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A housekeeper is one who normally does the typical household chores like doing the laundry, cooking the food, washing the dishes, and cleaning the rooms as well as the toilets. There are two general kinds of maid services: commercial housekeeping services and domestic housekeeping services. There are maid services for commercial lodging establishments, for example, resorts, hotels, and inns. There are also housekeeping services hired to clean specific parts of a home, such as the bedrooms, the living room, or the kitchen.
The process of hiring housekeepers should not be taken lightly. Housekeepers are more often than not left alone with the personal belongings of the owners or the occupant. When it comes to the protection of people and their property, one must never be complacent.
The best move for a person to hire the services of a maid is to ask around for referrals and personally contact a housekeeping agency. This will give the proprietor a remedy in case the maid does a lousy job or worse, commits a felony. For the greatest protection of the employer, the agency must of course be one that is licensed to operate as a housekeeping establishment. It must have a good standing, without a record of violation of any existing law, rule or regulation. The employer could check this with the regulatory agencies such as the Department of Health, the Department of Labor, or the Business Bureau.
The agency, as well as the housekeeper, must also be bonded and insured. This will ensure that the agency takes full responsibility and, conversely, the employer is free of any liability, should things go wrong. To illustrate that a bond is necessary, it secures the employer from theft commited by the housekeepers. Further, liability and employee accident insurance might be needed in case the maid is injured in a work-related accident.
The employer in need of a housekeeper must not leave the entire hiring process to the cleaning agency. He must make sure that he controls the selection of the maid. He must reassure himself of the housekeeper's character references, employment history, criminal background, trainings, and skills, as well as review any supporting documents. It would help if the employer prepares a full list of the job description outlining the kind of maid he wants in order to make the matching and selection process easier.
The employer must ask for a written contract from the cleaning agency, which covers all the aforementioned concerns, backed by a written satisfaction guarantee. The employer must ask to have an interview with the housekeeper and tell the maid about his expectations. He can even request for a trial period from the cleaning agency to ensure his satisfaction of the service. Lastly, using discretion, he must apprise himself of pertinent employment laws such as those relating to wages, social security benefits, and taxes.
