Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

We had one start last week (he's only going to come one a month to keep things tidy) and any other time we require him. However, he would not, absolutely refused, to give us an idea of payment. He kept saying "pay me what you think Im worth after I have finished. He was here about 3.5 hours, he did what we asked , cleared up after himself, did not stop to have a cigarette and refused water, coffee or tea. He is Pakistani and lived here 11 years with a daughter at University. BUT, we just didn't know what to give him and we just stood in embarrassing silence. Some people I know would have said "give him the absolute minimum hourly rate" but Im sure we actually paid him a lot more than we should, and have now put ourselves in a bit of trouble, because next time he might stay for say 5 hours, and we'll end of paying more and more and we'll end up having to ask him to go because we can't afford him!!

By the sounds of it you are expecting him to be an odd jobber, therefore not expecting him to have his own tools, be responsible for his actions etc, not like when you have employed a company. minimum wage a day is 92.50tl but someone on this should have the security of health and pension cover.
therefore I would suggest a pay between 12ltl and 20tl an hour depending on what time of work he is doing. Some times its best to pay in the lower region but when you ask him to do a harder job, cut boundary hedges using a ladder, pruning high trees it gives you the facility to put something larger in their hand and show your appreciation of how they risked limbs, fall etc.

We pay ours £5 per hour they do not want TL!

20TL per hour is what our gardener says everyone is paying him. He converts it back into dollars and sends it to his family in Pakistan.

My gardener comes with his `helper` and charges me 15tl per hour for each of them i.e. 30tl. Does he complete the work in half the time as there are two of them ....who knows?

My gardener comes with his `helper` and charges me 15tl per hour for each of them i.e. 30tl. Does he complete the work in half the time as there are two of them ....who knows?

20tl per hour seems to be the going rate.
mind you,most of them work in restuarants of an evening and get paid less than 10tl per hour for that.
They are not skilled gardeners in any way,mine has killed many a plant and shrub by overly enthusiastic pruning.

Philoz wrote:20tl per hour seems to be the going rate.
mind you,most of them work in restuarants of an evening and get paid less than 10tl per hour for that.
They are not skilled gardeners in any way,mine has killed many a plant and shrub by overly enthusiastic pruning.

But that's where their work permit is held with all the rights for them to be able live here . And what's that worth to them?

And not being rude if they were skilled gardeners they should be paid a lot more than 20tl an hour and I wish more people understood the difference.
They are many who are exceptionally good at tidying in the gardens and the same goes for cleaners, but few have the knowledge of plants etc and this is where things go wrong. The skilled person can not be everywhere, a lady in lapta who runs a garden centre her knowledge is unbelievable but she employs the same people and probably does not have the time to give enough training or has the facility to pay them a lot more..

Garden labourers they are, horticulturists they are not. Still better than having to do it all yourself.

Well now I can come clean and say he was paid 100tl for 3.5 hours work. He was asked to prune 5 hibiscus bushes between 5ft and 3ft high and drag out all of the dead leaves under a row of oleander (about 50 foot long, give or take). Obviously that's far more than the average payment. Being told, "Pay me what you think the work is worth", has back fired on us and we should have checked this out first. I should also have been careful, when I got the same response when we first approached him. There is no way we want to be mean but clearly he was given too much and its naïve of us to think he would say it was too much!!!

Yes, you were generous but that´s okay. I am sure that all of us, at some point in our lives, have been overpaid for something we have done. He must have done the job to your satisfaction if you paid what it was worth to you. It is only once a month after all. Perhaps you could discuss your concerns with him on his next visit and come to a suitable agreement.

Can anyone give me the contact details for a gardener in Karsiyaka. I dont need a company. Thank you

Judyvin have sent you private message.

what a load of penny penny pinchers are you going back to the slave days cant be-leave your big houses and your thought on humans
You should treat people the way you want and show respect
What are you all becoming when you treat your dog and show more respect for an animal that keeps every body a wake all night , than you do somebody feeding kids and wife why dont you get off your ares and do it then you dont have to pay any body and trim you up as well
Distcusting give a £5 and work all day lets hope one day you fall in the same ball park

Hussein at Punjab does gardening, lovely young man.