Acceptable working hours for live-in DH

Our new DH has suggested to start her working day at 6:30am. For us that is not necessary and can be disrruptive to our normal sleeping patterns. Would it be reasonable if we asked her to start her workday at 8am and finish by 10pm? Would appreciate anyconstructive thoughts on this. Cheers.

It really depends upon your family's needs and your flat set-up. Our first helper would quietly straighten the living areas from the night before so that it was nice when we woke up. She would have coffee ready when we awoke and breakfast shortly afterward. There were other quiet things she would work on, like the ironing. She never disturbed our sleep doing this, though sound may carry more in your flat.

As for a daily finish time, we've given a "last duty of the day" instead of a set time. For us, that is the washing up after dinner. That way whether we eat early or late, the kitchen and dining areas are cleaned before she knocks off for the day. It also gives her some earlier nights and a chance to unwind.

I guess it depends how busy she is during the day, or if she's able to have any rest time during the afternoons/mornings. Our helper is usually up at around 6.30am - her choice (she doesn't prepare our breakfast) and goes to her room at 9-9.30pm in the evenings. She has Sunday off and all public holidays.


However, we are out at work all day and she has no children to take care of, and I do all the shopping and cooking. We have two dogs that she walks during the day, although my husband and I do the early morning/late evening walks. She basically does the housework, laundry, washes the cars (only once a week - not everyday like some!) and walks the dogs. Sometimes, I feel a little guilty that she is working until 9-9.30 in the evenings, basically due to the fact that my husband works very long hours and we tend to eat dinner late, so she clears up the dinner table/dishes when we finish (sometimes, if he arrives home particularly late, I tell her to leave it and I do it myself). However, on the odd occasion that I am at home, I can see that she tends to 'potter' around the house 'looking' for things to do ... things that I wouldn't bother to do because they don't really need doing - I assume this is because I'm at home and she wants to look like she's busy (not that I expect it), but I am certain, when I'm at work, she has plenty of rest time during the day ... far more than I get each day. So, should I feel guilty that she's still doing the dishes at 9pm (with most of them going in the dishwasher) ...?


Before anyone gets on my case about how dreadful it is that my helper is working a 15 hour day ... I've calculated (from what I've seen and what she has to do) that she's probably only actually working around 5-6 hours each day, if that. If I did what she does (which I used to), it would take me a lot less.


So, in answer to your question, is 8am - 10pm reasonable? ... I would say yes, as long as she's getting plenty of rest time during the day and not working solidly during those hours ...