Employee Contracts for Domestic Staff

Your household staff is employed by you. Many families organize payroll and taxes through their business office or a third party service. Whether you operate with a home office, business office or third party, you must have an employer identification number, confirmation that the employee is authorized to work and all relevant tax forms completed for each member of your staff. This includes W4 and I-9 forms.

For tax or legal guidance specific to your estate and state’s laws, please consult your financial team. For example, some states require worker’s comp to be provided for all domestic staff. Most states require detailed records of payroll and income to be kept. Setting up your hiring process the correct way will save time and money for all future hires and ensure that you avoid any legal issues in the future.

New York labor laws for domestic staff

California labor laws for domestic staff

 *This introduction is presented as a resource for staffing your home. For tax or legal guidance specific to your estate and state’s laws, please consult your financial team.

Drafting Employee Contracts for Household Staff

Once your household staff is hired, it is important to begin the relationship in the best way. Using an employee contract that is signed by all parties can eliminate miscommunication and establish clear expectations.

The nature and atmosphere of your home or estate is unique to your family and lifestyle. Some homes require formal staff with white glove service, while others operate best with a relaxed and easy-going setting. No matter the level of formality, it’s important for both you and your staff that clear boundaries are in place. Smooth running residences operate with clear and specific expectations for all staff.

The contract you will draft with your staff is simply your employment offer and all details written out and signed by all parties. Your particular household structure will determine the details of your contracts, and should include at least the following:

• Employee’s schedule
• General duties
• Employee benefits (if offered)
• Sick, holiday and vacation time
• Salary, pay period, how they will be paid and how to report hours

Like any agreement, having the details in writing will ensure there will be no confusion or problems in the future.

See more information on hiring and on-boarding staff in your home.

 How to Organize Your Household Staff

Delegating staff management to an estate manager or house manager can eliminate difficult situations between employer and employee. A qualified manager will be able to assess your staffing needs and desires, outlining the positions you need filled, and screen and hire the ideal staff for the size of the home. They will be able to address problems as they arise and lead by example. For other staff, a trustworthy manager is a great asset to communicate the wishes of the principal and set clear expectations.

A good household staff will keep your homes up to standard with little to no involvement on your part. A poorly managed or inefficient staff, however, will increase the number of tasks needing your attention. Staff that are absent, arguing, discordant, and poor performers. We encourage families to hire from the top down. Once you have a qualified estate manager or house manager in place, they will take on the stress of hiring more staff and ensure consistency and efficiency in the process.

Contact our office for personalised consulting services. 

For those homes that have unique structures or needs, BAHS has a consultancy department to assess your needs and recommend the right staffing hires.

The Benefits of Working With a Staffing Agency

Because every family’s needs are different, our commitment as your domestic staffing agency is to provide expert service that saves you time, ensures all details are in order, and matches staff that compliments your home and unique needs. We believe that if both sides of the placement are beyond satisfied in their placement, the relationship will be happier, more successful and longer-lasting.

Why work with a Staffing Agency?

1. Save Time

At British American Household Staffing, our expert team sources qualified candidates and conducts a rigorous screening and interviewing process. Through our vetting process, you won’t waste time meeting candidates that are not a good fit for your home. Reference screening and background checks are also handled by our team to ensure only the highest quality candidates meet with our families.

2. Expert Attention to Details

A placement agency acts as an abridged HR department dedicated to the success of your home. BAHS’s expert placement specialists will be able to understand your needs and help identify the traits to look for in staff. You will be supported through the entire hiring process; including advisement on salaries, benefits, schedule, and any relevant tax information in your state.

3. Third Party Perspective and Personalized Care

BAHS’s belief in matchmaking sets us apart from other staffing agencies. Our recruiters will work with you to understand your individual needs and match you with staff that can provide high quality service and care.

Contact our office to find the right staff for your home.

Why Do Yacht Crew Make Great Domestic Staff?

By Anita Rogers

What is the Difference Between Yacht Crew and Household Staff?

Yacht crew are particularly dedicated to their jobs. They love to travel to exotic countries and for this they give their finely tuned skills and their hours. Yacht crew work 7 days a week, often an 18 hours a day. They get an occasional day off, probably once every 3 weeks. They usually work on internationally flagged vessels so they get a set amount each month with no overtime.

