Helpers and mobile phones

S

sorchului

Registered User
How do you deal with helpers and their mobile phones? Anyone has some rules for them?

I know some mums band helpers using mobile during their working hours (i.e from 7/8am to 9pm). This does not work for working parents as the helpers talk or send messages for sure while we are away.

The only 'rules' I have set are 1. Not to use it while being with the baby and 2. when cooking as it can be dangerous.

Comments and advice please
 
i tried to reinforce no mobile phone for previous & current maid, but they still do it behind my back (& i'm a stay at home mom already). besides using their mobiles as soon as i step out of the house, one used it in the washroom behind locked doors. how i found out is that she placed her mobile phone in the washroom cabinet. i also have the rule that absolutely no mobile phone while being with the baby, but no luck so far. she just places baby in the playpen & then types/calls away. if anyone here has been successful, pls share! tks
 
I have no rules about mobile phones or landlines. I would use a mobile while looking after my baby so why not my helper too. I can't see that it would be dangerous - it isn't when I use mine.
 
I agree with Barbwong, I am often on blackberry and mobile when I'm with my two kids, cooking - pretty much everywhere and we certainly have no phone rules for our helper.

She uses her common sense and wouldn't be on the phone if she were watching the kids near traffic, water or if she needed to be fully engaged for safety reasons.

Surely multi-tasking is a skill to be encouraged!
 
We also have no rules for our helper using her mobile. She takes great care of our son and our home. We trust her not to neglect her duties, and she never has. I have no idea who she calls or receives calls from, but I do know our helper has a son, a family and a life back in her home country. I think it's important that she should have her mobile on hand incase of an urgent call. Like I said, we trust her and she doesn't use her phone excessively.
 
I often see a helper with a 2-3 year old boy in a playground near where I live. She is always on the phone giggling and chatting away. And the poor little boy? He is holding HER bag for her.. while waiting patiently by quietly kicking the pebbles on the ground. I feel sorry to see how bored he gets after 40 minutes or so...

I'd feel very happy for anyone who has the luxury of being able to constantly engage in long and private chats on their mobile at any work place. Good for you!
 
There is a huge difference between someone constantly engaging in long and private chats on their mobile in the work place and someone taking a few person calls in the work place.

I work and would hate it if my boss said I was never to make personal calls but I wouldn't abuse the fact I'm able to make calls. So I feel the same way about the helper I employ - if she was to be constantly on the phone and unable to do her job I would mention it but banning her from using the phone is a different matter.

Just because she is living in your home doesn't make her status any less as an employee.
 
I agree with barbwong. Banning the phone is not necessary and the helper will not like it.

All in all, it depends on how wise the helper is.
 
if your helper is constantly on the phone at the risk of neglecting your child then you have much deeper issues than just the mobile phone - this would be a symptom of a much deeper issue - lack of responsibility - which would be cause for reconsidering having her with you taking care of your child.

my helper is fantastic and we know she is responsible and we trust her to spend a day with our child even though i know she will now and again take a call when she is with my toddler (while he is watching tv for example or playing safely in an enclosed space). i see absolutely no problem with that. as one of the above posters said, she has a life and a family and to "ban" her for communicating with anyone during "work hours" (which for them can be quite long!) i think is just plain cruel and ridiculous.
 
agree with barb wong & zac08.

how many of us make calls or check personal emails for that matter while we are at the office? or use our mobile phones while looking after our children? me, me and me.
 
I am sorry to sound like a grouch but I totally disagree with some of the above. I have told my helper if I catch her on her phone (unless it is me calling her) whilst she is looking after my daughter it will be instant dismissal. I have seen too many helpers in our complex plonking children down in a common area and then just sitting on their phones for ages, showing no interest or attention to the child. Yes, so far I trust my helper, but she is still fairly new and I don't want her to start getting into bad habits. As far as I'm concerned, if my daughter does not have her full attention when she is babysitting her, she is not doing her job. I don't mind if she does our shopping and sits on her phone while out, but not whilst looking after my girl. And I don't feel cruel or ridiculous for doing so. We have a great community here where we live, and many of us mothers know others helpers, and keep each other up to date on what we see them doing. It is just making sure they keep on their toes and don't take advantage of being away from their employer.
 
obviously, to each (mother) her own (style of managing her helper). i personally trust my helper 100% to use her common sense and good judgement when deciding whether or not to pick up a call if her phone rings while she is watching my child. from my own personal experience giving your helper the sense that you trust her to make these decisions fosters a much better overall mother-helper relationship which to me is very very important. clearly those helpers who are on the phone constantly while at playgrounds with children are not responsible and this is cause for termination. But i know that my helper is not like that and for me personally i see no reason to have to lay down such a rule with her. it is all very individual and i was just giving my opinion. of course if you are not 100% comfortable trusting your helper 100% yet and/or if she is new/young, that may be a different story from mine.
 
