back early at the beginning of the month, but kept making excuses not to catch a bus, then ran out of money for the bus... took a whole week off.

I told her to call a taxi and let my husband and I pay, but the maid refused. In the end, she had to drive back to pick me up and... ask for a raise," Mr. Tuan said in frustration.

According to domestic help brokerage centers, when finding a suitable person, many families do not hesitate to increase the salary by 500,000 - 1,000,000 VND/month to keep the domestic helper (Photo: Van Quan).

Mr. Tuan shared that before finding the current maid, he and his wife spent nearly a month running around looking for someone. Knowing that it was difficult to hire a maid, when they found someone suitable and committed to a long-term relationship, he and his wife were very indulgent.

"My wife and I accept all the "demands" that the maid makes, as long as we have someone to look after the children so we can go to work. The children are on summer vacation now, and without a maid at home, we don't know how to manage," Mr. Tuan shared.

According to Ms. Duyen Ha, owner of a domestic help brokerage center in Xuan Dinh ward (Bac Tu Liem district, Hanoi), compared to the time before the Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for domestic helpers and the supply are almost equal.

"The price for hiring a housekeeper is now also very high, mostly at 6-7 million VND/month, even 8 million VND/month for families with small children or elderly people. If they find a suitable person, many families do not hesitate to increase the price by 500,000 - 1,000,000 VND/month to keep them," said Ms. Ha.

Many domestic workers rely on the adjustment of the basic salary to demand a raise (Illustration: Van Quan).

Ms. Ha said that every day, the center has 10-15 people applying for the job of domestic helper. However, many times, they have fallen into a situation where the domestic helper promised one day, but then quit the next day, so many families in Hanoi consider the option of hiring an hourly domestic helper.

"The current hourly maid price in Hanoi ranges from 50,000 - 80,000 VND/hour, depending on the area. Hiring an hourly maid is cheaper than hiring someone to live with the family monthly, so many families now choose this option to avoid depending on maids," Ms. Ha informed.

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