Allan Smith 4/22/24 Allan Smith 4/22/24

A Customer's welcome letter to their new helper

Fourteen years ago one of our customers shared with me a letter she wrote to her new helper. It’s still relevant so I wanted to republish it. Enjoy!

Rather than giving 10 pages of instructions, the employer sets the standards and allows the employee flexibility in achieving these standards. These guidelines clearly let the helper know what the employer's focus and priority is. In this case, the employer and employee are both Christians, so the guidelines are written with that in mind. You should not copy another person's guidelines, but rather talk to your family members and develop one that reflects your priorities and values. Keep it simple and focused.

** Welcome to our family! **

Job Duty = General Description

Marketing: Do the grocery shopping in food market or supermarket
Meal preparation: Cooking, dish washing (post meal clean-up), & garbage dumping
House cleaning
Laundering and ironing
Taking care of and playing with the child
Other (miscellaneous work) // Car washing

Our Expectations

To have a clean, dry, hygienic, neat, joyful & thankful home.
To have a domestic helper who is obedient, willing to learn and to improve.

Our Priority

The Almighty GOD, our son, and ourselves

Pay special attention to

Our son is very sensitive to any noise during his sleep, therefore when he is sleeping, we all try not to make any noise, let him have good sleep every time.
Our son is a very active boy, therefore when you take care of him, you do not need to do other household work, just accompany and play with him.
When we discipline our son, please just pay NO attention to him. (ie: do not look at him, do not talk to him …) (ie: you just keep doing whatever you are doing, or keep going wherever you are going).
You do not need to answer any incoming call, because our family members do not speak English. Thank you.

About Us

We are Christians, therefore we prayed, asking God to give us a Christian domestic helper, so we could pray and praise the LORD together.
We are joyful, easy-going and open-minded persons. Of course, we also have our weaknesses. Therefore, we pray that we could grow together in HIM, and give thanks to HIM for each other.

** If you have any question or any problem about anything, just feel free to let us know!

** Hope you enjoy the time together with us! May GOD Bless you!

Your new employers.

Allan Smith 12/16/10 Allan Smith 12/16/10

Helper Guidelines

Below is a copy of some work guidelines that an employer wrote for their new helper. It is a good example of what to do, and they graciously gave me permission to use their guidelines with the hope that others will find them useful. Rather than giving 10 pages of instructions, the employer sets the standards and allows the employee flexibility in achieving these standards. These guidelines clearly let the helper know what the employer's focus and priority is. In this case, the employer and employee are both Christians, so the guidelines are written with that in mind. You should not copy another person's guidelines, but rather talk to your family members and develop one that reflects your priorities and values. Keep it simple and focused.