All applicants will need to be collected from the relevant airport, bus or railway station. Employee(s) may be shy, nervous and apprehensive at first, please make them feel welcome in your home. If English is not their first language they may also be getting to grips with communicating and these first few weeks are sometimes a potentially stressful time for them, as well as for you.
Applicants are often shy about helping themselves to your food. Please let them know what they are able to eat and ask them what they would like to eat. In our experience, lack of food or misunderstandings about what food they are allowed, is the most common reason why our applicants leave positions.
We recommend you prepare a schedule with a list of duties and go through it with them and also show them exactly what and how you want things done. For example, it’s helpful to explain house rules and discuss meals and mealtime breaks for your live-in help. In our experience, taking the time to explain everything fully at the start leads to far fewer problems later.
If you wish to take your employee on holiday with you, if she is a non-EU Foreign National, you will need to contact and apply to the Embassy of the country you are visiting to obtain a visitor’s visa for her to travel with you. Please allow plenty of time to organize the visa and go with your employee when they have to go to the Embassy.
As all of our applicants are legally allowed to work in the UK, it is the employer’s responsibility and obligation to pay their tax and national insurance. Some of our applicants may need to apply for a National Insurance Number once they have commenced employment, because if they do not already have one, they are unable to apply for one until they are in employment. We can recommend a company that specialises in this field and would be willing to advise and act for you.
Most overseas candidates are working in the UK to send money back home to support their families or save for their future.
