When you hire staff for your estate, it’s a personal decision that requires great consideration. Professional housekeepers, estate manager, family assistants, nannies, and private chefs all have access to your personal space and see your routines and many times, private conversations.
With this close proximity and access to the inner workings of your home, ensuring you have a clear confidentiality and privacy policy is key. Unfortunately, sometimes establishing this type of policy is last on the list for some household employers.
Why Establishing a Privacy Policy Matters
It’s easy to think that as your staff gets settled into their role and you start getting comfortable with one another, that trust will build.
This of course, is an ideal scenario and often happens over time, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set up clear privacy policies to protect both you and your staff. Doing so will help create a stronger professional working relationship.
Private estates and homes aren’t like traditional corporate offices – especially since there may not be professional HR training or human resources departments to oversee personnel.
Domestic employees may have access or be exposed to a variety of things while working in a home:
- Travel plans
- Passwords, keys, or security codes
- Financial information
- Medical information
- Personal schedules
- Valuables
Without clear instructions on how you want or do not want your staff to be privy to these things, even the best and most well-intentioned staff may not know what information should remain in confidence.
Even casual conversation amongst your staff and their family and friends may be risky for maintaining your household and their safety.
How to Establish a Clear Privacy Policy
Your privacy policy should first and foremost be in place to protect your family’s safety and reputation. It should be professionally written, and you may also want to include your legal team to ensure everything is included.
Your privacy policy should clearly define:
- What’s private: family routines, travel plans, financial or medical details, visitor names, etc.
- Social media policy: specific rules on what can be shared or not shared
- Photo policy: if photos of the home, property, family members, or other can be taken or shared
- Guest lists: if any high-profile guests or other visitors are at the home that you do not want discussed
- Valuables: List the types of products or valuables that you do not want your employees to have access to, touch, or take photos of
It’s important to keep in mind that most of the time, confidentiality breaches don’t come from a place of ill intent. Often it comes from what could appear to be harmless discussion or sharing, and the employee may not be aware that the information is sensitive or off limits.
That’s why it is important to outline your expectations from the very beginning. Discuss your privacy policy during the interview process and time of offer to ensure the employee is agreeable to maintain what’s expected.
Once you have hired your new employee, be sure to craft a clear written work agreement that not only outlines your rules surrounding confidentiality, but also a termination clause that includes details on what happens if privacy violations occur.
Some private estates choose to utilize non-disclosure agreements (NDA). These are often a condition of employment and are signed when the candidate accepts the position. This is a separate document from a work agreement. A non-disclosure agreement is a legal document and if the employee violates something in it, you can pursue legal action.
Why Household Staffing
When you work with Household Staffing, you can trust our decades of industry expertise and the time we spend vetting our candidates to ensure you get the best of the best.
We take your safety and privacy seriously – that’s why we perform an exclusive and extensive screening process that includes a Nationwide Criminal Records Investigation, a Nationwide Sex & Violent Offenders Search, Driving Record Report, and Social Media Search.
Once we present you with qualified candidates, you can check references and make your decision on who fits best in your private estate, and ensure they know that your privacy policy isn’t about control as much at is about protection and respect in the workplace.
A good privacy and confidentiality policy defines boundaries, provides you with peace of mind, gives you grounds for reprimand or dismissal if violated, and prevents misunderstandings or any confusion before they happen.
Call us today at (212) 600-2085 to get started.