Full-time domestic staff, on the other hand, generally work 40 hours a week, with overtime hitting in after 40 hours. They work 5 days a week and as a standard get two consecutive days off, usually the weekend.

Principals and estate managers love to hire yacht crew to work on their estates. 

Why are Yacht Crew Good Hires for Household Staff?

To illustrate the work ethic and commitment of staff with yacht experience, look at the job description of a chief stewardess:

• Oversee the interior of the vessel including upholding service requirements, concierge, housekeeping, and laundry
• Plan and coordinate events
• Care for all guests and cater to their unique preferences
• Prepare invoices for charter guests 
• Train other members on the crew in the standards of care for the ship, guests, and crew.
• Oversee interior maintenance work 
• Coordinate planning with the yacht’s owner, including all the planning involved in a booking a vessel of 23 crew members and 18 guests
• Must be available at all times
• Working hard to prepare the vessel and process orders before guests arrive

These skills are easily transferable to domestic staffing. Attention to detail, working with the guests’ preferences in mind, and working efficiently are all stellar qualities in household staff. For example, housekeeping on a yacht must be exceptional and seamless due to the close quarters and fast-paced schedule. There is so much to do onboard that tasks must be done correctly the first time.

Why Do Yacht Crew Decide to Work on an Estate?

There is more turnaround on yachts than in estates as other captains will recruit crew for journeys and most jobs are temporary, rarely will a crew stay with a  boat for years and the owners don’t want to pay the crew year round when they are not travelling. 

Working as yacht crew operates similarly to contract work. The hours are long and hard while on call. After one job ends, crew will either take a break on land or find another boat to work on. After some time working on boats, it is common to see qualified and dedicated crew looking for permanent roles on an estate.

 Hire Qualified Household Staff & Yacht Crew

If you are an estate manager, house manager, personal assistant, or principal hiring for an estate, you cannot go wrong hiring seasoned yacht crew who are looking for a change of pace.

What Does a Live-In Nanny Do?

Why Hire a Live-In Nanny?

Juggling work and family is a never-ending cycle of deadlines and to-do lists. Your schedule is filled to the brim: working in the day, picking the children up after school, taking them to their different activities, going home, cooking, cleaning, preparing the children’s food for the next morning and when the children are asleep ordering everything online, tidying up, trying to get some sleep, then starting all over again.

Do you think back to the time when your calendar actually had time in it for yourself, when you could go to the gym, sleep in, or order in? Having children, a partner, and a job was not meant to be this hard. Well, it doesn’t have to be with the right support structure in place.

Hire a live-in nanny or nanny/housekeeper. Sure, it creates more overhead but the house will be organized, children taken to school, picked up, meals prepared, and time to breathe. You can get to the gym and on weekend days maybe sleep in. It isn’t impossible. 

Some families ask “why not an au pair?” Au pairs are popular ideas, but finding a good caregiver like the lottery. You could win a good one but most of the time they are almost young enough to be your own child and as carefree as when you were a late teen. Au pairs do not require the same amount of training or experience as a nanny. While this can be an adequate addition to your family, it’s better to make one hire that will last long-term and be an investment in your children’s development and success.

So, how does a family hire a live-in nanny or nanny/housekeeper and how are weekends covered, too?

What is a Live-In Nanny’s schedule?

For younger children (ages infant to five), a career nanny is the better choice. A career nanny will have education and experience in childhood education or psychology. They will have experience with your children’s age groups and be able to set boundaries, teach through creative play, understand sibling rivalry, and work to ensure the children develop into happy, well-rounded teens and adults.

After the age of 6, a nanny/housekeeper is appropriate as your children will be learning in school. They are in school longer and won’t benefit as much from a career nanny as a younger child would with more hours at home. 

A nanny/housekeeper won’t have the developmental experience with children but they will be loving, safe, and reliable while keeping the house clean.

The standard schedule for a live-in nanny and live-in nanny/housekeeper is they arrive at 6:39am Monday morning and leave Friday at 5pm, back to their own home. You want them to stay long-term as your children get attached. Everyone needs two days away from their workplace to recoup and feel a work-life balance, nannies included. Another reason not to opt for the au pair option, which is seven days in your home.

Lastly, to cover the weekends you could hire a separate weekend nanny. This is usually a student with nanny experience due to their availability on weekends. They will keep your children engaged, tutor them if needed and wake up and play, make sure homework is done, and give you a couple of mornings to sleep in.

