Should I pay for my housekeeper to go on vacation with us??

nancy_kerrigan96 wrote: You know, I had a similar situation with my housekeeper Conchita a few years back. We flew down for a week in Belize and naturally wanted to bring her along. She only had to look after the kids during the afternoons and clean up after our meals, and yet she refused to come with us unless we paid for her flight.

OP, maybe you can do what we did: we compromised by sending her on one of those discount airlines and taking the cost of the flight out of her Christmas bonus (without telling her of course!).

Think about it, we are doing her such a huge favor by employing her and taking her out of her miserable life in her home mother country. Now she gets a free vacation!

I don't even know what to say to that! I am flabbergasted...truly. People come here for a better life, not to be nickel and dimed to death...especially when American born people would never consider doing those kinds of jobs you hire her for and for that $$$. No wonder she didn't want to go on Vacai w/you. You took advantage of this person by not stating the consequences of the "compromise" she made with you. There was no compromise involved, unless it was your morality. Really, I hope you were just joshing the original poster. :oops:

kick rocks!!!! wrote: [quote=nancy_kerrigan96]You know, I had a similar situation with my housekeeper Conchita a few years back. We flew down for a week in Belize and naturally wanted to bring her along. She only had to look after the kids during the afternoons and clean up after our meals, and yet she refused to come with us unless we paid for her flight.

OP, maybe you can do what we did: we compromised by sending her on one of those discount airlines and taking the cost of the flight out of her Christmas bonus (without telling her of course!).

Think about it, we are doing her such a huge favor by employing her and taking her out of her miserable life in her home mother country. Now she gets a free vacation!

I don't even know what to say to that! I am flabbergasted...truly. People come here for a better life, not to be nickel and dimed to death...especially when American born people would never consider doing those kinds of jobs you hire her for and for that $$$. No wonder she didn't want to go on Vacai w/you. You took advantage of this person by not stating the consequences of the "compromise" she made with you. There was no compromise involved, unless it was your morality. Really, I hope you were just joshing the original poster. :oops:

yeah. whether or not the OP was a 'joke' to get folks to post, I'm pretty sure this post is sarcastic.

Why are you asking if she should pay for part of her own flight? She should pay ALL of her fare, and half of yours as well! She should be glad she has a job! It's not for nothing that you are the chatelaine. If she gives you lip, have her thrashed.

I know it's not the point, but you could get a much better deal to go to Paris. I haven't paid $800 in for ever. I travel to Paris twice a year to see family.

And I would feel like I'm employing a slave at $1000/month, that's crazy! Who can live on that kind of salary. Your family is just cheap. Leave the kids with relatives and just go away as a couple, that'll save you money. And paying for her sponsorship of 3k does not make you a saint.

daver wrote: kick rocks!!!!, that was an obvious joke/troll post that you responded to. And I'm not convinced by any stretch that the original post isn't a troll. But it has spurred some decent discussion, so that is good at least.

True...people say some crazy $*#!. Anyway, it's not all that funny. If OP was serious, that advise might be right up her alley. Mean, angry people don't care where they get their ideas from, as long as they feel they can carry out their trash w/a straight face and be relatively sure they won't be caught...or the lash back won't be too bad. Screwing hard working immigrants any which way is not funny, not in reality, not in jest!

this has to be a joke. it's a silly one.

The original poster comes from means. Those means are likely self generated - they work. It's simple really. If your boss (directed to original poster) sent you abroad on business, you'd expect them to:

pay for your travel
pay for you accomodations (bed and shower)
pay for travel to and from accomodations to work (cab fare / train fare)
pay fro 3 meals a day (a per diem is perfectly legitimate).

How can you not understand this. If while abroad your boss took you to a fancy dinner that you couldn't possible afford - you wouldn't be expected to kick in your share would you?

She's your housekeeper - an employee - not your roommate. You want her along - you pay for everything short of whatever souvenoirs she buys and whatever she does on her off-time.

Original poster, you can't possibly be that dim (unless you've never worked a day in your life and you have no idea of your responsibilty as an ethical employer - in which case I apologize for having very likely offended you - and I hope that this thread has been enlightening).

