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| Credit: Andrae Ricketts |
Every woman wants to
hire a responsible and sound minded person as a domestic staff. It is worrisome
and quite exhausting to source for a good house help who is proactive, who can
work with little or no instruction and in some cases use her initiative; especially in some urgent situations to ensure everything is in order. But in most cases what parents (mothers) often
consider first is the age especially when the maid is coming to live with them
in the house.
But there are still
other important aspects to look into when hiring a total stranger into your house as a maid or nanny. Read on.
14 Things to Consider When Choosing a House Help or Baby Sitter
- Do a background checks, the question here is “WHY”? Because it is very necessary for security reasons, for your safety and that of your family.
- Arrange for an interview with your intending domestic staff, and enquire if she has experience of what this work entails and this will help you decide if she can do the job. If she claim to have worked somewhere before, call or make out time to meet with her former employer to find out why left. Your decision should not be based on recommendations alone.
- Find out where (state) he/she is from and her permanent house address, because here in Nigeria i will advise you do the needful as the system is yet in place; do everything within your power to collate all of his or her personal data - it will be helpful at a time you least expect.
- Make sure you have a picture (standard passport photograph) of him or her, just in case something goes wrong you will have an image to show to the authourity.
- Request for their guarantors, guarantors passport photographs, guarantors’ contact addresses and phone number.
- Visit the addresses of the guarantors to ensure they are genuine and call them quarterly or bi-annually.
- Install a CCTV camera in your house, install it in a way that it will not be easily noticeable and test to ensure is clear enough – that way you can monitor everything in the house even in your absence.
- Run medical test on your intending staff to ascertain his or her health status to be double sure they are not infected with HIV , Hepatitis or any other contagious infection before bringing them into your home. You could also do random medical test on your staff annually or biannually; this is to ensure your nanny is healthy enough to take care of your children in your absence.
- Investigate the recruitment agency to avoid employing a spy for a maid or driver.
- Set your rules and guidelines, draw a scope of work on how you want things to be done, her working days and off day.
- Do not allow your house help clean your room, if possible clean your toilet and bathroom yourself since your bathroom is ensuite.
- Give her some safety tips and sound it as a note of warning that her utmost responsibility is your kids’ safety. In the event of fire outbreak, the first thing she must do is to evacuate the kids from the house.
- Ensure you check that all the doors are properly locked at night because some of these personal staff are criminal and could endanger you and your family.
- Discussing monetary transaction around your domestic staff is not advisable.
- Never pay your nanny, housemaid or drivers salary by hand but always pay through their bank accounts. If they do not have an account, open an account for them.
- Always treat your house help with respect and your house and kids will be well taken care of.
Hope this piece was helpful?
Please leave us a comment below if you have had terrible experience with your
maid, nanny or driver? Please feel free to share with other parents or give
them tips on how to manage domestic staff issues and if possible refer them to
a good place where they can hire a house maid. Do you like this article? Please
share with your friends and like our Facebook page. Thanks
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