We provided our helper with "house rules" before she started. In regard to telephone we said:
"TELEPHONE
We need to be able to contact you at all times; and would prefer that your personal phone calls were kept to a minimum during working hours (ie; only a couple of calls). Of course we understand that there may be urgent calls that you need to receive, but please try and limit these."

I want to be able to contact my helper during the day. Can't very well tell her she can't use the phone and then not be able to contact her!

I agree though. How much is too much and how can I be sure that she isn't on it all day? I don't, I guess I did have to trust her to a point.
 
if your helper is responsible for looking after your kids and you're giving them the freedom to carry a phone around you're asking for trouble. no matter how good one is a multi-tasking, the phone distracts the mind and it's easy to 'not see' an accident in the making. although i've said no phones during work hours, i know for a fact that my maid talks to her friends when my child sleeping or when he's watching tv when i'm out. that's ok as long as she's not directly dealing with my child. it's all about trust and how loose you let the reins.
 
All the mums who ban phone calls - can we assume that you adhere to the same strict standards you set your helpers? ie. that you never take personal calls of any duration while you are the adult responsible for the child?
Do you allow your helper to visit the bathroom while they are on duty? That may necessitate leaving the child alone for up to 3 minutes: of course, parents never do such things.....
Seriously, helpers are a logn way from home. By enforcing their emotional cutt off from friends and family, surely you'll just create an unhappy helper??
 
Great to see you back in form HappyV with your extreme views and extreme examples.

We don't have any rules in our house for phone use but our helper knows it would be a big problem for us if she started behaving like lots of helpers in our building do,i.e talking on the phone for the entire time they take kids to the playground etc.

I can see that some helpers do however need rules. Hell, we've had two previous helpers that did. If you didn't spell it out for them they would do it and then plead ignorance. Not all helpers are created equally. Some have common sense, some don't. Some are willfully disrespectful, for others it just comes naturally! And of course, there are plenty who are great and do their job just fine.
 
this thread just makes me very thankful and happy that we have such a great mature responsible helper whom i know i am lucky enough to be able to trust implicitly without having to treat like a child.
 
aussiegal said:
Great to see you back in form HappyV with your extreme views and extreme examples.

We don't have any rules in our house for phone use but our helper knows it would be a big problem for us if she started behaving like lots of helpers in our building do,i.e talking on the phone for the entire time they take kids to the playground etc.

I can see that some helpers do however need rules. Hell, we've had two previous helpers that did. If you didn't spell it out for them they would do it and then plead ignorance. Not all helpers are created equally. Some have common sense, some don't. Some are willfully disrespectful, for others it just comes naturally! And of course, there are plenty who are great and do their job just fine.
Click to expand...

Aussiegal,
Agree with what you are saying one hundred percent.:agree: Truly appreciate your comprehensive and level-headed approach--now before someone jumps up...in MY opinion.:dance:
 
We don't have any rules either. Our current helper is mature and responsible and the calls don't effect her work. She still manages to get all chores done at the end of the day.

However, my previous helper drove me crazy. After every task (which she rushed through) she would hide in her room/kitchen and talk on the phone. Her calls weren't even short, 30 mins each time. And she even gave our home number to all her friends and our land line rang non-stop.

Agree with Aussiegal, some helpers do need to be given house rules, while others just know right/wrong.
 
aussiegal, may I refer you back to AussieMum's comments earlier in the thread. Instant dismissal upon using the phone seems pretty harsh to me.......

I thought I was being pretty clear that my comments referred only to those who ban phone calls, hence my question directed to "All the mums who ban phone calls....."

How is it extreme to plead tolerance? If someone is going to fire their helper for daring to use the phone while a child is playing happily and safely, then it's not so far a stretch to imagine the scenarios I suggested.

Rules are one thing, but you can have rules without a blanket ban.
 
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