Cuenca Updates: Wednesday June 27. 2012

Wednesday June 27/12 update

Bella was off to play bridge today while I returned the modem to Etapa and cancelled my Internet with them. The buggers want to charge me the Installation fee of $44.80 since I am cancelling before my year is up but they are allowing me to write the General Manager to plead my case.

I got a call from the new company, ServiCable, and they wanted to come at 11am but I had 3 appointments today so he agreed to come at 3pm. We weren’t without Internet for very long and we are praying this one will much more reliable.

I trotted off to Spanish class and still have trouble with words sticking in this old brain. I am disappointed in myself that I am not retaining more. I need to practice more in the early morning.

At 1:00 I met Bettye and Chris’ neighbor, Jim Mola, for lunch at his request. Jim also has a Cuenca blog and has recently returned from a visit to the US to visit his family. I was frankly very intrigued at his request for lunch and couldn’t wait to see what he had up his sleeve, which was absolutely nothing. He kept saying that I had phoned him twice but I knew I hadn’t. His phone showed my name, but a different phone number…. He then said he had just cancelled his Etapa internet for poor service the prior week too.

The ServiCable fellow was waiting at my door as I made it home at 2:55. The fellow’s name is Xavier and he lives in the next block! So if I ever have a problem I can just go knock on his door! How sweet is that? It is not run on a flimsy phone line, it actual cable running to a receiver just outside my window, mounted on a broomstick I had to volunteer. Bella will have to find alternate transportation, lol. Gotta love Ecuador! It is pointed at their antenna just behind the Hospital IESS 1.5 blocks away. So far so good!

We are getting embroiled in a new controversy regarding laws for employment. Bella is now heavily into the research for the answers. Here is what I have put on the CuencaResidency blog:

~~~~Getting domestic help is almost deemed a requirement of expats to help provide employment. The going rate seems to be $3-$4 per hour but lately there is a hitch.
Right now we are researching a requirement to have a contract with domestic help and to pay into their version of Social Security. The scuttlebutt is that if you hire a part-time domestic, if she comes to your home, even if it is not for cleaning, 14 times, you must then have a contract to pay into their Social Security program, even retroactively. How a person does this, nobody seems to know yet. None of us want to skirt the law but the method of doing all this is unclear. Who wants to spend $300 on a lawyer to set up fancy contracts when the money at stake sounds minimal?
Our Ecuadorian friends also indicate that 3 months employment is considered a trial period and after 3 months it is almost impossible to fire any type of employee.
http://www.ecuadorlegalonline.com/laboral/afiliacion-al-iess/

Here is just one page of this law. This is getting scary! We have heard of persons being sued for $50,000, settling for a large sum, plus fines, after being threatened with the loss of their home.

It appears to be 20.5% total contribution, not 2% as we had been led to believe:

"Contributions . - The employees contribute a total of 20.50% of salary or wages, corresponding to the 11.15% employer and employee to 9.35% "

One of our readers has suggested this house-cleaning service. http://www.maids-and-beyond.com/Home_Page.html

We are no experts yet, but this does seem like the safest way to do it without running afoul of the law.
Now this also begs the question about hiring the same local driver all the time too, as that is the same situation.......... This could catch a lot of people unawares..... ~~~~~

Enjoy the pics. That was today’s excitement. Hugs to all.