It's a joke though ( I got a lot of time on my hand right now, so I'll respond to just about anything

Judge Dread wrote: we 3rd world people know our place. our only purpose is to be exploited by our superiors.it is our lifes blood,the very air we breathe.how can we ever hope to thank you for saving us from lives of utter darkness and depravity, if not by submitting to your every whim.

oi! curlylocks!
The real Judge Dread would never say such a thing.

Subject: Re: who da? curlylocks?

Judge Dread wrote: oh yeah! how do YOU know :P

well since he was a white english guy who identified so heavily with the jamaican ska movement . . .

Ok, not too many years ago my employer (I was interning at a clothing design company) decided she wanted me to go along on a trip to Nantucket to watch her little darlings. I really only agreed so I wouldn't put my job at risk.
Her and her family transported me and all my meals were paid for. I recieved close (slightly less, actually) to what my salary would have been had I stayed back in NY.
I hated every second of it. The kids were spoiled brats and I got to mind them while the parents went off and had a worry-free holiday.
Oh yea, I got the evenings free. Too bad for me I was all alone in a strange place and really a little too tired from working all day to do anything interesting. Anyway, it was at night so the only interesting things to do (beach, museums, shops, etc) were closed.

I hope this helps put a little perspective on your situation.

Nightnannyuser wrote: I would like to thank everybody for their input. This has brought a lot of different view points to our attention ,and my husband and I defintely will take these suggestions to heart. I just still have a little trouble understanding how she should not be liable for any of her costs on this trip. Us paying for everything will probably cost around $4,000 in my rough estimate. Please, when trying to make a point don't reference to some large fancy law firm, because we are not that.

not sure what the difference between $4000 and $4400 is to you, but frankly, if you can swing the former, the latter isn't going to break you. and I know for a fact that some of the folks replying here don't work for big fancy law firms - at least a few work in the non-profit sector which is generally underfunded.

Nightnannyuser wrote: I would like to thank everybody for their input. This has brought a lot of different view points to our attention ,and my husband and I defintely will take these suggestions to heart. I just still have a little trouble understanding how she should not be liable for any of her costs on this trip. Us paying for everything will probably cost around $4,000 in my rough estimate. Please, when trying to make a point don't reference to some large fancy law firm, because we are not that.

She's not taking a vacation. Her airfare, lodging, meals and any travel expenses while in Paris (cabs, metro, etc) need to be covered by you. You don't have to pay for any souvenirs she wants or any entertainment she alone is engaging in, but you must make sure that traveling, sleeping, eating, entertainment she's seeing with you or your children on this trip doesn't cost her any money.

While you're not a law firm, if you can't afford to cover her expenses, then you don't get to take her on the trip. It's that simple.

nancy_kerrigan96 wrote: You know, I had a similar situation with my housekeeper Conchita a few years back. We flew down for a week in Belize and naturally wanted to bring her along. She only had to look after the kids during the afternoons and clean up after our meals, and yet she refused to come with us unless we paid for her flight.

OP, maybe you can do what we did: we compromised by sending her on one of those discount airlines and taking the cost of the flight out of her Christmas bonus (without telling her of course!).

Think about it, we are doing her such a huge favor by employing her and taking her out of her miserable life in her home mother country. Now she gets a free vacation!

I just GASPED at this post. Are you freakin' kidding me? Do you know that there are AMERICANS who have a miserable life and move elsewhere? Geezzzz!

apollonia666 wrote: Um, poppy13, perhaps you might want to adjust your sarcasm meter.

Probably right... too late on a Friday at work to be reading this thread.

My BFF Ricky has a similar problem. His housekeeper carmen is very hispanic and when she has complained about how they don't let her eat in the house, he has to remind her of where she comes from, and that in el salvador she wasn't even able to take the bus to go to popeyes, so she should be thankful for having some form of transportation.

Since you are paying your housekeeper/nanny/indentured servant a generous salary of about $3 an hour (~10 hours a day, everyday, for $1000 a month) and allowing her to pay to work temporarily in another country while separated from her friends and family, maybe before your vacation, she will have time to handwash Chocokitty's undies. (see other thread about laundry)
***YES, THIS WAS 100% PURE SARCASM***
PS - In addition to what all the other posters have said about a work trip, I don't care if you paid $3,000,000 to sponsor her. You did not and can not purchase her!!!!