How Not To Treat Your Latina Maid

By Marlen Castañeda

Iʼm looking through Craigslist, as I usually do each day after checking e-mails and such. Iʼm browsing and decide to look at the gigs, under domestic. House cleaning seems to be something a lot of people want these days — but they donʼt just want anyone cleaning their house.

They want a very detailed cleaning, leaving a pristine, immaculate home. They want their home cleaner than it was when they bought it new. Thatʼs not a bad thing; I clean my house daily. And I donʼt just straighten up. I do the works, from bathrooms to floors. I just like my house clean and Iʼm able to do it, so why not.

So as Iʼm reading these requests for housecleaners, I see a trend. They all want a background check, understandable these days. They want perfect English, somewhat understandable, but since many housecleaners are Latina women, it isn’t a guarantee. They want you to work from this time to this time. Okay, so theyʼre setting the hours they want this done. They want a very specific list of things done. Can do.

Thereʼs one thing I have a problem with, though: the low rate these folks want to pay!

House work is hard! Any housewife will tell you that. It is backbreaking, grueling, nasty work! You got to reach up to high places, climb on ladders, bend over, on your knees reach under things, scrub ʻtil youʼre raw in the fingers, expose yourself to strong chemicals, touch the nastiest of areas, and do it all with a smile, because heaven forbid you utter a sound of disgust.

I know this firsthand. Not only do I clean my own house daily now, I cleaned houses for a few years myself. It was nasty, hard work. And unless you have cleaned houses for a living, you do not see the work that goes into it. Why? Because most of these houses youʼre cleaning are for nasty people who never clean themselves. They can live in their filth all year long, then when you come to their house to clean up their nastiness, they decide they are the cleanest, pickiest people and want you to do it all for them — and then they get to say how much you get paid.

Well Iʼm just here to speak a little bit for all these house cleaners, because:

1. They are mainly women.

2. They are Latina women.

Being a Latina who has cleaned houses I just want to ask the people looking for house cleaners: How dare you insult the hard degrading work it is to clean house by offering such an insulting wage?! Most of you people seeking maids are setting a price of $6 to $8 dollars an hour. This is an insult! Mainly because it usually takes a really good maid about five hours to clean a house. So to be paid such a small amount is not even worth it. If you do find a maid who is willing to be paid anything under ten dollars an hour, she probably isnʼt doing a good job, and is not a real maid. A maid can do so much in those five hours that she must be compensated fairly for it. Mainly because this is not a typical minimum wage job.

First of all, you do not clean your own mess, so how dare you put such a low price on cleaning up other peoplesʼ mess? Just because the majority of these people are women and are Latina does not mean just any person can do it. Any person can attempt to do it, but it isn’t always to your liking, right? Have a little respect for your  ” or “housekeeper.”

Remember that she is human and usually has a husband and children she does this at home as well. Remember she has needs such as “thirst” and ” using the restroom.”  Every other minimum wage job entitles their employees to breaks and such. Why canʼt a housekeeper take five minutes to have a drink and restroom break? Why do you all assume that because she is working ”only” 6 hours in your home she doesn’t still have basic human needs?

Respect her. She cleans your home and is probably the only one doing it, so show her the same respect she shows your home. Don’t assume that because she does the most demeaning of jobs that she as a person can be demeaned. She is usually a mother and wife. Don’t assume that she always has time for your needs. She makes time for you, make time for her. And the most important, don’t tell her what you will be paying her. Trust me in the fact that if she is charging you what you may consider an outrageous price, she is probably doing so because its a lot of work involved. Think about it. When did you last clean that tub? When did you last dust that high ceiling fan? When did you last dig under your five year-oldʼs bed? And why haven’t you done it since?

Most of the time these are trustworthy women who really need the job and aren’t out “to get you.” Trust in the fact that they are pricing you correctly and if you do want to negotiate, let her know why and most times she is flexible. The main reason she does this job is because its what she knows. Sheʼs good at it and it allows her to help her own family, to pay for that thing she has as well, you know, a house.

Marlen Castañeda lives in McKinney, Texas.