How to Pay Your Live-In Nanny?

You may negotiate a lower hourly pay because you are providing room and board for your nanny full-time or through the weekdays. However, it’s important to keep in mind the flexible schedule your live-in nanny will have. Unless you are militant about on and off hours, a live-in nanny will inevitably work well over 60 hours a week. In some instances, because of the convenience of the nanny always being on-call, we recommend maintaining payment in line with market rate. Honoring the nanny’s time through structured time-off or financial earnings will be an investment in long-term satisfaction for you and your nanny.

Outlining the work schedule and boundaries is an important step in hiring any live-in household staff. Because they will be in your home 24 hours at a time, we recommend settling details in writing like what their time off looks like, when you may request extra care, and appropriate behavior in your home. Our expert recruiters will be happy to guide you through this process and recommend the best structure based on your unique needs and lifestyle.

Life with a Live-In Nanny

Does this sound too good to be true? It is all possible and standard. Many professional families hire this specific set up with help from BAHS. They get their balance back, and even go out with their partners on a Friday night when either the week nanny or nanny/housekeeper stays late or when the weekend nanny comes over, after work on Friday. 

Make the right choice for yourself, your marriage, and your children. Get your time back and actually sleep more! Connect with BAHS today to discuss hiring a live-in nanny or nanny/housekeeper or a weekend nanny.

How to Effectively Hire and Manage Your Domestic Staff

 How can I manage an entire team of staff?

Hiring a team of domestic staff to work in your home is equivalent to starting and managing a small business. Having the right structure in place from the beginning will save you time and future headaches. Many large homes suffer from having a revolving door of staff and unorganized systems.

If you have recently bought a large home and you need to hire and structure household staff for the residence, you should strive to hire correctly in order to have continuity and stability. 

What domestic staff should I hire first?

The best first hire to make is an estate manager or house manager, depending how large your residence or estate is. If you need 6 or more full-time domestic staff, hiring an estate manager is the best option. An estate manager typically manages three or more properties easily. 

If you need less staff or you predict you won’t need a full staff, hiring a personal assistant as your first hire is advisable. A good estate manager and personal assistant will have experience hiring staff and working with an agency. 

There are many mistakes that can be made when first hiring staff. It is advisable to avoid mistakes at all costs so hiring a personal assistant or estate manager to do the initial recruiting and screening is key to starting off on the right foot. Butler/house managers or personal assistant house managers usually have experience working with a domestic staffing agency and hiring staff like housekeepers, chefs, chauffeurs, laundresses, nannies, baby nurses, etc. Housekeeper/house managers are the best option for training the lower level domestic staff, for example housekeepers, laundresses, domestic couples etc.

What domestic staff should I hire after I have hired an estate manager or personal assistant?

Once you have hired a personal assistant or estate manager it is important to listen to their advice and work together to structure the remaining hiring. You know your unique needs best and a qualified manager will know how to best meet those needs. 

The chef may be your most important hire or the nanny if you have children. You may like no staff in your home in the morning or only have housekeepers clean on specific days. Your schedule and salary ranges will dictate what staff you can hire. For example, if you want all of your housekeepers to finish by 3pm they will need to start around 7am. Your estate manager or personal assistant should advise you on the schedules that encourage the highest quality staff to work in your home.

See more: Need to rectify internal problems with domestic staff? How top-down hiring creates lasting success.

What about the legalities when hiring domestic staff?

Again, the personal assistant or estate manager should know all the legalities when it comes to contracts and hiring domestic staff. It is imperative you structure payroll and schedule correctly to avoid any legal issues moving forward. 

A benefit of working with an agency like British American Household Staffing is having our knowledge and networks at your disposal. Our expert recruiters will be able to advise you on schedules, payments, and put you in touch with lawyers who work specifically with domestic staffing hiring structures. 

Each state has different laws but unlike the UK, all US states dictate domestic staff are non-exempt, which means they are paid hourly and are given an overtime rate after a specific weekly cap. This cap and rate differs state-to-state. Certain payroll companies, like GTM, set up domestic staffing payroll legally and correctly. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), you must pay at least minimum wage for every hour worked and overtime for every hour over 40 worked for live-out employees.

 Be sure to consult your accounting team when working out the details.

