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Deal gets better for domestic workers

I am a strong believer in treating our domestic workers well, because they are as human as we are, they have feelings and deserve to be cared for and loved. They are someone's daughter, mother, sister, aunt just like us.  I admire the fact that my mum has had the same house girl for the past 12years, she has raisd my small sister since she was 1year . She is part of the family. 

We also strive to treat our girl well, I thought her pay was reasonable, we cater for her hospital bills,I take care of my family when I get home  in the evening and during  weekends. I give her off days on Sundays and during all  public holidays and of course her annual leave in December. I thought I was a good employer until I heard on news yesterday that the deal gets better for domestic workers as of end of this month. I was so keen to listen and I can summarise it as below:
  1. You are supposed to enter into a job contract with your house help under the new convention sponsored by the International Labour Organisation.
  2. Minimum wage for a house girl in Nairobi will be Kshs 7,500
  3. You risk 6months in prison or fine of Kshs 50,000 if you do not comply
  4. Employers should pay NSSF and NHIF for the domestic workers
  5. The domestic workers are entitled to 2 days off work during the week and annual leave days
  6. Etc etc
I must admit my heart  skipped a beat because I could not believe it. For me Kshs 7,500 means is a lot for the work load in my home. I think it would have been fair to set minimum standards/guidelines like for a home with one child this is the minimum wage. I understand that the cost of living is high, but don't you think we as the employers also are affected?


Why do I say this, for example, our house girl lives with us and enhance we provide all her meals, we provide her with toiletries, we pay for all her hospital bills and purchase all the drugs she may need even for a flu, we give her off  on Sundays and leave days.Seven thousand five hundred will put a dent into our pockets for sure.


Anyways, would be nice to hear your thoughts because this touches on most households.

Comments

Rosemary Teka said…
Well, i must say this issue has equally ditressed me and I did not even know that there was the risk of prison and that huge fine what???yaani I also give my girl off on sundays and when we're away for holiday she also enjoys the break by going off till we get back as well as providing all toiletries, meals and a place to sleep..My question is shall I start charging for all this other items such as meals...coz for sure no employer provides food and shelter for their staff especially upon signing a contract.

My understanding is that the NHIF and NSSF comes from the salary am I wrong?

For my house honestly I have one baby and I am home most of the time since my office is in the house...The house is not that big and I help out with meals 7,500 i feel is way too much for what she does here and will definitely create a huge debt in our pockets.

They should have regulated and said for one baby households...x amount minimum wage and so on...
27 June 2011 at 10:29
Sylvia_Counselor said…
I totally feel you Rosemary.I think the pay should match the work. About NSSF and NHIF payments, I thought these are deducted before the gross pay?

Can people appeal and to whom can we appeal too?Any clue?
27 June 2011 at 13:04
Ems Makuthi said…
Well, let me say, all these said, we will soon have to be employing professional house helps, with diplomas in cleaning, cooking , first aid and the like. Meaning, housework will be a serious profession for that kind of money and guess what, so many girls will remain jobless. That will be the other side of it as well.
27 June 2011 at 22:14
Sylvia_Counselor said…
Ems I totally agree about the girls being professionally trained.

However, I have read on someone's page and they say that salary is for the non-resident house girls, am not to sure, maybe we need to research more but where are we to get such information?
28 June 2011 at 17:28
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