Live-out helper, good idea?

[missidealiste]

Gracey: i have been thinking having live out maid as well. Thanks for your insight. you mentioned "a set of schedule" can you share what's the like? And what's the 700$transport fee for? Is her boarding apt far from where u live?

 

[Gracey]

Miss Idealiste -- The transport fee is HK 300 / month, which is HK 10 a day. Actually, it should cost her a little less than that to get to and from our house (HK 200-250 / month) but sometimes we send her out on errands, so the extra 50-100 is for that. She lives pretty close to our home.

Just a warning -- As Cara often points out here, having a live-out maid is a calculated risk. I don't want to encourage people just because we decided to take that risk. I've personally not heard of anyone being punished for it, but your contract will state that your helper lives at home.

We also agreed to it because
* She's lived in HK before
* She has a network of close family here, who helped her find a decent place to live
* She has a network of church friends here, who do the same
* She seems mature and stable -- she's married with a child back home
* She really seemed keen on living out

Another girl we were considering was much younger and had never lived in HK before. I don't know if I would trust her to live out. After all, if anything happens to her -- she gets sick, pregnant, etc. -- you are responsible.

 

[Gracey]

Right now, her set schedule is very light, since the baby is not here yet. But we want to discipline her to work at set times every day, just to make a habit of it.
When the baby comes, we will extend the hours.
And when I go back to work, she will definitely have to be here for all the hours that I am away -- so at least 9-10 hours a day.

 

[carang]

why do you pay $700/month for insurance? shouldn't that be per year?

 

[knupssy]

Hi,
I just hired one few months ago and everything work well. We also felt not comfortable with breaking the law and yes food allowance is 740...
For us everything works well. She starts early and it is definitely good to have someone able to work at 6am when needed extra sleep. I don't have any privacy issues so far. She just closes her door at 8pm unless I asked her to do anything (like looking after my son if we go out). Usually she always works in another room than the one I am...
Good luck!