Do you employee a maid? Learn what tipping is required so that you can properly honor this hard worker.
If you are benefiting from the services of a maid,
you may be interested in knowing that it is sometimes customary to tip these service professionals.
Hotel Maids
If you are staying in a hotel, a maid is going to be cleaning your room each night of your stay. It is typically customary to tip this individual. While this will not be charged on your account, nor will it be advertised heavily in the room, it is often expected. These workers are paid the minimum possible, and many depend on their tips to get by.
Of course, you may feel like maids need to earn their tips. If you feel the room was not cleaned to your satisfaction, you may feel like holding back your tip for that day. That is a common practice, but remember that these maids are not paid very well in most hotels. Make sure your expectations are not unusually high.
So how much should this tip be? It seems there are many different ideas about this out there. Current rules of etiquette say that $3 to $5 per day is typical, but this should be increased if you make a big mess. If you find that something was not cleaned to your requirements at all, you can lower this.
You should tip the maid daily, however. Remember that the cleaning person will not be the same each day, so if you wait until the end of your stay, one individual will get a huge tip while others will get none at all. So, stock up on singles before your trip so you can properly tip.
Leave your tip on your pillow or bed. This is the place the cleaning professional will likely look for it. Remember, they do not want to be accused of stealing, so they will want to know for sure that the tip is intended for them.
Tipping Household Maids
What if you have a maid working for you in your home? Typically these professionals are paid a little better than hotel cleaning professionals, but there may still be room for tipping.
In this instance, you will want to check with the rules of the company you hired your cleaning help from. If they prohibit their workers from collecting tips, then do not give one. This will put both of you in a difficult situation. If not, then consider giving occasional tips or bonuses to your house cleaner. However, when the cleaner works with a company, etiquette does not demand tipping.
If you are hiring a maid directly and not using a service, consider saving your tip for Christmas. It is typical to give a bonus of one week's pay around the holidays. This will help your cleaning professional enjoy the holiday season a little more, and you will feel good knowing that you have rewarded them for their hard work.
