The coronavirus crisis was not kind to the household personnel industry, since it was impossible for hired staff to go and tend to their duties in their respective location of employment. Since no one could get out of their houses during the lockdown, it sent a lot of people into unemployment. But as the situation returns to normal (more or less), those who usually don’t clean their own house or cook, cannot wait to hire new people to do so.
A Return to Work under New Conditions
For most of us, handling various tasks at home is simply a part of our daily lives. But for others, it is something they never did. That is prior to the COVID-19 crisis, which had them discover the great world of domesticity. Not all of them enjoyed it… And so, today, they are starting to hire again, looking to go back to their normal life, taking care of business, while someone else takes care of their home. To do so, they normally use household staff agency, such as this website. But this return to work will not be made under the same conditions as before.
Homeowners who hire household staff are now taking extra precautions when hiring. First, they hold the initial interview online on a Zoom or Skype call. The follow-up encounter takes place outdoor, on a café terrace or on the patio at their home. If it seems like an agreement can be worked-out between the parties than the new employee will first have to pass a COVID-19 test, but so will the employer as well, to make sure that no one will spread the virus.
Sometimes, the new staff will even be asked to quarantine inside the house, for a period of 14 days, in a room by themselves, to be completely sure that they don’t carry the coronavirus. However, live-out situations remain the case for the majority of staff hired.
A change in the Job Description as well
Many of the employers hiring household staff now prefer to reduce the number of employees that they have coming to their house. That translates into additional work for one individual as tasks are redistributed between those that have kept their job or have just been hired. However, this should also imply a higher pay, which is difficult to calculate. Some guidelines have been drawn, but each case can be quite different from one another.
In this new environment, the most important is that employers and employees remain as flexible as possible. That way, they can find the right balance in terms of quantity of work expected, the degree of privacy regarding health information, as well as living arrangements, in order to protect everyone against the introduction of the coronavirus inside the house.
