Daily Times

Dear Mathira & Rose,

I do not mean to sound selfish but can you please guide me in how to deal with maids who are never satisfied with how much you give them? I mean in Ramadan, after having given them a heavy ration box, zakat and clothes, they still ask for more. How do I handle this as I’m getting fed up! When you restrict them to salary only, they complain on being exploited by rich people. Please help.

Rose’s advice:

This is a very common issue. No matter how many clothes or meals you give them, they’re never satisfied and always want more. I think you’ve already given them enough with those ration boxes and zakat. You must’ve given them Eidi too other than their salary. You don’t have to worry about their issues now. It’s human nature I think. We always want more and aren’t grateful. This is what makes us unhappy. For example if we’re starving one day and get a biscuit to eat, we won’t be grateful for that, rather we’d say we wanted a chicken roll. There’s only so much that you can do. You’ve played your part. Even under Islamic Law, we’re only entitled to give as much zakat as we can afford. It’s not binding upon us to go out of our way to give and exceed our budget in the process. All maids do this. More is never enough for them.

Mathira’s advice:

I think you should only start giving extra to maids after three months of supervision. You should be very professional and don’t talk to the maids that much. They need to come, finish their work and then leave. My mother is like that. If after three months, she notices that they’re nice women, they work hard and don’t bunk work, then she starts giving them extra. Many a times, these maids come to her telling her of domestic issues, but my mother strictly tells them to wind up their day’s chores and leave. That’s enough to snub them and you also need to adopt the same behaviour. I also know that getting a good maid is a blessing. These maids sometimes cook up false issues to get money out of you. Please don’t indulge in extra conversations with them. Tell them to focus on their work more. Also, take it easy when you start giving them extra.

If you want advice on any issue, email us your questions at sisterlyadvice@dailytimes.com.pk