Hiring domestic help in Abuja – a guide for newcomers

Hiring domestic help in Abuja – 5 Tips for newcomers
(Culled from Around and About Abuja)

Most foreigners employ two or three domestic staff on a full-time basis (five or six days a week.) A full time-cook/cleaner, driver, gardener and 24 hour watchman are the most common domestic staff. Some need a separate cook from the cleaner/maid and a nanny. The quarters provided for the domestic staff – called “Boys Quarters” – usually have two rooms. The employer decides which staff will occupy those rooms, but it is customarily the cook/cleaner and the nanny (if needed). Some ideas for hiring domestic staff are included below:

Finding Staff
Check the grapevine. There are always people coming and going – leaving staff behind. Let as many people know as possible that you are looking for someone and they will appear. There is always somebody’s “junior brother” or “junior sister” available. (Be a member of at least one group with expat membership and ask for recommendations from the members.- Araceli)

Salary
Ask friends and colleagues to see what a fair salary is for the services being provided. Transportation is quite expensive in Abuja. So the person will need to travel to work, a transport allowance will need to be added to their salary. Be sure to clearly state the basic salary – separate from the transportation – as transportation costs will likely to increase more rapidly than the basis salary.

Employer Responsibility

All terms and condition should be clearly spelled out prior to employment. Items that are the responsibility of the employer are: 1. Provide money for medical report (you may want to make sure they are vaccinated – especially nannies; test for TB and HIV are not uncommon); 2. Transportation allowance; 3 Uniform (if desired); 4) Food or food allowance (subject to negotiation); 5. Overtime (depends upon work hour agreement); 6. Seventeen days leave per year or one day off per week (depending on the agreement); 7. Thirteenth month bonus; and 8. Severance fee.

Contract

It is a good idea to draw up a contract with your domestic employees to ensure that the term and conditions are clearly spelled out. Check with the Human Rights Commission for the latest labor laws.