How to Hire a Housekeeper

Do you come home after 8 hours of work to spend another 4 cleaning your house? Or are you too busy taking care of your children to do the housework? You may decide that hiring a housekeeper is worth the money. Not only will your house be cleaner but you will be able to spend more time enjoying your family instead of dropping exhausted into bed every night.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Ask friends and colleagues for referrals. If someone you know already has a housekeeper or housekeeping service they're satisfied with, you will probably be satisfied also.

2. Decide whether your want a team of housekeepers to come to your home and clean it quickly or limit access to a single housekeeper who will take longer to do the job.

3. Learn about employment laws so you don't violate them in hiring your housekeeper. You will need to consider things such as whether the housekeeper is legally able to work in your country and how to pay the employer's portion of social security taxes. (If you use a service, this is usually taken care of for you.)

4. Ensure that the housekeeper you hire has a driver's license and documentation of a recent tuberculosis test. Ask for a work history, criminal history and references. Check the references. (If you use a service, this should be done as part of the agreement.)

5. Ask the housekeeper why he or she chose this work. Avoid hiring housekeepers that consider themselves "between jobs" because they are likely to leave without much notice.

6. Set up a trial period to evaluate the service's or housekeeper's work before obligating yourself to a long-term arrangement.

7. Decide whether you want to pay a flat fee or an hourly wage. A housekeeper working for a flat fee is likely to do the job as quickly as possible, but also may cut too many corners. A housekeeper paid by the hour may not work fast enough.

8. Establish what the housekeeper will be doing and include an option for you to ask for extra chores as needed. Also set up rules the housekeeper is to follow such as whether he or she will be allowed to turn on the TV or radio or take calls at your home.

Tips & Warnings

• Pick up clutter in your house before the housekeeper arrives. If your housekeeper has to wade through a cluttered home to do the work, it will take longer to complete, and could cost more.

• Don't leave valuable items lying around.