Maids watering plants/gardening | ExpatWoman.com
 

Maids watering plants/gardening

562
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 31 August 2014 - 17:01

Is it normal for maids to water the garden (small compound garden) in Dubai rather than a gardener?
In our compound we seem to have a number of maids doing so, and the ones I know are not paid extra to do it.

If your maid does this, do you pay her extra for the additional responsibility?

We parted company with yet another rubbish gardener at the start of the summer and our maid took over as she said she had time to do it whilst we were away.
On paying her today, she has said "no money for doing the garden ma'am?"! we were away for 6 weeks and DH for 3, so she would have been twiddling her thumbs. I am going to say no for this reason, but am rather annoyed with her for even asking.

But going forward if she carries on this job, would it be fair to give her something extra every month for the additional work, even though I know some neighbours at least do not pay?
She is watering the patios every day and also doing other small gardening jobs. Larger jobs like pruning we will probably do together.

4062
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 03 September 2014 - 14:14
Is it something maids do once they have a new visa and they have you over a barrel perhaps?! Not in my experience, no. She is taking the micky, you are absolutely right in telling her if she had an issue she should have raised it before you renewed her visa. Would you agree to a contract renewal then badger your boss for more money a month later? I know I certainly wouldn't. How much money you have is absolutely none of her business, I'd furious if our maid tried to guilt me in to giving her more money on the basis that she is poor and I am not. She's not a charity case. <em>edited by Daza on 03/09/2014</em>
121
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 03 September 2014 - 13:56
I totally agree with most of the comments here. Maid is a domestic worker and as such should help with general duties around the house. When we start itemizing everything, it becomes a joke. She should help you where you need help with, and it has nothing to do with what that the maid next door has as her list of duties. Every family has different requirements. Our maid does not tend to our garden because this is our own house and we did a lot of landscaping so it needs a bit more professional touch in this climate. But she does keep the garden clean, she washes the paving, tidies up, washes the cushions etc seating things like that as and when it needs to be doing. As long as your maid has decent working hours, is not overworked, has breaks and rest, weekly day off there is no general duty in an average family house I could not imagine not asking from a maid. Both me and my husband can and do lots of things around the house, we are house proud, so I have no issue asking for help where I need it. Paying extra for "extra duties" is not even a topic I would entertain from our maid. Paying extra for work well done, or extra hours is a different matter. That we do.
562
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EW GURU
Latest post on 03 September 2014 - 13:24
Hi Mrs P , Ours isn't young either, like your former maid, and to be honest she is amazing in that she works very hard, does lots of cooking for us too, looks after our pets and is 100 per cent honest and trustworthy, which we really value. So we do value her very much, but it still doesn't mean she can bully us into more money all the time. She has just asked for money again for doing the gardening in the summer (it does look beautiful i sdmit) and I have said no, she had little work to do and plenty of time to do it. She didn't like that one bit! Said she didn't care and it was fine, but it clearly wasn't given the emotional blackmail she came out with " ma'am I'm poor, you're not, what is 150 dirhams" blah blah. She now says she doesn't want to do the gardening any more, and she is a fool for doing it for free. Gee, the temper tantrums these women have. She complained again about her salary still being lower than before we employed her. I said she needed to raise this issue BEFORE we renewed her visa in JUly (we discussed it then and she said she was happy with the salary we decide), not after. Funnily enough I recall having problems on the money front with her last year at about the same time of year! It all blew over, but is very irritating and a total waste of my time and energies. Is it something maids do once they have a new visa and they have you over a barrel perhaps?!
158
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 01 September 2014 - 16:34
My maid waters our pot plants only - we have an irrigation system for the grass - 3 days a week, the days the "gardener" doesn't come. I do it on Fridays. When we were looking for a new maid earlier in the year, I wanted one who would do the watering every day & wash my car too (not my husband's as his is done at work - he's in the motor trade anyway), but just about every potential maid I spoke with said something along the lines of "oh no ma'am, I don't wash cars / water plants! So we got a gardener because I was fed up of doing it myself & working full time. But, he only comes 3 days a week, the new maid does the other three. She has loads of time to herself & she works her own schedule, so I don't see why they can't do it really. I appreciate it's hot, so she does it in the early morning & later in the afternoon when she can be in the shade & wears a massive floppy hat! I do it in a bikini in full sun! Now I feel bad, because our original maid who was with us for 10 years & retired at 55 did everything, she was amazing. Pah! The young ones! Give me an older lady any day - so much better LOL!
562
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EW GURU
Latest post on 01 September 2014 - 13:21
Izzy, no watering isn't really gardening, but that's all the 'gardeners' do and they still call themselves gardeners! Tbh our maid does a lot more than the actual ' gardeners', like pruning and weeding, so it's not just the watering she's taken on. Whatever it is or isnt called, if its doable within her normal hours, then it doesn't seem too unreasonable. Oopsiedaisy, I get what you mean about linking additional responsibilities to a pay rise - best not do that then (though you would expect it in most jobs). Seems overwhelmingly that maids watering (or 'gardening') is perfectly normal and not an additional responsibility that should be paid for on top. Thanks for confirming that ladies. Our maid is never happy with her salary as she took a pay cut to come here, but knows no one will pay her what she wants, so stays With us. That is her decision and she needs to lay off requests for more!