See More: 5 Common Legal Mistakes You Want to Avoid When You Hire a Domestic Staff

What are the most important qualities to hire in domestic staff?

When considering potential hires to work in your home, these three qualities should be easily recognizable in a candidate:

• Experience with excellent, glowing verifiable references
• Work ethic. Check with the reference but have your estate manager structure questions specifically to test work ethic, for e.g examples of how they did more than their job description, what work-related attributes they have they are proud of.
• Being a team player. Some domestic staff members work well alone and badly in a team. Anyone you hire must have experience working in  team and the reference must emphasize how well they worked with the others. One bad apple often destroys the bunch.

When you work with British American Household Staffing, every candidate you meet will be thoroughly vetted, experienced, and knowledgeable on quality service. When you meet a potential hire for the first time, the most important thing, is to gauge their personality and temperament and compare it with your family and household.

See more: How to Hire the Right Domestic Staff

If you need guidance on hiring domestic staff, contact us to arrange a consultation.

How to Organize a Stressful Home with the Right Domestic Staff

A home in disarray causes unnecessary stress. Are you waiting for contractors and personally coordinating maintenance? Do your current staff come to work late or under-perform? Your home is like a small business and operates best when everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goal. Having a house manager in place can ensure that goal aligns with your needs and keep all domestic staff on task.

What a qualified house manager can do:

• Supervise all contractors and vendors
• Hire, train, and manage household staff
• Receive and look after guests
• Plan and execute events
• Craft and manage a household manual
• Manage household budgets and bookkeeping
• Prepare property ahead of a Principal’s arrival
• Maintain automobiles, private jets, and/or private yachts

Are you juggling too many tasks and worry your children may fall behind developmentally or educationally? Beyond just babysitting, an experienced nanny will provide structure for you and your children, aid to your children's development, and take day-to-day duties off your plate.

What a qualified nanny can provide:

• Structure and support to busy schedules
• Management of day-to-day tasks related to the children
• Investment in your child(ren)'s development
• Aid in child(ren)'s educational advancement
• A nurturing environment for your child(ren) to grow into functional adults

Do you worry your home is not being cared for correctly, or are you in need of help keeping things in order? Hiring a housekeeper who has the knowledge of how to care for fine furnishings, artwork, and surfaces not only brings ease to your day-to-day living, but is a necessary investment in the long-term quality of your home.

What a qualified housekeeper can provide:

• Clean and orderly home
• Clothing care
• Light meal prep
• Upkeep of home and home value over time

Imagine a life when every party is prepared down to the last detail and all you had to do was speak to your personal assistant for 15 minutes. All your vacations are booked and money was even saved. Your children’s schedules are always sorted and last-minute changes are managed without you having to get involved. Your housekeeper is managed and the house is cleaner and more organized than usual. Doctor and dentist appointments are all in the calendar for you, your partner, and your children.

A qualified personal assistant can handle all of these things and more.

What a qualified personal assistant can provide:

• Management of the family calendar
• Personal shopping
• Event planning
• Bill payment
• Travel arrangement
• Management of household staff
• HR duties including hiring and paperwork 
• Bookkeeping and vendor management

Hire the right household staff with British American Household Staffing.

The organisation and make-up of your domestic staff is unique to your individual needs and lifestyle. Having the right support in place saves you time and worry, and it ensures the smooth running of your homes to the highest standard.

Our expert team of recruiters will work with you to identify your individual needs and find the staff will be best for your home and family. For those homes that have unique structures or needs, BAHS has a consultancy department to assess your needs and recommend the right staffing hires. We will provide a true assessment of the issues, guidance on how to solve them, and will manage all training. Contact us today to begin your search or connect with a consultant.

For more information, see:

Hiring Multiple Domestic Staff: Why You Don’t Want One “Jack-Of-All-Trades” Employee

Setting Up Your Residence With The Right Domestic Staff - Hiring An Estate Manager

Need to rectify internal problems with domestic staff? How top-down hiring creates lasting success

Need to rectify internal problems with domestic staff? How top-down hiring creates lasting success.

As your family and wealth grow, so do opportunities for problems. Instead of relaxing by you swimming pool or sipping cocktails on the terrace, your daily routine is constantly interrupted by issues with managing your home and day-to-day life.

