A new helper arrives in a home she has never seen, often in a country she has never lived in, to work for people she has just met. How the first few weeks go usually decides how the next two years go. A little structure makes a large difference.
Before she arrives
Prepare where she will sleep and keep her things. Decide who in the family gives her instructions: one voice is easier to follow than four. Write a simple daily routine, even if you expect it to change.
The first day
Do not start with a list of rules. Show her the home, introduce everyone by name, let her rest and eat, and help her tell her family that she has arrived safely. A helper who has spoken to her family sleeps better and works better.
The first week
Show, do not just tell. Demonstrate each task once: how you want the baby’s bottles washed, which cloth is for the kitchen, how the washing machine works. Many appliances will be new to her.
Keep instructions short and concrete. “Mop the floor every morning after breakfast” works. “Keep the house clean” does not.
Expect mistakes. She is learning your home, your food and possibly your language at the same time. Correct calmly and show her again.
Food, rest and contact with home
Ask what she eats and what she cannot eat, for religious or other reasons. Make sure she gets enough sleep. Agree on when she may use her phone: evenings are common. She is entitled to a weekly rest day, and at least one rest day a month must actually be taken.
If she is new to Singapore
A first-time helper attends MOM’s Settling-In Programme soon after she arrives; she can start work once it is done. Beyond that, the small things help: how to cross the road safely, how to take the lift and lock the gate, what to do if she is lost, and your phone number written on paper.
Talk early, talk regularly
Set aside ten minutes a week in the first month to ask how she is doing and to tell her what is going well. Problems raised in week two are easy. The same problems raised in month four are not.
When it is still not working
Sometimes two reasonable people are simply not a match. Call us before it becomes a conflict: often a conversation with someone who speaks her language solves it. If it does not, we will talk you through replacement.
Contact us whenever you need a hand.