Help me with my helper :-)

A

AlexGuitel

Registered User
Hi,

I finally found a helper (I've been looking for my Mary Poppins for months, I sooooo thrilled!)

Now I have to organize her room (used untill now as "smoking room").

Do you know what I'm suppose to put inside except a bed. If I listen to myself I will put nice curtains and flowers but everybody keeps telling me that I have to be less nice and act less gently to show who is the boss but it's so not my temper...
For the furniture, what are we "oblige" to offer her?

Thanks in advance for your answer, I'm so not cut for that, I don't know how to handle that as it's our first helper & as it doesnt work like that at all in France wher I come frome...

Alex
 
The employment contract states the follwing are essentials:

Light/Water supply
Toilet/Bathing Facilities
Bed
Blankets/Quilt
Pillow
Wadrobe

Optional:
Desk, Fridge
http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/id407form.htm

Its really up to you. Some people provide TV/DVD players. Its really whatever you're comfortable with.
One of my friend's helpers asked for her own phone line. She never came out of her room once she got it. :biggrin:
 
Last edited:
Thanks a lot for all that infos.
I'll keep in mind for the phone and, I think I 'll stay with the normal list + desk
 
EUmmm Rani, a last thing, Do you know where I can find the official rate of the minimum salary I can offer her?
Thanks !
 
a bit of advice, from my friends : make a list of hse rules. what not to wear, whether or not she's allowed to paint her nails, how long to keep them (u don't want her nails scratching your children), tie up her hair, when is she allowed on the fone (if u don't tell them, expect them to be on the fone while preparing meals, feeding your children, cleaning the hse, basically most of the time, on an earpiece), what time to come back on their holidays, etc.
 
hi Alex,

congratulations!

Yes, it would be very useful if you had a good think about your maid's duties and general rules, I would suggest even putting it down in writing - like in a simple Word document with headings like daily duties (do you need her to vacuum/mop/do laundry every day?)/weekly duties (eg,. washing the car)/monthly duties (cleaning the fridge?) and as earlier mentioned one on general rules (eg. what time would you like her to be ready for work every morning? what time would you like her to be back home on her off days? use of phone for personal calls etc etc)....it sounds all a bit nazi like BUT the earlier you get her organized and lay down the rules, the better it is for everyone - expectations are managed and she knows what's expected of her, esp if you are a stay at home mum, you do not want to be reminding her every hour what she should be doing (this works for my helper who is highly intelligent, motivated and independent and prefers not to be micro-managed by a stay at home mum!) The list may not be exhaustive BUT it will give her an idea of what's expected of her.

In relation to her room, it's a balance between making her feel comfortable and not "spoliling" her, this is of course very personal to you and your husband, she is afterall coming to join your family and will have daily interraction with your little one, I believe if the helper is made to feel comfortable and welcomed, then she will "perform" better. We gave our helper the following :
1. a bunk bed system with a large built-in wardrobe and desk and chair at the bottom
2. a very small TV (which was a free gift and we were not using it) which she has on when she's having her dinner and at the end of the day
3. bed linen like pillows/bed sheets/duvet for winter/light blanket for day
4. tower fan and small hook up fan (as her room doesn't have aircon)
5. towels/face towels

Another thing to consider is her daily food intake, whether she'll be eating whatever the family is eating OR whether you expect her to cook separately for herself (a consideration esp when you have more than one helper at home as your grocery bill can jump significantly as a result of more people in the house)

Hope this helps!
 
Thanks for this advices.

I will indeed follow some of them and definitly write a list of task with the "do" and "dont". For example, I'm not really confortable with her using our phone to call home as we dont use it ourself to call internationnal because we find it expensive comparing to mobile or to free-skype or msn, so I definitly need to forbid her to use the phone (and yes it doest sounds nazi but I dont care (+ I'm jewish :biggrin: ). Concerning her clothing, nails or her, I wont put any rules, as I consider that she is a free woman & not my slave (if my employer told me how to paint my nails or have my hair, I would call a lawyer!).

Well, I took good note of all your advices ladies & will come back to you if I need to ;-)

Take care,
Alexandra
 
Dear Sir/Madam

AlexGuitel said:
Hi,:bighug

I finally found a helper (I've been looking for my Mary Poppins for months, I sooooo thrilled!)

Now I have to organize her room (used untill now as "smoking room").

Do you know what I'm suppose to put inside except a bed. If I listen to myself I will put nice curtains and flowers but everybody keeps telling me that I have to be less nice and act less gently to show who is the boss but it's so not my temper...
For the furniture, what are we "oblige" to offer her?

Thanks in advance for your answer, I'm so not cut for that, I don't know how to handle that as it's our first helper & as it doesnt work like that at all in France wher I come frome...

Alex
Click to expand...


You are such a good employer, and I'm sure your helper is very lucky, for me(I am also a helper) just give her what you think is right but not to much.

I hope that she will do her best as your helper because employer like you is one of a kind, most of bosses not doing the same thing for they're helper as what as you do.

You are very kind.

Good luck,

Yzabelle
 
Alex,

We had a lot of problems with our 1st helper, so I decided not to renew her contract and start over with someone new. D was around 20mths at the time.

I made a list of responsibilites and divided them into daily/weekly/monthly chores. Its definitely helped her manage her time. Also, gave her D's schedule naps/ feeding times/ playgroups etc. Last we agreed on her start up time.

My ex-helper would wake up at 8am, and it would drive me nuts. Asked her many times to wake up earlier, but she didn't listen. As I was nursing D, I did the night shift, and if it was a rough one I needed to sleep in for another hr or so. D would wake up at 7am, and I wanted to be able to just hand him over to her after a morning feed. Didn't always happen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top