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As you know, full or part-time domestic help is hard
to find and prohibitively expensive for the average
person, not to mention a retiree, in the United States.
This is not the case in Costa Rica. A live-in maid
or other full-time help usually costs between $150
and $200 per month. Often you can hire a couple for
a bargain price, with the woman working as a maid and
the man working as a full-time gardener and watchman.
Before hiring any employee, be aware of all your requirements
as an employer. Contact the ARCR for up to date information.
In Costa Rica, a maid usually does everything from
washing clothes to taking care of small children. You
can also use your maid to stand in line for you or
run errands and bargain for you in stores, since foreigners
often pay more for some items because of their naiveté and
poor language skills.
After you have had an employee for a number of years,
they begin to think of you as a parental figure. As
a result, it is not unusual for an employee to ask
for loans, advances, help with money for family members
who wish to build a home, furnish their house, provide
school clothes for their children, or provide medical
care and medications for family members.
General handymen and carpenters are also inexpensive.
If you are infirm, one of the above people can assist
you with many daily tasks. To find quality help, check
with other retirees for references or look in local
newspapers (The Tico Times, La República or La
Nación).
Unless your business is going to be a one-man operation,
you will need to hire employees. Be very careful, because
the labor laws are stringent and there are minimum
salaries depending on the type of work. Ignoring these
regulations can be very expensive for you if you get
caught in violation.
Costa Rica's labor laws for domestic workers are even
stricter, and difficult to interpret. All full time
domestic employees have the right to Social Security
benefits from the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (roughly
the equivalent of the U.S. Social Security System).
This important institution pays for sick leave, general
health care, pension funds, disability pensions and
maternity care.
It is the employer's responsibility to pay monthly
Social Security payments for each employee. The employer
must make monthly payments of about 22 percent of the
worker's monthly wage, and an additional nine percent
is deducted from the employee's earnings. In return,
the worker is entitled to the Social Security services
mentioned above.
New employees must be registered with Social Security
within a week of being hired. All new employees must
register in an office in downtown San José (223-9890).
There is an automatic trial period of one month for
domestic help, during which time an employee may be
released without notice or termination pay.
It is also mandatory to insure employees against work-related
accidents (seguro contra riesgos de trabajo).
This type of worker's compensation costs 8,000 colones
monthly for domestic employees and must be reapplied
for annually.
Employers must also pay minimum wage to employees.
This wage is set by the Ministry of Labor (223-7166)
and depends on the job and skills required. Average
wages for unskilled workers start at about $120 per
month. Live-in help can receive an additional 50 percent
more that is not actually paid to them but is used
when computing certain benefits and bonuses.
Live-in domestic help cannot be required to work more than
12 hours a day, although few expect this. Live-in workers
usually workeight hours a day like other workers. Most regular
employees work an eight-hour day, five days per week. Live-in
employees can work more than this but have to be given some
time off.
Domestic Help is afordable in Costa Rica
Furthermore, employees are entitled to a paid vacation
depending on their length of employment and whether
they are full-or part-time.
The law requires one day of vacation for every month of employment. A two-week
vacation is due after 50 weeks of work. The employer can choose the time the
vacation is taken and can require that half be taken at two different times,
but they must be granted within 15 weeks of the time when they were due. Upon
termination of the employment contract, unused vacation time should be paid
using as a base the average of salary earned during the last six months.
Employers must also pay aguinaldo (end-of-year
bonus) if an employee has worked from December 1 through
November 30, or an amount proportionate to the time
worked, if less than a year. The amount is the equivalent
of one month's salary. This bonus should be paid in
early December. Do not forget that live-in employees
receive an additional 50 percent year-end bonus. Employees
must also be paid for eight official holidays.
Paid holidays are January 1, Easter Thursday and Friday,
April 11, May 1, July 25, August 15, September 15 and
December 25.
A maternity leave of one month before a baby's birth
is required; the employee receives 50 percent of her
normal salary. Dismissal of a pregnant employee is
also a bad idea, as it is frowned upon and could be
very costly to the employer.
