Don’t you think being a responsible employer would add to your domestic worker’s life? Find below how you can familiarize them with different financial products.
Almost every household in India has domestic help and we as their bosses hardly think about their lack of awareness of banking facilities. Don’t you think those people deserve proper savings accounts, life insurance cover for they also have their lives on stake doing some unsafe work like cleaning window panes of say a corporate building. Our maids/cooks do not work in an organized sector and they don’t get benefits like pension or insurance cover.
Risking their lives every day and still not getting access to insurance policies or saving money for their future is disheartening.
Imagine yourself having no savings account and insurance policy. Will you go on living with it? Is it going to keep your future sorted? The answer would be definitely a big NO.
So, think of them and help them out with bank accounts, mutual funds, life insurance policies and guide them on how to stay away from fraudulent practices.
An estimated 3 crore people are currently employed as a part of this unorganized sector of domestic help. So, the need of the hour is to organize it so that the workers can avail benefits which we already have.
Starting off with paying them market rates and ensuring that they don’t fall prey to inadequate amount of income and unemployment is a responsible initiative at your part.
Moving on further with helping them get an Aadhaar card and PAN card is another step that could make them open a savings account.
Read: Apply for PAN Card Online & Open Online Savings Account instantly
Give them proper guidance on every bank’s policies regarding minimum balance requirement, interest rate earned, online banking facilities.
Help them find a zero-balance account. It is because they don’t have a steady income and one doesn’t have keep a minimum balance in these accounts.
Kotak’s 811 account is one of the zero balance accounts with multiple benefits such as there is no minimum balance requirement. You can earn up to 5% interest rate on your balance, with a virtual debit card to make payments and a scan and pay option where you don’t need cash or card to pay for your bills and purchases.
If they face any paperwork problem, then use your banking relationship to get it sorted and if they don’t have access to an email account then provide your email and contact details for correspondence.
So, make an effort to help them manage their savings and investments.
As mentioned above, there’s a large chunk of individuals working as full-time maids, cooks, security guards and drivers. On an average, they earn Rs.15,000 per month and almost none of them have an insurance. This is mainly due to their less knowledge about how these insurance policies and how to avail it. Also, they don’t have all the required documents for buying an insurance plan so why not you help them out with it. On relatively small matters of health, domestic staff faces hurdles of cost, access and attitude.
Different companies have different insurance policies so it’s better if you ask your financial advisor. They will be able to help them complete the paperwork and choose the right plan for themselves.
Also, these domestic workers are not aware of investing in mutual funds. As a responsible individual, you can help them set a systematic investment plan and there are mutual funds that offer micro SIPs that require lower investment amounts. So, give them the details of the mutual funds that have a minimum SIP amount of Rs 100. So, this would also be an easy option for them to invest and get good returns.
So, if you’re a responsible employer you can probably educate your domestic help on how the banking sector works and how they can benefit from those facilities. Apart from that, you can make them aware of not to go for chit funds and ponzi schemes.
