helper hours?

[capital]

joannek, please share the house rules. I am really curious! It is interesting to hear how other people live

 

[jane01]

joannek - your helper wears a uniform????

 

[joannek]

LOL. she wears white collared t-shirt & khaki long or 3/4 pants, socks & shoes, which are all provided. all of my friend's helpers wear those. she needs to tie up their hair, short nails, no nail polish (i'm dead already, so don't shoot!), no makeup. no chatting on the phone during working hours. returning before 9pm on holidays.

i've never had a DH before i had my baby. i grew up like most of you here without help at home so i'm used to sharing the household chores with my mom & sis. everything i know about hiring, treating & training a DH was taught to me by my agent, and my friends.

 

[aussiegal]

Personally i don't have a problem with the uniform thing. It's not like you are making her wear a french maid's outfit! It's like us going to work and being asked to wear a uniform or at least dress to a certain standard. I also agree with the not talking on the phone during work hours. The number of helpers you see taking the kids out to play etc that then ignore them while they talk on the phone for ages is quite something. It's not something I'd put up with.

I don't however get the rational behind the make up and the 9pm curfew (unless you're helper likes to apply make up like a hooker that is). If my boss told me to be home by 9pm the night before i go to work I'd tell him something that would probably put me out of a job.... This seems to happen a lot here. I would never demand that my helper be home by a certain time the night before. As long as she can do her job and isn't coming home drunk etc what's the big deal? It's not like they get a lot of time of, especially at your house joannek :haha:

 

[jane01]

I had visions of a french maid's outfit as well ! Glad you sorted that one out for us joannek.

So you grew up without help, so your mum and dad looked after you and your sister. I find it strange, given your upbringing, that you won't go out without bringing your maid along to carry the shopping and nappy bag. Would you consider structuring your day so that your maid gets time off for a rest/nap especially if she is up a couple of times in the night to attend to your daughter?

You must love your husband a lot to put up with a mother-in-law like that. May I be nosey and ask if she lives with you? If so, you have my fullest sympathies.

 

[mintycat]

I also provide "uniforms" for my helpers. When they came on board, I asked them if they want "uniforms". I told them it will be black track pants and polo shirts from Bossini. They both agree. Sometimes they wear their own clothes, most of the time, they wear the "uniforms."

I agree on the phone thing. With my previous DH, I was out for an appointment one day and when I came home , I walked in on her talking on the phone and feeding my then 5 month old. I must have startled her that she dropped the phone and thankfully not the baby! After that I told her she shouldn't chat on the phone while minding the baby. I don't mind if she chats on the phone when she is ironing or something.

While I don't ask them to return home very early on their rest days, I did tell them I want them home by 10:30 pm. One of them always come back around 8 pm and have dinner here. She said she wants to save money by eating home. She always helps out in the kitchen despite me constantly telling her its her rest day and she doesn't need to do anything.

I do have a rule about not bringing friends home without my permission.

 

[regislea]

I?m intrigued by the several postings that admit to demanding that the DH is home by a certain time on their ?rest? day.

How many of you are aware that, legally, a DH is entitled to a full 24 hours once a week and on statutory - not Public - holidays?

Are you doing this out of ignorance of the law or simply breaking it because ?everybody does it??

Best regards,

Regislea

 

[ELT]

We don't have a curfew but we do ask our helper to call if she's going to come home after 10pm. That said, I would be concerned if she came home after midnight every week. Otherwise, as regislea mentioned, it is her dayoff!

 

[vivianhui]

regislea, I didn't impose a curfew for my helper, but just to answer your question, the 24 hour rule starts from the time when the helper starts to rest the previous day. e.g. if your helper rests on Sunday and she finishes her work at 8pm on Saturday, then the 24 hours will be over by 8pm on Sunday and so she will be expected to be home by 8pm on Sunday.

This is what I read on the baby forum for local Chinese. Most of the local Chinese families want their helpers to be home early on Sunday for various reasons, some need their help to tidy up or clean the home after spending a whole day with the baby, others believe helpers will be exposed to bad influence if they hang out with their friends for too long. So they will let their helpers finish their day early in the evening before their rest day so they won't break the law even if they ask the helpers to come home early.

just thought this is interesting to share.

 

[jamesandsimo]

sorry all - didn't mean this to get out of hand. ALL i NEEDED to know what the LEGAL hours for employment. Surely there must be something???? Most of our husbands (or wives) who work have a 8am - 6pm contract (yes, i know they work longer, some get overtime some dont etc etc)

I will try and check with the government what is legal - personally i don't think its ethical or should be legal for helpers to work more than 12 hour days, especially without breaks -i don't think we 'own' them. I would totally be offended if my husband was required to work 15 hour days 6 days a week with 7 days off a year!