Maternity leave is a total of four months, one month
before birth and three after. I believe it is at 60
percent pay, but am not sure on that. New mothers are
entitled to up to a year of lactancia an
hour for breast-feeding. In practice, I've seen most
people leave an hour early I don't recall anyone
taking it at lunchtime. I believe this is granted by
your doctor for three months intervals (although I've
never asked anyone how they decide if you are entitled
to three more months). I don't believe there are any
restrictions as to, length of time at work, etc.
In some cases, when a worker is terminated, it is
the employer's responsibility to pay severance pay,
all unused vacation time, the proportionate aguinaldo,
and any wages due.
An employee must be given notice prior to being laid
off. Severance pay, or cesantía, is usually
one month's salary for each year worked. If an employee
resigns voluntarily, the employer does not owe severance
pay.
After three months of employment, an employee has
the right to receive notice in the event of termination
of employment without just cause by the employer (if
notice is not given, he must be paid one month's salary,
or a fraction if he has been employed for less than
one year).
If the worker is fired without justification after
at least three months of service, the employer has
to pay a severance payment, the amount of which increases
in accordance with the time served and could be up
to 22 days per year worked, with a maximum calculated
on the basis of eight years, all according to a specific
calculation table indicated by the Labor Code.
We have touched only briefly on the main points of Costa
Rican labor law because it is very complex. If you have any
questions, we advise you to contact the Ministry of Labor
(223-7166) or better yet your attorney. Have your lawyer help
with any labor related matters to avoid unnecessary problems
arising between you and your hired help. Information about
Costa Rica's labor law in Spanish at
http://www. leylaboral.com.
Two new books can help you communicate better with
your hired help: Crown Publishers'Home Maid Spanish and Barron's
Household Spanish. Both books enable you to converse
with your Spanish-speaking help without being fluent
in the language. They are filled with all of the essential
words and phrases you need to know.
Monthly minimum salaries are reviewed by the government
every six months (January 1 and June 1). Costa Rica
strictly regulates salaries. While countries such as
the United States and Canada have standard minimum
wages, Costa Rica has a separate minimum wage for nearly
every type of job. And the salaries change continuously,
thanks to constant devaluation of the colón.
Every six months, the government negotiates salary
increases with various employee unions. If the negotiations
fail, as they do from time to time, the president may
issue a decree setting the new salaries in conjunction
with the Consejo Nacional de Salarios.
Unskilled workers earn about $230, semi-skilled workers
$260, skilled workers $285, technicians $290, technicians
with higher education $450 and employees with a university
degree $530. To give you a more precise idea of what
salaries are like in Costa Rica, here are some samples
of the approximate starting minimum monthly wages as
established by the Labor Ministry or Ministerio
de Trabajo y Seguridad Social: accountant $400,
bartender $240, bus driver $250, carpenter $240, chauffeur
$175, clerk $175, computer operator $300, dentist or
doctor $1000, other professionals $430, farm hand $125,
domestic worker (maid) $146 plus food, executive bilingual
secretary $375, guard $180.00, journalist $550.00,
messenger $175, nurse $375, plant supervisor $400,
phone operator $170, secretary $295, tour guide $250
and unskilled laborer $120.
Only inexperienced workers receive these starting
salaries. Experienced workers command higher wages.
Keep in mind that these figures vary and are subject
to change at any time. Such factors as bonuses and
other perks also increase actual salaries.
A list of minimum salaries is available at legal bookstores
and some newsstands. The Labor Ministry has many more
job classifications and specific minimum salaries that
don't appear in the book you can buy.
Many professionals work for salaries established by
their colegios or trade organizations. For instance,
a lawyer is supposed to get 10 percent of the value
of any contract he or she prepares.
Companies try to pay about the legal minimum, although
more enlightened ones reward good employees with higher
salaries. Although the salaries appear low by North
American standards, they are good for Latin America,
and employees here have perks such as pensions, free
medical care and other benefits in additional to their
salaries.
This site provides you a list of all of the basic salaries
http://www. mtss.go.cr/Macros/Salario/Salarios%20Minimos.htm
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