Ask Andreas: My Helper Wants a Payrise

My helper has been with us for 6 months and has just asked for a raise. I think this is too soon, although she is a good worker. What do you recommend?

Unless you agreed to it before she was hired, a review at six month seems a bit early. You can tell her that if she continues to do as well as she is doing now, you are prepared to discuss pay after a total of one year and that she will get a raise, the size of which is dependent on her performance.

In office environments, asking for a raise this soon is frowned upon. However helpers are typically not versed in office salary negotiation etiquette, so they often don’t understand what their employers find appropriate.

Typically, in our family we review pay (and often raise) and give a yearly bonus at Chinese New Year.

Andreas Rosboch was born and raised in Sweden by an Italian father and a Swedish mother. He has been an expat for more than ten years and plans to keep it that way. He has spent most of his career in the information technology field, handling everything from brand management to customer support. He is the author of one of our most-recommended books Hiring & Managing Domestic Help – an absolute must-have for Hong Kong mamas (psst– and you can buy it here). He lives in Hong Kong with his wife, two children and dog.