A firm 'imports' nannies and maids from Philippines to Brazil

PATRÍCIA CAMPOS MELLO
from SÃO PAULO

10/05/2015 ( NT May, the 10th ) 02h00

A executiva Kely Alves, 41, com a babá de seus três filhos, a filipina Realiza Santandan, 42

The executive Kely Alves, 41, with the nanny of his three children, the Philippine Realiza Santandan, 42

"Good morning Liza! Milk, please". This is how the children of executive Kely Alves, 41, chat with her Filipino nanny for breakfast.

Realiza Santandan, 42, began working in October last year in Kely house in the west of São Paulo. Liza does not speak Portuguese. Children of 10, 4 and 2 years old, does not speak much English.

"Language is the least of it: more than ten nannies worked here and all gave up" says Kely. "Liza is always humorous and I need to ask her to stop working, the Filipino people like to serve."

Hard to find employees to accept sleeping in the service, upper-middle-class families are bringing maidservants from the Philippines.

Adriano Vizoni/Folhapress

A filipina Amy Villariez, 33, com a patroa Thalita Assis, 35

Philippine Villariez Amy, 33, with her boss Thalita Assis, 35

The Global Talent agency has already brought 70 Filipino to work as nanny, maid or cook. The company takes care of the selection of women in Singapore and the paperwork at the Ministry of Labor.

The Philippines enter Brazil with valid work permit for two years, renewable for two more, and gain of R$ 1,800 to R$ 2,000 per month (NT US$600 to US$660).

The contractor pays R$ 6,000 ( US$ 2,000 ) for the agency and the passage of the employed. Employers guarantee comply with legislation, with a limit of eight hours of work a day, clearances and benefits like Social Security.

"Most of those who are expatriates who want to hire a maid who speaks English and Brazilians who lived outside," says Priscilla Rocha Leite, partner of agency Home Staff that offers the service of Global Talent for clients of his agency.

"The Filipino nannies are kind of Cuban doctors, but without paying toll for Fidel." ( NT Brazil 'imported' 2,000 doctors from Cuba of Fidel Castro, Cuba is charging 70% of each monthly salary of each doctor )

The country ( NT Philippines ) has export tradition of labor for maid - there are about 10 million Filipinos working around the world.

"Here the salary is better, I can send more money to my family," says the Filipino Villariez Amy, 33, who has been working since December to a family in Rio. She holds a nine year old daughter and her mother back home.

When she lived in her country, Amy worked in a supermarket, earning US$ 200 per month. After she moved to Singapore to work babysitting. There she had only one day off per month and could not even put the phone to charge, because the bosses demanded energy expenditure.

I could not use the wi-fi, then I "steal" the password of neighbor. Just ate what was left and was making US$ 300 a month. In Brazil, Amy earns R$ 2,000 ( NT US$ 660 ) an additional R$ 100 ( NT US$ 32 ) for each Saturday and off every Sunday. Every month, he sends US$ 200 home.

"It's a advantage my daughters grow up speaking English and I think I'm helping Amy to improve her life too," says Thalita Assis, 35, a lawyer who lives with her husband, Shell executive, twin daughters of a year and Amy in Barra da Tijuca ( NT Barra da Tijuca is a suburb name ), in western Rio.

The couple lived 11 years out in several countries. In the last post, Brunei, they had a Filipino maid. "[She] was amazing, shopped, cleaned, cooked and drive the car. She even washed the car!" He says. "In Brazil, a nanny is just a nanny, a cook only cooks, a cleaner just cleans.

Rules

The import of Filipino maids became possible from a 2012 regulation of the Ministry of Labor, which allows the hiring of foreign labor by individuals, not just companies.

The ministry still has no exact data on Filipino maids in Brazil. According to Aldo Candido, general coordinator of Immigration at the Ministry of Labour, the employer needs to pay all charges including the FGTS, ( NT A deposit in a bank that the employee receive if fired ) when the new PEC ( Constituition Ammendment ) of the maids come to be regulated.

Leonardo Ferrada, 29, a partner at Global Talent, is closing a deal to import Filipino workforce for hotels, eyeing the 2016 Olympics in Rio.