Domestic employees
If you’re relocating permanently to Costa Rica, or if you own a stand-alone house that couldn’t share the costs of a property management company, you’ll probably want to hire some local help from the surrounding community. The two positions that most expatriates hire for is housekeeper and gardener. Even if you would never consider hiring help in your home country, low costs make it a possibility in Costa Rica. Housekeepers, for example, can run as low as $15 a visit or lower. Alternatively, you could hire one part-time for a few hundred dollars a month. Gardeners are also cheap, though only really necessary if you have a house with lots of land. Once again, a few hundred dollars a month will get you a gardener part-time, while occasional visits of a man toting a machete will run you only a few dollars a pop, depending on the size of your yard.
There are two tricky parts to hiring help. First of all, if you hire the wrong help, your house could be unceremoniously emptied of all your possessions. We’re not talking about a few bills out of your wallet here and there. We’re talking about a maid who happens to have connections to professional burglars who will empty your house while you’re away. This does not happen often, but it does happen, and it underscores how crucially important it is to only hire people who have excellent references. The first place to start looking for help should be your neighbors. Hiring a housekeeper or gardener who’s been working in the neighborhood for years is the best way to assure you’ll be safe.
The second tricky part of hiring help is labor law. Good employers have to pay social security, disability, vacation time, and a 13th month salary at the end of the year called the aguinaldo – basically a Christmas bonus. For a full rundown on your responsibilities as an employer, see Chapter 11 on legal matters. Where most employers fall into trouble is miscommunication. At the start of the employment, you should have a very clear agreement on what kind of compensation you’re providing (salary, travel stipend, lunch, etc.) and what the terms of service are. Then follow through with the agreement. If something goes wrong and you end up in labor court, you will almost surely lose, so make sure to keep a good relationship with your employee and negotiate through any disagreements. Be cautious about requests for money for operations, childcare, loans, etc. For one thing, it could easily be a “rich gringo” scam with you as a target; for another, any extra compensation you offer out of the goodness of your heart can be added to the bill later if the employee sues over a firing.
