It's not about needing a maid. If one wants one, one should be able to hire one and not have to worry about being sued for no reason or have them steal from you or whatever. It's not just maids though, like I said, the company I started here is shutting down operations in Argentina b/c of the cost of employees here and the risks of having employees here. One you can live with (high costs but ease of employment laws or low costs but highly restrictive employment laws) but both.. nope.
In my specific case, having household help is simply not optional. We have a large house, we prepare food for 10+ employees every day and I am also expecting so will need childcare help.
In the past 2 years that I have been living outside of Cap, I have gone through....7 maids? 3 have stolen from me (money/jewelry/clothes), am getting sued by a 4th, 2 just stopped showing up without warning and the 7th I need to fire as she is stealing food from me. Nice track record. And I pay decent wages, they are in blanco, paid holidays, vacation, sick time with note, etc. Doesn't matter.
It actually makes me really sad b/c I believed in Argentina and having a business here and employees here as it is my home and my children will be 1/2 Argentine. I have lived here for almost 6 years and honestly, I have very little good to say about the employees here and would never recommend it as a place to do business and certainly don't trust anyone that works for us.
This should encapsulate the mentality here. We pay a 25% monthly bonus to our workers if they show up every day. 25% of their monthly salary. Not for performance, just for showing up. We have on average 10 people working here. We paid ONE bonus back in Nov '12. None in December. None at all in 2013.
Oh Citygirl. In your case more than maids they are just house/business staff. And yes, in this country you have tough employment laws and very high costs. Also, the culture does not help, also the social and educational divisions are sharp so you have a good chunk of under prepared labor who are not willing to work hard, or feel entitled to more, just because. The current government got elected on that sentiment... and just feeds it.
I have heard similar complaints from managers at Ford, Reuters, Clinica Trinidad, you name it. It is exhausting and enraging and a good chunk of what keeps the country stagnated. But hey, being Mexican a lot of this happens there too. Mexico has very pro-business labor laws, though. Still, the culture is very similar.
I can really understand your frustration and anger. This is the exact sentiment that drives a lot of us out of our countries towards the US, Europe or anywhere else. On one side it is really bad brain drain and bad for our countries, but for us to stay at some point would become a sacrifice. Away we get paid fairly for our work, we have safety and the guarantee no one will steal, kidnap, or harm us in any way. We also know that we don't kneed to have connections to start, keep and run a business. Yes, anywhere in the world connections help, but here it is a MUST to have and the system is corrupt at every level. In other countries it is just the very wealthy top layer... though that seems to be changing too.
Regarding child care, you will need support. There are less options here than in the US, so a nanny or sitter are needed. I have found a good source of nannies and sitters. She screens them and helps placing them. They do not do house work or chores other than feed the kids, put away toys, etc. But so far no one has sued me, hurt any of the boys or stolen from me. I will send you a pm with her information, even if you are not in Capital, she might have someone or know someone who does the same thing in your town.
Hope your legal worries get resolved soon and enjoy your pregnancy. That is the most important part.
And actually, looking back, it wasn't a year of salary we had to pay out. It was closer to 2 years now that I look at the records. Gah...
