Helper stained husband's shirts :(((

I agree, very frustrating. But I also wouldn't deduct $ off her salary especially since you cannot 100% rule out another cause. My helper ironed one of my silky tops too hot and melted a hole in it. I was annoyed but did not deduct $ as it was a one off and, to be honest, I could have easily done the same thing by accidentally having the iron on too hot. She now uses a hankerchief for delicate ironing and no further issues so far.
 
Likewise, I wouldn't deduct money - you don't know if it was done through carelessness or was an unavoidable accident or had nothing to do with your helper (eg, leaky iron or problem with washing machine).

Tell your helper your husband is very cross about the shirts (not you - you're the good guy!) and suggest your helper could try to find out the cause and just be really careful when doing the laundry. Stress that you don't know what happened and suggest your helper try to find out what the problem is. Give her some responsibility.

At the end of the day, we are lucky to have helpers - we don't pay them the wages of household staff in London or New York. They haven't been to 'butler school' or 'housekeeping school' or 'nanny school'. They are simply human and we all make mistakes. If a couple of ruined shirts are your biggest problem, I think you're pretty lucky. Yes, it's annoying - but it's nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Remember - don't sweat the small stuff!!!

;-)
 
Does your husband have a new belt? Sometimes a new belt can leave stains on clothing - especially if there is dye on the belt that has not sealed properly. (Just a though given that the stains are somewhat in the same place?)

I don't think it is reasonable to deduct money - imagine how we would feel about being financially penalised for a mistake where we simply did not kow where the problem had come from......??
 
I will not deduct from her salary of course but just that I need to put across to her that money does not grow on trees. She needs to feel the pinch too every time something gets broken or spoilt due to her carelessness. The problem has come from ironing for sure and she should have been watching while ironing the second time around after I told her to. None of the other clothes have stains so they could not have come from washing machine, detergent or fabric softner. She washes all the clothes, folds them and irons them and hangs in my husband's closet.
 
Is she looking after children while ironing? This may be the reason why she is not concentrating on the clothing.
 
Hi
realise this post is old.
I think the reason helpers never tell you if they break something/do something wrong (like stain /bleach a piece of clothing) is because they are afraid of the consequences.
Employers who deduct salaries etc - its not suprising, is it (on the amount of salary they get)

Lets face it, their whole monthly salary will buy only about 10 shirts, if they are not expensive shirts.


I insisted on my helper telling me if something was not working, broken, spoilt etc and explained I just prefer to know.
Now she is telling me more.:agree:
 
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