A Guide to Maid Salaries in Dubai | ExpatWoman.com
 

A Guide to Maid Salaries in Dubai

How much should you be paying your housemaid? Some countries have established minimum wages and we also have recommendations/

Posted on

30 July 2013

Last updated on 19 January 2020
A Guide to Maid Salaries in Dubai

How much you should pay your full-time maid in Dubai is a frequently asked question on our Maid Forum and is often a contentious issue.

It really depends on how much you can afford, what the size of her job role is- whether she will just be cleaning or whether there is child care involved- but also you should see this as a way to empower someone from a poorer country and make sure you are paying them a fair wage in order for them to better their life and the life of their family too.

 
Certain embassies are trying to protect their overseas workers and have set minimum wages- we do feel that these are still very low.

Embassy Set Minimum Salaries, Deposits and the Minimum Age of the Maid:

Sri Lanka

  • Minimum wage: AED850
  • Deposit: AED 3673
  • Minimum age: 23

Nepal

  • Minimum wage: AED900
  • Deposit: AED5000
  • Minimum age: 30

India

  • Minimum wage: AED1100
  • Deposit: AED9200
  • Minimum age: 30

Philippines

  • Minimum wage: 1468
  • There is currently a hold on fresh recruits from the Philippines

Bangladesh

  • Minimum wage: 750

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We highly recommend a salary of around 2,000- 3,000 AED per month- this seems to be the average and you should include some allowances on top of this for food, toiletries, clothes, phone credit etc.

Many ladies who come here as maids are supporting an extended family back home- so the money you pay them will be going to put food in mouths, clothes on backs, school fees for children and pay essential rent. It can be very tough for the ladies who come here, as the family members will be asking for money from them, seeing them almost as the "better off" one and the main provider in some cases. So some of the ladies can be under immense pressure.

recommend a salary

You paying them an extra 500- 1000 Dhs a month above the average rate can make a massive difference to their lives and the welfare of the family they have left at home. After all, that is just one less meal out a month for example and you would be helping a poorer family. You could always save up an extra amount each month to give your helper as a bonus when she eventually leaves you if you would rather she had a lump sum.

SEE ALSO: Costs of Hiring a Live-In Maid Versus a Contract Maid

Let's take a look at some of the advice from our busy information forum:

Do you give your house help pay rises?

Grumpy says: "Our current housekeeper has been with us for 5 years and we have increased the salary every year - we did 15% for a couple of years when inflation was at it highest, now we normally do around 6% and then round it up to the nearest 50 AED to make the salary a round figure."

Oopsiedaisie says:"In our previous location, yes we did! Between 5and 10% each year. Not for the sake of increasing, but because we were very happy with her. She has been with us 4 years until we left. I guess I will do the same here."

Daza says: Yes.
Started at 1500AED
After 1 year up to 2000AED - explained to her that this increase was significantly more than she could normally expect as it was also taking into consideration that I'd had a third baby and her workload had increased.
After 2 years up to 2200
After 3 years up to 2400

I also give a one months salary bonus upon completion of another year with us.

She gets increases every year because I've always been very happy with her standard of work. If I wasn't happy she wouldn't get an increase and I'd tell her why. Before I stopped working my job had performance based salary reviews which I found was a great way of giving people incentive to work hard."

 
 

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