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Sub-director of the State
Labor Relations Board Gilberto Gomez Verea recommends maintaining “mutual respect” in employer-domestic employee relations. “Never forget you’re dealing with human beings,” he says. Foreign residents tell of experiences with household help that range from the wonderful to the blood-chilling. A few end up being adopted by their maid’s families, quite a few are victims of petty thievery, and in one case, after a seemingly amicable parting, a maid took her former employer to court. “We’ve had a maid five days a week for years,” says Fran Furton, a Guadalajara resident since the 1970s. “All our maids get the Christmas bonus, all the official holidays and occasionally a sick day.” Furton, who has held a weekly “retiring in Mexico” seminar for two decades, stresses that a good relationship with household help is essential for peace of mind. “They like working here and I like getting along. In the early days there were some causes for misunderstanding,” Furton admits. “None of the maids had grown up in a house with a refrigerator, and they used to take home the leftovers thinking they would spoil. We thought they were stealing, but it was a misunderstanding. Be sure you understand the maid ... Somebody wanted to get a maid who speaks English. Well, if she could speak English, she wouldn’t be a maid,” Furton laughs. British expatriate Barbara Wood tells of a shocking experience with a maid. After several years of a congenial working relationship and conditions that most domestics would envy — including a month’s paid vacation every year — the maid said she had to leave for six months. In the seventh month she phoned Wood, asking for her old job. Wood takes up the story: “’Come over and chat,’ I said. We’d always had a friendly relationship. When I explained that I didn’t need a maid any more, she was disappointed and downcast.” To mollify the maid, Wood offered to let her clean and cook for her daughter while she took a month-long trip. Meanwhile, the maid was supposed to be looking for a steady job. But after the four weeks were up, Wood says she got slapped with an “unfair dismissal suit.” ”I had to get a lawyer,” she recalls. “The lawyer explained that my mistake was hiring her back temporarily.” Wood, the lawyer and two witnesses went to a hearing at conciliacion (the office where labor disputes are settled). The maid’s lawyer, who specializes in such cases, showed up for a second round of negotiations but not the maid. “I think this worked in my favor,” Wood says. “Also, I believe the maid was afraid to face me because her case was built on lies — that I hadn’t given her holidays, days off and so forth.” Wood’s advice: When domestic employees leave, get them to sign a paper that states they are leaving of their own accord. Also: “If you are sued, get a lawyer. They’ll be able to prepare a statement that you could not equal, however fluent your Spanish is. Also they may have friends in conciliacion who can help.” Some expat families bond with their employees and adopt them or their children. Beatrice Oppen-heim has had the same live-in maid for 23 years. “She’s a single mother with a son. He came to us when he was eight. He’s now 25 and like our boy too ... We always gave him books for Christmas and he has ambitions to get a higher degree,” Oppenheim says. Guadalajara resident Elaine Dandh’s relationship with her maid has lasted the 14 years she has lived in Guadalajara. “I’ve inherited her daughter,” Dandh says. “If one is ill, another (family member) will turn up. We help them out when there’s a family crisis, and they help us when there’s a crisis in our family.” Her advice for domestic help: “Keep ‘em happy. Keep ‘em smiling.” Gardeners evoke more humorous tales than maids. Dandh says: “I’m Elizabeth Taylor with gardeners. I’ve had nine. Now I’ve got a high- school boy who’s great. One ran over the hoses with a mower and chopped them into bits.” After 15 years on the job, the gardener of Lakesider Allyn Hunt had a hex put on him. “It gave him a susto (fright), he became sick,” Hunt tells. “I wanted him to see a doctor, but he wouldn’t go. Now his wife goes with him everywhere.” After losing this employee to witchcraft, Hunt and his wife Beverly have gone through four gardeners for different reasons — not showing up to work on time, San Lunes (taking Monday off), one simply walked. “Asking to borrow money right away is a bad sign,” Hunt says. “Workers tend to do that with North Americans. Money for their cousin, their sick grandmother.” The hardest part is not knowing the culture. “They (newcomers) have a hard time reading people, facial and body gestures, tone of voice ... They step across the border and don’t know out of what culture this person is coming. The basic problem is — is the person trustworthy? Some just guess.” Illiteracy is less prevalent than it was 30 years ago. Still, it means the worker is in a different world, not seeing what others see. An illiterate servant cannot be sent out with a grocery list. Hunt recalls dealing with “a totally different concept, non-linear thought” illustrated by the light bulb installed in a gringo woman’s hallway. The bulb was low and came against the doors when it was used. “The woman said ‘fix it,’ and they cut a piece out of the door,” Hunt says. There is a 30-day window for hiring people, after which they cannot be dismissed without severance pay and other legal recourse. It’s necessary to make a judgment about the person. Hunt recommends giving them a test. “Give them something to do, walk out and see what happens.” If, upon returning, they are leaning on the shovel or have their hands in the jewelry box, it is a good indicator of the worker’s character. |
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