A good household staff will keep your homes up to standard with little to no involvement on your part. A poorly managed or inefficient staff, however, will increase the number of tasks needing your attention. Staff that are absent, arguing, discordant, and poor performers 

You may have encountered housekeepers threatening to leave if nannies won’t clean the children’s rooms and nannies insisting the housekeepers should do their job. The cleaning quality is subpar and you seems to encounter messes wherever you go. The estate manager is unprepared and overwhelmed, requiring your input to put our fires and manage the staff.

There is minimal communication between the domestic staff. The nannies don’t get on and the children are unhappy with one or more of the nannies. The nanny your children love is disliked by the rest of the nanny team and most of your domestic staff. Somehow no amount of money seems to solve this problem. Your life is a nightmare that keeps getting worse. Your partner blames you for the issues. This seems to be a money pit that keeps getting deeper. You can’t leave your homes without staff or your children without nannies. You are stuck, miserable, and you have no idea how to solve these problems.

This is where British American Household Staffing comes in. 

The best way to resolve serious or moderate domestic staff issues is to hire an experienced estate manager or chief of staff. We represent experienced estate managers with decades of experience running large homes and staffing structures.

The key to success, is that once you have the right fit, you have to give your estate manager 100% control. In order to feel comfortable handing over the reins, it is necessary to understand their management style, previous experience, and expertise. Our recruiting specialists will work with you to ensure that your hire aligns with your lifestyle and standards so that this process will appear seamless.

Remember that your home should run like a business. Corporations naturally have hiring and training procedures in place. Everyone is paid legally at market rate, employee and manager structure is automatically set into place. Process is implemented from day one. The same structure is necessary in a domestic staffing setting. Think of how Aman Resorts are managed. The right process and structure is the bedrock of their business model.

In many homes, hiring an estate manager is the best first step to implementing structure. For those homes that have unique structures or needs, BAHS has a consultancy department to assess your needs and recommend the right staffing hires. We will provide a true assessment of the issues, guidance on how to solve them, and will manage all training. We will also guide implementation, rewriting of household manuals, and creation of schedules. Drama is minimized, operations are implemented, and new and old hires are all trained. Our consultants will help you hire the best manager.

How can you tell who is a good estate manager? A good estate manager will be equally liked and respected by you as by the staff they oversee. They will pitch in and help clean or cook if the estate is short-staffed. They will be very direct with you and approach complex problems like micromanaging staff - which is only ever counterproductive and usually creates paranoia and staff leave because they are unhappy.

When all is done, your home will run smoothly and all issues get to you only when serious. All the daily gripes go to the estate manager and there are very few serious issues as the hires are good ones, everyone is trained, operations are tight and there is accountability within implemented processes, the same as a small business. 

You can sip cocktails on your terrace, take your yacht out for two weeks knowing all the crew are cohesive, trained and solid hires, the right flowers will be on the table, your favorite smell permeates the boat, your favorite food brands are stocked. The same with your home. Every little detail is there, and the quality of care in your homes is the highest level. Cleaning is perfect, you don’t ever see the housekeepers but the home is perfectly cleaned. The nannies get on and the children are happy. This is our aim and what we do.

For a free consultation contact us today.

How to Organize Your Second (and Third) Homes

By Anita Rogers

Real estate acquisition is a useful means of investment and growth in your portfolio. However, one mistake we see UHNW and HNW individuals make is acquiring too many properties too quickly and not hiring the right domestic staff to care for those properties. The larger the property, the more complex and expensive the maintenance. 

Large properties need management and overseeing. Property management companies can oversee additional homes or rental properties. Their vast network of vendors and contractors can ensure your home is cared for while you are not in residence. If you require focused care beyond what a property management service can provide, we recommend hiring a domestic couple for each additional property.

A common domestic couple is made of a housekeeper and a houseman or maintenance man. They will oversee all of the housekeeping, laundry, cooking, groundsman duties, any plumbing or HVAC issues, and be in charge of the structure of the home. They will be well-versed in and understand unique maintenance needs dictated by the age and style of your home and its location. For example, if the property is a beach property, salt and water cause a plethora of problems for a structure and the correct maintenance is imperative to keep the value of the property. 

When the family is in residence the domestic couple of this type will work many hours and keep all aspects of a busy home running. Additional staff may be hired on a temporary basis to care for the home and family as well.

