Employer Checklist

If you are considering employing domestic staff, whether this is your first time or you have gone through the process before, Perfect Household Staff have put together an employment checklist which you can download by clicking below:

Employer's Checklist

Excellent news! You are considering employing a professional member of staff to work in your home. If you have not done this before, the recruitment and employment process may sound complicated. That is why Perfect Household Staff have created this simple checklist for our families.

Choosing your Recruitment Agency

When considering employing domestic staff, you may choose to use a domestic recruitment agency such as Perfect Household Staff or to carry out the search yourself. Consider the following:

Agency Reputation:

The best place to look for a review will always be your family, trusted friends and colleagues. Perhaps they have worked with the agency and you can talk about their experience. You can request the agency to provide you with reference and contact details of their clients.

Perfect Household Staff continue to recruit professional domestic staff following 15 years of service and our reputation as an established domestic staffing agency precedes us.

The Agency Placement Fees:

In domestic recruitment, the recruitment fees will vary from 10% to 25% and the figure will be based on the level of service and agencies’ costs in project completion. From our experience, agencies which charge the lesser amount per placement will provide a substandard service where aspects such as interviewing, selection process, attention to detail, recruiter availability, document checking, replacements and other aspects will suffer.

Unfortunately, clients who return to PHS following the use of a low-cost agency often end up paying more.

Guarantee Period:

The standard guarantee period for established recruitment agencies is 3 months. During this period, the agency will provide the employer with a free replacement. When you notice an extended or a very short guarantee period, you should definitely consider why that is the case.

Other than a 12 weeks guarantee period, Perfect Household Staff also offer a rebate of the fees if we fail to find a replacement following a request.

Multilingual Recruiters

Some agencies will employ multilingual recruiters who understand your culture and language.

Perfect Household Staff recruitment team consists of several multilingual recruiters who will assist you in any way that they can.

Employee Salary

When considering employing domestic staff, you should be clear on the gross salary which you will be paying your employee on a monthly basis. You can speak with our recruiters who will guide you on the current market rates.

You can find our free Salary Calculator here: https://www.perfecthouseholdstaff.co.uk/client-information/resources/tax-calculation

Total Cost

The total cost of employing domestic staff will include the Gross Salary, Agency Fee, Tax, National Insurance and Pension Contribution.

You are welcome to use our Salary Calculator to help you work out the total costs.

Employee Pension

All UK employers are legally required to offer a pension to their employees (3% minimum).

If you do not have the knowledge, time or patience, Perfect Household Staff Payroll service will cater for your needs and set up the employees’ payroll on your behalf.

Property and Liability Insurance

It is important to consider this aspect as employees can hurt themselves or damage high-cost items inside the property. Employers Liability Insurance is highly advised for all employers. Generally, house owners will have home content insurance which may cover damages or claimant’s costs however, it is advised to double check.

Our partners at La Playa have been providing Insurance solutions and are a well-respected, established and trusted insurance service provider.

Employee Holiday Allowance

All employees are legally entitled to statutory holidays. The amount of holiday allowance will depend on how many days / hours they work per week.

Please use our Holiday Entitlement Calculator to help calculate the number of days.

The Contract of Employment

All Employers must provide their staff with a contract of employment. A fair contract will ensure that your employee feels secure and safe in their role.  

Following a successful placement, Perfect Household Staff will provide you with a bespoke contract template which you or your solicitors can tailor to your requirements.

Checks on Employee

A minimum of two written references should be checked verbally by calling the employee’s previous employers. Where possible, you can also request a character reference from the employee’s family or friends

All employees must be allegeable to work in the UK before you employ them.

Perfect Household Staff make it our priority to check every applicant’s documentation before submitting their CV for your consideration. This will include;

• Passport
• Proof of Address
• Driving Licence
• Visa
• DBS