iba ang minimum wage ng mga kasambahay as compared to the minimum wage for other workers,.
The Kasambahay Law sets a minimum wage for your kasambahay: P2,500 if working within the National Capital Region (i.e. Metro Manila), P2,000 for chartered cities and first-class municipalities, and P1,500 for any other area in the country.
this is the minimum of course, so we are expected to give them wage not lower than these amounts. the minimum wage of kasambahays is lower than the ordinary wage-earner considering that they are provided with free food and they do not have to pay for housing, except for those maids /helpers who are under a "live-out" arrangement.
I remembered this thread after reading Alex Tizon's story on his family's slave. I remembered this thread because I had been amazed at the measly pay a typical kasambahay got. Tizon's story reminded me that even if not all Filipinos mistreat their kasambahay, it's still part of our culture to give them less than what they deserve and thing it's okay.
Anyway, I paid my parents' in-house helper 10k pesos + benefits every month for a year after my mom's surgery. The helper performed housekeeping duties, not nursing duties.
I have read Alex Tizon's article about their "Lola." i do not think we can compare the treatment that their househelp/slave got from Tizon's family with the way we treat our kasambahays. i do not believe that most Filipinos give them less than what they deserve. the fact that not all of us can pay them as high as you do, does not mean we are giving them less than what they deserve. in fact, many Filipinos treat their kasambahay like a family member.
in our case, we provide the same food to our yaya/maid, she has her own room with a comfortable bed and television. she can use the washing machine and our detergents for her own clothes. we provide her toiletries including bath soap, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner. when we dine out, she can order (but yaya, out of modesty, always answers "kahit ano po."). when we go on a vacation, she doesn't sleep on the floor. she has her own bed and we pay for her meals also. when we are attending a formal event, we make sure she has proper clothes to wear. she has uniforms given to her by my mother-in-law, but we do not strictly enforce wearing of the uniform all the time.
different areas/subdivisions in metro manila or provinces have different wage "floors" especially if the place is a high-end subdivision. the wage also depends on "supply and demand." in neighborhoods where the incidence of "pirating" maids is high, the wage floor may go higher and the employers would also consider giving above average wages to make their maids think twice about leaving or transferring to other employers in the same neighborhood or community. for example, in dasmari?as village, the acceptable wage for maids is most definitely higher than a middle class village in pasig or quezon city.
the fact that you pay 10k to your maid is a good thing as it shows you might be wealthier than the average Pinoy. so good for you. but it doesn't mean that what we should be paying our maids the same amount. or that we treat our maids any less because we pay them less than 10k. or that those who pay their maids lower than the wage that you pay "have no business hiring maids." we have different neighborhoods, different backgrounds, different personal situations.
