With the advent of 21st century, the need for domestic staff has grown tremendously. It is almost impossible for working parents not to need the services of drivers, cooks, cleaners and/or nannies. Though domestic staffs seem indispensable, yet they come with a high level of risk. We open up our loved ones up to people we know little or nothing about. But we can reduce the risk drastically by knowing these basic things about these proposed employees.
Knowing these things can save you from being the next victim of domestic staff fraud; it can also save your loved ones from physical and psychological injuries. The news is filled with different headlines on theft, rape, kidnapping, even murder perpetrated by ignorantly employed domestic staff. But it doesn’t have to be so.
MEDICAL STATUS
Knowing the health status of people who work for you is very important. This is not meant for discrimination. You should not just open your family to unnecessary risk. HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, and other viral diseases should be medically checked before you employ them. And for a domestic staff like your driver, an eye test should be seriously considered.
CRIMINAL RECORD
Please if you won’t know any other thing, know the criminal record of your domestic staff. Don’t be deceived by looks. Rapists, robbers, serial killers, etc. don’t always have haggard looks. Some have cool and gentle faces. News has revealed that some religious leaders were found guilty of these crimes. Don’t assume, check them.
FAMILY BACKGROUND
Pay the family of your to-be employee a visit. Having one or two people in their family attest to their good behaviour won’t hurt. It will only strengthen your resolution to either employ the person or not. It doesn’t matter where they claim to live. You can reach them.
You don’t necessarily have to go yourself. That is why we can be your consultant. We have a worldwide network that can help you reach anyone at any location.
NEIGHBOURHOOD CHARACTER CHECK
Apart from having one or two family members standing in for your potential domestic staff, knowing what their neighbourhood is saying about them is very important. Families might be willing to indulge their own, but neighbours have no vested interest. Sampling opinions of proposed employees in their neighbourhood will help you know whether to employ him or her.
Apart from that, this will also help you ascertain the residential address of employees. We’ve heard about people faking family members, but it will be hard to fake where you reside. Neighbours will betray anyone who claims to live among them but does not.
What you don’t know about your domestic staff might actually cost you a lot.