The Powers of a Domestic Worker

A prospective employer has power. She can get a foreign domestic worker (FDW) to give up her independence and take care of her children and do the household chores. This she does by giving the FDW what she wants: "a few hundred dollars every month." Exactly how much depends on how much power the FDW has. It also depends how much power the prospective employer has. The bigger her wallet, the more power she has.

An FDW has power too, maid power. How much power she has depends on many factors, including but not limited to the following.

• How skillful she is in performing the tasks set by her employer.
• How diligent she is.
• Whether she can perform her duties without prompting or supervision.
• Honesty, trustworthiness and reliability.
• Loyalty to employer and family.
• Warmth, friendliness and the ability to get along with all family members.

The more maid power an FDW has, the more she can hope to earn. But what are the skills required by an employer? Usually some of the following skills are required by employers: cooking, care of children, care of the elderly, general cleaning and laundry (including ironing).

Employers whose priority is care of infants do not expect the FDW to be a great cook. Often employers with young children will not require their FDW to attend to an elderly person, perhaps a sick one, as well.

An FDW who is not skillful can increase her skills. For example, she can attend a cooking course that will help her to be a better worker. Or she can attend a course on childcare or subjects related to childcare.

But of course if an FDW has many skills but lacks diligence, the work will not get done or done well. And if she lacks initiative and only does her work when her employer asks her too, she will not have much power. She will not have the power need to persuade her employer to increase her salary.

Above all, one must remember that the relationship between an employer and an FDW is very special. The domestic worker is in a very special position of trust. Because she and her host family live in the same house, her personality is very important.

The owner of a grocery, for example, may not even notice if his assistant has very poor manners, if the customers do not complain, or if she is unsociable and seldom smiles, like a carabao. But the employer of a live-in domestic helper will be unhappy if the helper looks like a carabao and forgets her manners and treat him like a stranger.

But skills alone are not enough to make a domestic worker a great one or even a desirable one. Who would want to employ a great cook if she is not easy to get along with? Who would want to employ a nanny good with children if she is rude to the parents?

A domestic worker who is great with children and cooks delicious meals will not stay long if things keep disappearing. Honesty in the domestic helper is a quality that is of utmost importance to the employer. This is because no matter how careful the employer is, there will be times when she forgets to put away her valuables.

For example, one day Madam returned home with six $500 notes. It was a hot day and the first thing she did was to take a cold shower. Half way through, she panicked when she realised that she had left her handbag containing $3,000 on the kitchen table. Quickly she dried herself and went to retrieve her handbag. But, much to her dismay, she discovered one note missing. She was too late. Her domestic helper denied taking it and the threat of making a police report could not make her admit it. Madam realised that there was little she could do other than sending her FDW home. But would that be fair? After all, as the FDW had suggested, perhaps she had dropped one of the 6 notes. So, for the time being, she accepted the helper's suggestion, that Madam must have dropped on of the 6 notes. The FDW thought that was the end of the matter.

Meanwhile, Madam set a trap for her, by "carelessly" leaving an envelope containing 6 $50 notes on her dressing table. Soon she found one $50 note missing. This time she knew that she did not drop it anywhere, that the wind did not blow it away and that her children did not take it. So, with a clear conscience, she sent the FDW home.

A couple of days later, a letter came for her. Madam opened the letter. It was in Tagalog, so she had it translated. She was right to send her helper home! For the husband wrote to his helper wife, "Thank you dear, for the money your employer gave you for the wonderful job you were doing for her. With this money, I got the colour television we have always wished for. There was a little left over, so we had a blowout. Everyone had a good time. Say thank you to your employer from us all."

For a parent with young children, a domestic worker's fondness for children is another critical trait. Some domestic helpers forget that the most important reason they are employed is the welfare of the children. Without the children, even if they are naughty, her employer will not need her. So if the helper complains to the employer that the children are little monsters, she can be sure that her employer will replace her with someone who not think of the children as monsters.