A domestic couple is an excellent hire for any vacation home or large estate. They maintain the property on both a micro and macro level. The likelihood of longevity is high. They have often relocated to live on property for the job position and as they are usually a married couple, they tend to make the area and job their life.

We recommend a keeping maximum of two estates or large properties for you or your family and properly staffing them. Any additional properties should be rented to tenants who arrange their own help in the home.   An estate or large property needs a hefty structure to ensure they are guest-ready and the property retains its value or increases in value.

Staffing multiple homes is a complex process. Contact our office to discuss your needs and explore the best option for you. We can help identify staffing needs and find the right household staff for each property. We can advise on how to keep things as simple as possible while working with the market standards in domestic staffing. Having the right care in place will eliminate future headaches and guarantee your homes are well-cared for.

3 Things to Discuss with a Nanny Before Hiring

Hiring a nanny is a huge commitment for a family and one that shouldn’t be entered lightly. British American Household Staffing (BAHS) is here to take the headache out of the process by providing personal attention, expert advice, and a roster of thoroughly screened nannies.

Your ideal nanny, like so many other things, will depend on your child, your family, your beliefs, and your needs. The perfect fit for one family may be a nightmare for another. There are many things to consider when hiring someone to help look after your kids and offer support to you as a parent.

When you meet a potential nanny for the first time, the most important thing is to gauge their personality and temperament and compare it with your family’s and your child’s. Beyond personality, be sure to discuss the following with any potential nannies:

1. The ages of your children.

Developmental stages can greatly alter the job description of any nanny. While it is good to have a nanny who has experience with all ages, be sure they are comfortable and competent with the ages your children currently are. A nanny with long-term experience with one or two families, spanning from toddler to teenager, is an excellent hire as they have proven longevity, flexibility, adaptability, and loyalty. 

The ages of your children will also directly affect the duties assigned to the nanny. Younger children will be with the nanny more hours of the day, requiring tasks such as scheduling play dates, assisting in care around the house, and creating educational activities. Older children will require more driving - to and from school and activities - managing calendars, and homework work.

2. Particular skills needed.

The skills your nanny needs are dependent on your unique family and lifestyle. Be clear about what needs you have and how you would like them to be met.  Do you want someone comfortable with homework help and extra tutoring? Would your busy schedule benefit from having a nanny that is happy to run errands and schedule appointments? Determining your needs will dictate whether you hire a nanny-tutor, a nanny-family assistant, or a nanny-housekeeper.

3. Schedule and flexibility.

Being clear about what schedule you need childcare will help you find the right fit faster. Working parents often need 12-hour childcare as well as extra coverage for emergencies. Families with busy calendars may need to adjust a nanny’s schedule weekly. Be realistic about your lifestyle. Will you need extra coverage at a moment’s notice? Or do you maintain a structured schedule that relieves your nanny at 7pm every night? There is no right or wrong way to set your nanny’s schedule, but being transparent at the beginning will allow you to find the right nanny to meet your needs.

For more information see, How to Hire a Nanny: What to Know and How a Nanny Agency Can Help. 

Find a Nanny with BAHS

If you have questions about what type of caregiver will provide the best support to your family, we would love to help. At British American Household Staffing, we specialize in matching experienced, educated full-time nannies with families like yours. For families seeking the highest quality career nannies or more personalized guidance through the process, we offer consulting services as well.

Why Should You Hire a Personal Assistant?

Why hire a personal assistant?

Your personal life has become too busy. You are juggling family, school, dinner parties, birthday parties, holidays, and more. A personal assistant will help manage all of the family’s administrative needs. 

Imagine a life when every party is prepared down to the last detail and all you had to do was speak to your personal assistant about your ideas for 15 minutes. All your vacations are booked and money was even saved. Your children’s schedules are always sorted and last-minute changes are managed without you having to get involved or put out any fires. Your housekeeper is now managed and her work is being overseen and the house is cleaner and more organized than usual. Doctor and dentist appointments are all in the calendar for you, your partner, and your children. 

Does this sound impossible? A far away dream? Not if you hire the right personal assistant.

What are the duties of a personal assistant?

A quality personal assistant will organize and manage any administration relating to your family’s personal lives. 

