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xmas pressies or money for helper and how much

  1. #1
    lalila is offline Registered User
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    Jul 2010
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    xmas pressies or money for helper and how much

    HI this may have been asked before but what are you all giving your helpers for xmas or how much money wil you give them if its money if you dont mind me asking

    I was thinking of giving ours money, is 1000 dollars ok for xmas and another 1000 for chinese new year?

    shes only been with us for a month or is this too much?


  2. #2
    southside852 is offline Registered User
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    I think it depends how long she's been with you, what her job entails etc....Personally, I think you are being very generous with your helper for being with you just a month, but I have no clue what your situation is with her.

    This year, we've given my helper who has been with us just over 2 years and whose duties have increased with the birth of my 2nd son this past October, the equivalent of 1 month's salary (@ 4,500 HKD) and a dvd player from the kids. Last year, we just gave money for xmas and no gift. We also give money to her for Chinese New Year - $1,000 HKD sounds about right.


  3. #3
    plumtree is offline Registered User
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    I have two helpers and could not afford to give them a month's salary each, but then again, because there are two of them, their workload is shared. I've put together a gift bag for Christmas containing a gift set of nice toiletries, clothing (socks), some fun items like lip gloss etc.. Things that they can use themselves and will not feel compelled to send to the Philippines. For Chinese New Year, I was thinking of $1000 each.


  4. #4
    matemate is offline Registered User
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    1000 HKD is clearly a expat helper gift....no local would go close to this anytime...


  5. #5
    southside852 is offline Registered User
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    it's a personal decision for everyone. i am sure the helper(s) would be happen with any extra money/present. It's what you feel comfortable giving them. Ex-pats do tend to give more, but again - the amt is up to you.


  6. #6
    penguinsix is offline Registered User
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    We gave a month's salary. In the US we tended to give 1/2 at Christmas and 1/2 at Chinese New Year (our helpers in the US were Chinese) but here we just gave it all for Christmas. She was very grateful as she is supporting quite a few back in the Philippines. She did say in the 12 years she has worked in Hong Kong she never got a Christmas gift before (she worked for some non-expats before).


  7. #7
    thanka2 is offline Registered User
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    We are so grateful to have the helper we have now--she has been with us for about 6 months and has done an amazing job with our son and our home. She also has a very sunny, can-do attitude that brings a lot of light into our home. We decided that because we had the means this year to give her a "13th month salary"--so the equivalent of one month's salary and I will also probably make her a gift basket for Christmas with things like snacks/candy/chocolate, warm socks, a book and maybe a CD or something--just a little something to say thank you again. For me, it has been a really happy thing for us that we could give her some extra money and also a gift--we feel really good about it. With our previous helper, I don't think we gave her anything for Christmas except a few extra days off--precisely because our relationship was not close and well, we ended up dismissing her about a month later because she didn't work well with our family either. If my helper had only been with me a month, I wouldn't do much for Christmas for her unless I happened to really like her.

    “Many women have described their experiences of childbirth as being associated with a
    spiritual uplifting, the power of which they have never previously been aware …
    To such a woman childbirth is a monument of joy within her memory.
    She turns to it in thought to seek again an ecstasy which passed too soon.”

    ~ Grantly Dick-Read (Childbirth Without Fear)

    Mother of Two
    JMW, boy, born November 29, 2007, 9:43 pm, USA
    MJW, girl, born March 17, 2011, 4:14 pm, HK

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