The growth of families in the United Kingdom calls for a continuous search for reliable housekeepers and house staff to help them with the daily maintenance of their household. A housekeeper enables a family to have a convenient life in a clean and well-kept environment, allowing them to be worry-free of their everyday errands. This will also take a huge load from hands-on parents who could be working full-time, in or outside the comfort of their home. It is particularly crucial to have a housekeeper if the household has two to three very active children who love to litter and play around with their toys, bringing them out all at once. Although childcare may not be necessary, the housework surrounding the children involves a lot more.
The Housekeepers tasks will vary depending on the family and days that they are working. Those housekeepers working on a full-time basis will have time to do deep cleaning to most of the areas of the house and garden for example, while part-time housekeepers will focus on the laundry, ironing and general cleaning, depending on the size of the space and family.
It’s always important to bear in mind the necessities of your family, so how could you know if you need someone full-time or part-time? First, you need to take in consideration that hiring a housekeeper for full-time or part-time hours will change the salary that you will need to pay, so making yourself an idea of how much you are willing to invest in someone helping you at home will help to see how much this person can do per day.
Think about the benefits of having a housekeeper from 9 am to 6 pm per 5 days a week vs. having someone 2 days per week per 8 hours. Take in consideration, if you want your housekeeper to cook for the family, help with the shopping, to look after the dog, keep the laundry and ironing on top, and general cleaning of the house and garden, if this is what you are thinking, yes, you definitely will need someone to work full basis, but if you are just looking for some extra help, as cleaning once per week the toilets, changing bed sheet and doing the washing, a part-time housekeeper is the perfect option for you.
A housekeeper can promise you a stress-free life every day by making sure that all areas of your home will be spotless and your errands will be accomplished on the time you need them done. Their duties vary but are not limited to the following:
The salary will depend on the experience and the employer’s requirements. Also, Housekeepers with more years of experience will charge higher salaries than those housekeepers with only 2 to 3 years of experience.
Housekeepers can work for 10 to 12 hour per day, to 5 to 6 days per week with a salary range of £10 to £15 per hour or £400 to £600 net per week for full-time live-out housekeepers and £300 to £500 net per week for live-in housekeeper.
Families in the United Kingdom hire housekeepers on a permanent basis or temporary basis, those families that are looking for a long commitment for more than a year will look for a housekeeper that is happy to stay with the family for many years. But sometimes families are just seeking someone to help while their current housekeeper is on holiday or maternity leave for example, so a temporary housekeeper is the best option for them.
We advise families and housekeeper to have an honest conversation about the expectations that both parties have of the job. The best moment to have this conversation is during the interview or at least a few days before starting the job. Talk about the home dynamic, how things work, explain where everything is in the house and how to act and who to contact in case of any emergency. These are some of the few things that the conversation should go through.
Both the employer and employee should feel comfortable to go through the list of each responsibility, so that you can avoid any misunderstanding in the future about topics that you were supposed to discuss at the beginning of the employment, for example, when the housekeeper can take holidays, for how many days, are there any allergies at home?
As with any other employment, you will go through ups and downs with your housekeeper during the employment relationship. There will be good days and bad days, and moments where both of you won’t agree about a situation, but the best is always to talk about it and find the best way to understand each other. It’s important that every 6 months or every year, you go through a review process with your housekeeper to talk about her performance, having a chat about it will help to improve anything that needs to be improved.
Why should I have a contract with my Housekeeper? Many families leave this responsibility aside, believing that because this person is coming to their houses, the job that they are doing is more informal than someone who commutes to their workplace in an office, a nursery or cleaning a shop for example. This is one of the most common mistakes.
Nothing is better than having a full and precise description of the job that the nanny, nanny-housekeeper or housekeeper will be doing every day. Employer & employee need to agree on the description before starting the job. You will need to discuss how many days and hours the nanny will come to your house, what the responsibilities of the housekeeper are, if they will be doing extra hours and how they will be paid, if the job is temporary or permanent, if the housekeeper needs to drive, and many other specifications.
As an employer, you will need to deduct tax and National Insurance, but you may also deduct student loan repayments and pension contributions. Every employee (it doesn’t matter if they are working in a temporary capacity, permanent capacity, full-time or part-time capacity) needs to have PAYE and NI deducted from their Gross salary before receiving their salary (Net salary), since every person living and working in the United Kingdom is obligated to make financial contributions through Pay as You Earn (PAYE) on any earnings above their personal allowance.
If you are the employer, you are obliged to give your nanny, nanny-housekeeper or housekeeper a payslip; this is an employee’s right according to the Government official website- Gov.uk. What is a payslip? It’s a note that details the amount the employee has been paid for a specific period, as well as listing any deductions, like PAYE, NI, student loans and pension contributions. The payslip can be sent on paper by post or given directly to the employee or via email in digital format.
Pension contributions may include the employer’s pension scheme, as any voluntary contributions or those contributions that are passed to a personal pension provider. This deduction is taken out of your housekeeper’s pay at ‘source’ and doesn’t have tax on top of it. Little Ones always recommends that the families ask their nannies if they are interested in any pension scheme or that the nanny should ask their employer to deduct this from their payment.
The employer is legally obliged to pay for Holidays, sick days and maternity leave. Your housekeeper qualifies for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if they have been off work sick for four or more days in a row (including non-working days). The employee has the right to enjoy their statutory holiday.
After reading these Looking to employ a Housekeeper?, you will probably ask yourself, how can I find the perfect Housekeeper for me or my family?
We truly believe that finding a housekeeper is an important decision. It is not just because you will have to invest some money, but because you will open the door of one of your most important places to someone outside of the family. You are not only looking for someone who will come to clean for a few hours a day, you are looking for someone who will become part of your family, someone that you will trust to be at your home and help you with any problem that can come.
You can search for a nanny 1. By yourself, 2. Friend recommendation or 3. through an Agency.
It’s here where Little Ones comes into the scenario to help you; we are a nanny and domestic staff agency with over 15 years of experience. Our specialist consultants will do their best to match the perfect housekeeper for you and your family. They will introduce you to housekeepers that will tick the majority of the requirements and qualifications that you need the person to have.
Call us for a free consultation, without compromise. Our consultant will be more than happy to assist you to find an amazing housekeeper. For more information about our services, please feel free to contact our direct line 0207 183 0309.
