Do you tip your housekeeper? Or any other members of staff? How, when and how much to tip someone can differ extremely per culture and country. In the USA, for example, there is a very well developed ‘tipping culture’. It is almost expected that wherever you go, you tip the person who provided a service for you. Whether this is a doorman, hairdresser or waiter in a restaurant.
But how does it work with housekeepers? Should you tip your live-out housekeeper?
Culture & Choice
Firstly, tipping someone, whether they work for you or not, is completely up to you. There is no law that states you should tip anyone. As long as you pay the agreed salary or price, your responsibility stops.
Tipping is a way of showing (extra) appreciation for services. If you are really happy with what someone has done for you, it can be a great token of appreciation. So whether it is customary or not, it would always be appreciated.
But tipping, in some cultures, can really be part of everyday life. It can be considered rude not to tip. In the USA, for example, it is expected that you tip at least 15-20 % for most services. In other countries, it might only be 5%. and finally, some people would not expect a tip at all.
If you do travel a lot and would like to stick to the culture and habit of that place? This handy overview tells you exactly where you will not be expected to leave a tip.
Bonus options
When you have someone working for you such as a live-out housekeeper, tipping can be a strange thing to do. It is customary to leave a tip for a housekeeper in a hotel or a B&B you stayed at. But when someone works for you, part-time or full-time, tipping is not customary. This person will potentially spend full-time hours in your house working for you. Would you tip them every day? Every week? It becomes a difficult thing to keep track of! And they might just appreciate a higher salary more. Instead of an irregular tip.
What is more customary, instead of tipping, is giving your live-out housekeeper a bonus. This could be a cash bonus or non-cash bonuses such as presents. Giving your housekeeper a bonus is a very nice way of showing appreciation. So this is the same thing a tip would do, only then in a more structured way.
It is normal to give out a bonus at the end of the year, for example just before Christmas time. As an appreciated their hard work for the year. Some people give a bonus at the employee’s birthday, again to show appreciation. If you employ someone, you should know there are rules and regulations to giving bonuses to staff members. You can read all about in this great UK government overview.
Salary of a Live-Out Housekeeper
If you are looking at payment, how to tip or how to give a bonus to your live-out housekeeper, salary also comes into play. You can base any tip or bonus on how much you pay them monthly/yearly too. This is a creat indicator on salaries of live-out housekeepers in the UK.
Entry Level/Less Experienced Live out Housekeeper is a candidate with 2-4 years of experience.
- Entry Level/Less Experienced Live out Housekeepers: £510 – £740 gross per week
- £25,000 – £38,000 gross per year
Mid Level/More Experienced Live out Housekeeper is a candidate with 4-8 years of experience.
- Mid Level/More Experienced Live out Housekeepers: £740 – £980 gross per week
- £38,000 – £50,000 gross per year
High Level/Very Experienced Live out Housekeeper is a candidate with 8+ years of experience.
- High Level/Very Experienced Live out Housekeepers: £980+ gross per week
- £51,000+ gross per year
How can Polo & Tweed help?
Polo & Tweed are leading professionals when it comes to all things concerning finding, hiring and paying your live-out housekeeper. Not only can we advise on how to hire, we can take the whole process out of your hands and find the perfect live out housekeeper for you.
If you would like to know more about how we can help, please do get in touch with us here and one of our experienced recruitment consultants will be in touch to discuss the next steps.