Any tips for first time employer of DH...

DH starting next week...any tips for a first time employer with a first time employee???! Have no idea what to expect and hopefully the first day and first week will be smooth! Thanks!

What age are your children and do you work?

Not having employed a DH here in HK (and hoping to keep that record) I'll leave the response to your specific question to others with the personal experience. However, I would encourage you to make sure that you know your legal responsibilities in respect of holidays, pay (how much & when), other benefits (like return travel home) etc etc. Not only will that safeguard you from unfortunate (and unnecessary) situations it could also give your helper the confidence to know that you know. Good luck. let's hope we don't hear any horror stories from you.

Write down a list of everything you want her to know:

working hours

salary (and whether or not you will pay in advance)

food allowance, or if not, what she can spend your housekeeping money on

where she will eat her melas

what to do if she is sick

what to do if your baby/dog is sick when you're out

what holidays she gets (print out the official list of statutory holidays)


There's more, I'm sure, and although it looks a bit picky, you need to have things in black and white so she knows what you expect. Oh, and make sure she reads it and if she can't then still give her the list, but go through it with her very very carefully.

I can give you a Giudelines book written by the labour department so you know what to expect and that the helper know that you know what she already know. If she is a Filipina I'm sure she already have expectations from you that are outline in the guidline book. Plus its your household what do you want her to do, like fist things first. In the morning do you want her to prepare you breakfast and send the kids to school etc.

to begin with you should have a lot of patience and less expectations for the 1st months. so she has never worked before as a helper, she might have her own way of how things are done esp. cleaning but you have your own way too. Since you are the employer you should show her not only once but untill she gets used to your way. If I need to have a help one day I will be very particular w/ how to clean different areas of the house like:

1. separate brushes/sponges cloths for bathroom & kitchen

2. no damp cloth on furniture surfaces

3. watch out for sour smell on kitchen sponge/ I pop them in microwave oven on high heat

4. show her how you want to wash your veges/meats/fish and how to store them

5. about frying show her how much oil/butter

6. specify how many times she's required to clean, e.g if kitchen needs mopping everyday, bathrooms 3x a week, floors 2x of more, window cleaning 1 a month

7. tell her firmly not to re-freeze de-frosted food items

8. about mealtimes I'm sure she will be happy to eat on her own.

9. on ironing Mister's shirts ( from my own experience I've ruined a lot before ) she has to be careful not to run the iron on the button of the sleeves.

10. she has to learn to separate whites/blacks/colors and check pockets before putting laundry in the machine

11. If she's on food allowance and you have left-overs that are still edible it will be appreciatted w/ out any confusions if you tell her she can have some of it.

12. Specify what time you require her to be up on her toes in the morning.


about cash advances/loansharks knocking at your door/telephone use abuses/ I think you will have enough references from other threads posted here.

Thanks for all your advice...it sure will help me a lot.