There are two ways domestic staffing agencies in Islamabad charge, and households often do not realise which one they have signed up to until several months in. The first is a one-off placement fee, paid when a hire is made. The second is an ongoing monthly commission, taken either from the household in addition to the salary or — more commonly and more troublingly — deducted from what the staff member is paid.
These are not two prices for the same thing. They create different incentives, and the incentives show up in how the arrangement behaves.
How the one-off fee model works
You engage the agency with a brief. They put forward candidates. You hire one. You pay a fee, typically related to the salary, once. After that the employment relationship is between you and the person you hired, and you pay him directly.
The agency's remaining obligation is usually a replacement arrangement for a defined period — if the placement fails early, they find somebody else. Ours is set out on our replacement guarantee page.
What this model rewards is making placements that last. If the hire fails, the agency does the work twice for one fee, so it has a direct interest in matching the person to the household properly rather than filling the vacancy quickly.
How the monthly commission model works
The agency places somebody and then takes a percentage every month for as long as the arrangement continues. Two variants exist.
In the first, the household pays the agency a monthly amount on top of the staff member's salary. This is transparent, and it is essentially a subscription for ongoing management and replacement cover. It is uncommon in household staffing here but it exists, and it is honest as long as the total is clear.
In the second, the agency is paid the full salary by the household and passes on a reduced amount to the staff member, keeping the difference. This is much more common and it is the one to be careful about, because it means the person working in your house is receiving less than you believe you are paying him — sometimes substantially less, and sometimes without a clear understanding of what is being deducted or for how long.
Why the second variant produces problems in your house
It is worth being specific about this rather than moralising, because the effects are practical.
A staff member who discovers that a meaningful share of his wage is being taken indefinitely will leave. Not immediately, and not with an explanation — he will simply find a household that pays him directly. Your arrangement fails and you never learn why.
The incentive for the agency is also wrong. Under a monthly model, an agency earns from the arrangement continuing, not from it working, and it earns again if the person is replaced. Neither creates pressure to match well.
And it obscures the number that matters. If you believe you are paying a competitive wage and the person is receiving well below the market rate, you will be puzzled by turnover that is entirely predictable. Our salary comparison page gives current bands so you can check what the person should actually be receiving.
The total cost over time
A one-off fee is front-loaded and finite. If the arrangement lasts three years, the fee divided across those years is small.
A monthly commission is open-ended. Over a two or three year placement it typically exceeds a one-off fee by a wide margin, and it never stops.
So for any arrangement you hope will last, the one-off model is cheaper, often considerably. The monthly model is only better value where you expect a short engagement — temporary cover, a few months during a family visit — and even then a short-term rate on a one-off basis usually beats it.
The questions that reveal which model you are in
Ask them before signing anything, and ask them plainly.
Is there any ongoing payment after the placement, and if so, how much and for how long?
Will I pay the staff member directly, or will I pay you and you pay him?
What exactly will he receive each month, in rupees?
Does he know that figure, and has it been written down for him?
If the answer to the second question is that you pay the agency, ask the third and fourth firmly. An agency operating honestly will answer without hesitation. One that becomes vague about what the worker receives has told you what you needed to know.
What a legitimate ongoing charge looks like
There are honest versions of a recurring fee, and it would be unfair to suggest otherwise.
Some services genuinely provide ongoing value — replacement cover for the life of the engagement, handling of leave cover, mediation when problems arise, or administration of wages for households abroad. Where that is what you want and it is priced openly on top of a full salary paid to the worker, it is a reasonable product.
The test is transparency in both directions. The household knows the total; the staff member knows his own figure; nothing is deducted from a wage without his clear agreement. If all three are true, the model is fine whatever its shape.
The Islamabad market's particular pattern
Islamabad has a wide range of operators, from established offices to individuals working from a phone, and the monthly-deduction model is concentrated at the informal end. It is also common in arrangements involving workers brought from other provinces, where the person has less local knowledge of what the going rate is and less ability to shop around.
That combination — a worker far from home, with limited market knowledge, whose wage is routed through a third party — is where the worst outcomes occur, and it is worth being alert to if a candidate is presented as having just arrived in the city.
The practical check is simple and it costs you nothing: ask the candidate directly, on his own, what he expects to be paid and what he understands he will actually receive. If those two numbers differ from what you are being asked to pay, you have learned something important.
What to insist on regardless of model
Pay the staff member directly, into his own account or into his own hand, and know the figure he receives.
Get the fee structure in writing before you commit, including anything ongoing.
Get the replacement terms in writing — how long they last and what triggers them.
And have a written scope for the role that you and the staff member have both seen, so the agency's description is not the only account of what the job is. Our hiring checklist covers what that page should contain.
How we charge, for the avoidance of doubt
We charge a one-off placement fee and nothing afterwards. The household pays the staff member directly, the staff member knows his own salary, and we take no percentage of his wages at any point. Our replacement terms are on the replacement guarantee page, and our position on how the business is paid is set out on our trust and credentials page.
We state it plainly because in this market the question is a reasonable one to ask of anybody, including us.
What to do if you are already in a deduction arrangement
Households discover this mid-placement fairly often, usually because the staff member mentions it or because he gives notice unexpectedly. There is a straightforward way out and it does not require a confrontation.
Establish the facts first, privately. Ask him what he receives and what he was told about the deduction — how much, and for how long. Some arrangements are time-limited and disclosed, which is a different situation from an open-ended cut he never agreed to.
Then move the payment. Pay him directly, in full, from the next month, and tell the agency you are doing so. Where a one-off fee was never paid, offering to settle a reasonable placement fee is a fair resolution and most legitimate operators will accept it.
If the agency insists on a continuing cut with no service attached, you are under no obligation to route a wage through a third party. The employment relationship is between you and the person working in your house.
And review the salary while you are at it. If he has been receiving well below the band for the role, the figure you settle on should reflect the market rather than the reduced amount he had been accepting — otherwise you have fixed the mechanism and kept the underpayment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a monthly commission ever better for the household?
For genuinely short engagements, or where you want somebody else administering wages and cover — for instance if you live abroad — it can be. Compare the total over the expected length of the arrangement, and insist on knowing what the worker receives.
How do I find out what my current staff member is actually paid?
Ask him, privately and without pressure. Many households discover the figure is lower than they assumed. If it is, the straightforward remedy is to start paying him directly at the full amount.
Should a placement fee be paid before or after the person starts?
After you have met candidates and chosen one is normal. Any request for a substantial fee before you have been introduced to anybody is a warning sign — see our guide to avoiding fake staffing agencies.
What if the agency asks me not to discuss salary with the staff member?
Decline. There is no legitimate reason for that request, and an arrangement that depends on the worker not knowing what you pay is one that will fail — usually in the middle of a month, without notice.