How Communities can best manage their house-helps

From the Times of India report of 17 August 24 available here, it is evident that the topic of how much domestic helps should be paid is a very contentious issue with widely varied perspectives. This article attempts to provide all the angles to this complex and confusing subject in a simplified way for easy implementation.

The common perception is that maids ask for more than they deserve and provide inadequate services for what they are paid.  When residents come together on this common grievance, it can lead to the drawing up of rate cards and even enforcing it by the community management or RWAs ( Residents  Welfare Associations). As brought out in the TOI  article above, it must be noted that while RWAs can recommend fair wages and that domestic workers should be treated well, they cannot legally enforce wage rates that are different  ( lower ) from those prescribed by the state.

The Indian state that you live in lays down the minimum wages for workers in different sectors. In Karnataka, the wages for domestic workers depend on the locality (Zone) where you live. Wages are understandably higher in more urban zones,  which force a higher cost of living on the worker. The government wage-charts list out full-time monthly wages ( with an included variable dearness allowance)  for different groups of chores such as washing vegetables or looking after children etc which essentially translate to those done by cooks, housemaids ( who wash dishes and clean the house) and housemaids who also take on child care.  The table below gives you the rounded off total monthly wage in Bengaluru ( 2024-25 rates) which falls in these four zones.[i] We have broken these down to hourly wages assuming each worker works eight hours a day with a one hour lunch break and providing a 10 % compensation for moving from house to house in between.   In both cases one day off in the week is mandatory.

But these are the legally entitled minimum wages.  In practice, wages like the price of any commodity, are subject to many other forces:

Ø   High supply:  High unemployment and poverty can raise supply, thus lowering wage rates, sometime even below the minimum. This is being seen in many parts of our country.

Ø  Low supply:    A shortage of domestic help may occur in areas where insufficient housing is available for workers. This will result in higher wages due to travel time and costs incurred by them.

Ø   High demand:  Some areas have distinctive demographics which create this. For example, IT parks have a high proportion of both parents working and this raises the demand for child care services.  

Ø  Quality of services:  More affluent areas are willing to pay higher rates for better quality. While others may favour lower rates at lower quality.

Ø  Special skills:  Such as vacuum cleaning or pet care can result in higher wages.

Ø  Language and other cultural factors: Some employers such as seniors are willing to pay more for helps with similar cultural or linguistic backgrounds while others may not be so particular.

The third group of factors is the quantum of work expected and delivered. This is a complex issue because, not every worker is equally endowed and skilled. Some are slow learners but reliable  and regular, while others could be super efficient but unreliable. Convenient timings also matter. In some areas, workers demand rates depending on the size of the house or the number of residents which in some way translates to the time needed by them to provide their services. Hence, each employer-employee tries to find their ideal matches and it is common (and useful)  to try out multiple workers before settling for one.

Workers typically expect a raise every year, and which is justified considering the inflation index of 6-7 % .  The Labour Commissioners also revise their minimum wage rates every year to meet the same.

So what could  communities  or RWAs do to foster an eco-system where both  residents and domestic helps are happy and protected ?

Employing Mygate, Apartment Adda or a similar app enables registering, rating and a feedback system for the services that  domestic helps provide. In small communities, feedback can be posted on your local Whatsapp group.  This can improve quality of services and motivation among the workers if the feedback is genuine and benchmarked on some standards. Workers too, could use Whatsapp groups to rate employers. This helps improve employer behaviour and reduce cases of worker exploitation. Facilitating more community interaction among and between the employers and workers, will improve empathy and understanding of their individual constraints and develop mutually acceptable standards and wages.  

By drawing up a house maintenance chart, employers can greatly help match their expectations with  what their helps can provide. Take a look at the sample chart below:

Besides improving efficient use of time and labour, such a chart ensures completeness, reduces monotony and  can motivate workers to improve their skills. Employers may however need to take the initial effort on training their helps in skilled tasks such as vacuuming or deep cleaning.   

It is natural for employers to complain when they find others are paying more. But it is possible that these others have special needs which are in low supply. Some employers provide tea and snacks, some don’t. Some gift their workers on festivals, some promise bonuses. Some provide medical insurance ( or pay for sudden medical expenses), some help with their children’s education. Some help their workers to learn  and skill up, others reward good work with small tips.

As one can see, it’s a complex matter which settles down in time if sufficient freedom to try different arrangements is given. Attempting to standardise and list tasks and their remuneration only complicates matters and creates unnecessary confusion and angst in implementation. Restricting the number of households that each worker is permitted to work for (as is being contemplated in some communities) can be detrimental as good workers will then try to demand higher wages or move elsewhere.

In the socialism-leaning days of the 1980s,  government or authorities decided work and wages. In today’s progressive,  liberal and de-regulated (free market) world, all that is needed is to ensure the minimum wage  and rights of workers and sufficient opportunities for open competition. As any student of economics will explain, Adam Smith’s “invisible hand”  will automatically ensure that our needs are met at optimum quality and prices.

We hope you found this article useful.  Do write in at Contact@cocreed.in  if you have any queries  or suggestions for improvement.

[i] See Ser 28 of the  Karnataka government, Labour Commissioner Office website here