•  Manage medical, dental, beauty appointments and keep ahead of them so everyone has their regular check ups in the calendar, a year ahead of time. They will handle any last minute appointments as well.
• Arrange all travel for the family, organize family vacations, get the best deals on travel, including yachts, jets, or general flights. 
• Oversee your other properties and make sure the properties have hard working staff during the on and off seasons. The vendors for those properties will be managed and bills will be scrutinized, saving money and time.
• Prepare vacation properties before family and guests arrive, every small detail is seen to for a seamless holiday season, whether it is a summer home in the Hamptons or a winter home in Aspen.
• Manage any administration connected to non-profits or at-home work you may be doing, ensuring all details are correct, and helping you plan your calendar
• Manage hiring of extra staff when needed. Such as an extra chef for Thanksgiving or extra housekeepers when guests are in town.
• Emails can be answered and written in your voice, ensuring you are always on top of communication.
• Help with any new builds you are planning, managing interior designers, construction companies. A great personal assistant will take the time to understand your tastes and needs and can step in as you to ensure your new home or renovations are exactly as you envision them to be

What are common salaries for personal assistants?

A truly excellent personal assistant will save you her or his money in the salary you pay them in bill management, finding the best deals, and getting refunds no matter how small.

• San Francisco - between $120-180,000 a year plus benefits
• New York or Connecticut will cost you between $100 – 160,000 plus benefits
• Los Angeles - between $80-120,000 plus benefits
• Miami - between $65-90,000 a year plus benefits
• London - between 70-100 GBP a year, sometimes benefits

Hire a Personal Assistant with BAHS

If you are overwhelmed with your administrative duties relating to your life, your work, your children, your partner, and any organizations you are part of, do not hesitate to hire a personal assistant. This hire will save you time, keep your life and your family’s lives in order, and save you the money you pay them in salary.

3 Questions to Ask When Deciding What Household Staff to Hire

By Anita Rogers

If you are a single professional or two working professionals you need to save time and outsource as much housework as possible. We are often asked what the best staffing hires are for a busy home in an urban area. The answer will always be unique to the individual home, but we begin by asking three questions.

1. Do you have children? If you do, the most important hire you make is the perfect nanny.

Hiring the perfect nanny is not easy. Using an agency with a solid reputation is advisable as recommendations from friends are not always reliable. More often than not, your friends work too and didn’t get to see the nanny in action with the children. 

A good agency will check all references and conduct a lengthy in-person interview. If the nanny doesn’t meet the standards during the interview the agency won’t work them beyond the interview. You can be certain if a nanny is worked by an agency that all references and checking has been done and the interview went well. 

As the owner of the largest domestic staffing and childcare agency in the USA, I know we turn down more than 75% of the nannies we meet.

2. How large is your home and how often would you like it cleaned?

Busy individuals rarely have time to clean and corporate cleaning companies generally send different workers in for each visit. This leads to inconsistency in quality and standards. Having new people in your home each week can also be very unsettling.

Depending on your needs, you may choose to hire a housekeeper to work part-time in your home. Be mindful of scheduling if you are looking for part-time workers as they will need to supplement more hours with another home. Consistent schedule and pay are key factors in keeping a quality housekeeper to stay long term.

Whether you decide to hire part-time or full-time, make sure you pay market hourly rate. A good agency can advise what your offer should be based on what your unique needs are. East Coast housekeepers average $25/hr minimum, while West Coast based housekeepers start at $30/hr and $40/hr for the San Francisco Bay Area.

3. Do you want meals provided?

Busy professionals often have a difficult time preparing healthy food for themselves. If you have children and the nanny doesn’t cover dinner time, preparing healthy food for the children can be a challenge. A popular request for working professionals with or without children is a part-time chef who prepares the food in advance, often at their own location and stocks your fridge with healthy meals for the week. Sometimes chefs will plate food and leave it for you to heat it up when you return from work. This is an excellent solution to keeping you or the family healthy and having delicious, healthy meals ready for you for lunch and dinner. 

Hire Household Staff with British American Household Staffing

Knowing your unique needs and the best way to meet them can make the hiring process easier. Identifying and hiring the right staff for your family will provide much needed rest and ease of mind, knowing your family and home are being properly cared for. 

Still, knowing where to begin this process can still feel overwhelming. Our expert team of recruiters are able to discuss your needs, recommend the right staff, and connect you with that staff throughout the hiring process. Contact our office today with any questions and to begin your search.