Anonymous (not verified)
0
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 01 September 2014 - 12:50
Of course you wouldn't pay her more - this is part of your home. She should be doing this along with all her household duties without being told. I would not pay her more. Of course, what Pakshish you give during the month is entirely up to you, your relationship with your maid, and how well she carries out her duties.
2738
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 September 2014 - 10:36
Our maid waters the garden, mows the lawn, cleans the pool and washes the cars,all within her regular 4/5 days , 7/9 hours a day. She even likes throttling around outside and "playing" with water. If I were OP I certainly wouldn't link the pay rise you gave her to the extra chores you're giving her. She will then feel it's oke to ask for more money every time something new comes up. Mows the lawn? Washes the cars? throttling? wow is there anything your maid does not do? Lol, checked the translation, throttling should be pottering. There lot's of things she doesn't do, but they are of no concern to you. Well surely she is not working hard enough if she has time to potter and play with water! Surely you can find her some other chores for those minutes. lol
2287
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 September 2014 - 10:33
Our maid waters the garden, mows the lawn, cleans the pool and washes the cars,all within her regular 4/5 days , 7/9 hours a day. She even likes throttling around outside and "playing" with water. If I were OP I certainly wouldn't link the pay rise you gave her to the extra chores you're giving her. She will then feel it's oke to ask for more money every time something new comes up. Mows the lawn? Washes the cars? throttling? wow is there anything your maid does not do? Lol, checked the translation, throttling should be pottering. There lot's of things she doesn't do, but they are of no concern to you.
2738
Posts
EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 September 2014 - 10:27
Our maid waters the garden, mows the lawn, cleans the pool and washes the cars,all within her regular 4/5 days , 7/9 hours a day. She even likes throttling around outside and "playing" with water. If I were OP I certainly wouldn't link the pay rise you gave her to the extra chores you're giving her. She will then feel it's oke to ask for more money every time something new comes up. Mows the lawn? Washes the cars? throttling? wow is there anything your maid does not do?
2287
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 September 2014 - 10:25
Our maid waters the garden, mows the lawn, cleans the pool and washes the cars,all within her regular 4/5 days , 7/9 hours a day. She even likes pottering around outside and "playing" with water. If I were OP I certainly wouldn't link the pay rise you gave her to the extra chores you're giving her. She will then feel it's oke to ask for more money every time something new comes up. <em>edited by Oopsiedaisy on 01/09/2014</em>
5334
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 01 September 2014 - 07:35
its symantics - watering the garden isn't really gardening is it?
793
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 01 September 2014 - 07:20
Well yes, Izzy and Molly, the same thought also ran through my head ie if she can manage it in her working hours, why cant it just become part of her duties without extra pay. However, I wasnt sure if it was reasonable to add to her duties suddenly (there was no mention of gardening when we employed her)? It is a bit cheeky when she only just had a pay rise last month when we renewed her visa! Which gives me an idea.... that pay rise coincided with her starting the gardening, so perhaps we could somehow link the two. And the gardener's pay is funding her pay rise! I guess the difficulty and issue of extra cash comes from having had paid gardeners until now. So she knows we are saving money by getting rid of the gardener and has her eyes on that cash!! if we had never paid for a gardener the scenario would be somewhat different. So it seems it is fairly normal to get the maid doing the watering if the garden is small and she can manage it witihin normal hours? I thought most people had gardeners, but perhaps not. It is absolutely normal, where I live anyway. You're not asking her to landscape your garden. It's like my boss asking me to do a few extra photocopies of a document! Just to add, the money that you save on a gardener has nothing at all to do with your maid. If she continues to ask about the money you're saving on the gardener then tell her you're cost cutting.
562
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 31 August 2014 - 17:57
Well yes, Izzy and Molly, the same thought also ran through my head ie if she can manage it in her working hours, why cant it just become part of her duties without extra pay. However, I wasnt sure if it was reasonable to add to her duties suddenly (there was no mention of gardening when we employed her)? It is a bit cheeky when she only just had a pay rise last month when we renewed her visa! Which gives me an idea.... that pay rise coincided with her starting the gardening, so perhaps we could somehow link the two. And the gardener's pay is funding her pay rise! I guess the difficulty and issue of extra cash comes from having had paid gardeners until now. So she knows we are saving money by getting rid of the gardener and has her eyes on that cash!! if we had never paid for a gardener the scenario would be somewhat different. So it seems it is fairly normal to get the maid doing the watering if the garden is small and she can manage it witihin normal hours? I thought most people had gardeners, but perhaps not.
793
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EW GURU
Latest post on 31 August 2014 - 17:16
I suppose if you don't ask you don't get. I don't think there is any need to pay her more for this at all. She was probably just trying her luck. My maid absolutely loves gardening. I would laugh my ass off if she asked for more money for watering and tidying my garden
5334
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EW MASTER
Latest post on 31 August 2014 - 17:06
if she is doing it within her working hours, why would you pay her more?
 
 

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