Before the first working day
Preparing your home for a live-in carer or nanny
A good live-in start needs more than a spare bed. Prepare private accommodation, working and off-duty boundaries, household access, practical information and a realistic first-week routine before the employee arrives.
What should you prepare before live-in staff arrive?
Prepare a genuinely private place to live and a working arrangement that makes off-duty time visible. The room should be ready before arrival, with agreed access to bathroom, kitchen and household facilities. The employment terms should separately record normal duties, working hours, breaks, overnight expectations, days off and any household travel.
Then remove avoidable first-week uncertainty. Write down practical household information, keys and security procedures, emergency contacts relevant to the job, Wi-Fi or appliance instructions where appropriate, transport or parking information, children's or household routines and what needs to be completed on the first few working days. The aim is not to write a surveillance manual; it is to let the employee understand how the home works without having to guess.
Live-in staff home-preparation checklist.
Complete the practical setup before the start date so the first week can focus on the job rather than missing basics.
The room is part of someone's private life, not an extension of the workplace.
Living where you work makes boundaries more important, not less.
What should go in a household information pack?
Include information the employee genuinely needs to perform the agreed role safely and consistently.
Plan the first week as an onboarding period, not a test of mind-reading.
Even an experienced domestic professional needs to learn how this particular household works.
Confirm the normal timetable, keys, private accommodation, relevant household areas and what is expected on the first shift.
Show how you want agreed systems handled rather than assuming there is one universal correct way to organise a family home.
A simple communication route reduces the risk that the employee improvises around security, children, appointments or household preferences.
Ask whether the stated duties fit the available hours and whether any recurring task or access issue was missing from the original brief.
From our work
We treat live-in as an arrangement that sits on top of a clearly defined role.
Filipino Domestic Services' current staffing enquiry asks a household to identify the role, postcode, live-in or live-out arrangement, normal days and hours, recurring duties and preferred start date. The live-in service guidance then separates the room and household access from the work itself: accommodation does not decide whether the person is a nanny, housekeeper, nanny-housekeeper or companion.
That distinction becomes practical before the first day. A family can prepare a beautiful room and still create a difficult start if the employee does not know when work finishes, which duties take priority, how keys and alarms work or whether an evening request is part of the normal job. Conversely, a clear first-week plan can reduce unnecessary friction without adding bureaucracy to ordinary household life.
For companion roles, the same preparation does not expand FDS into regulated care. If the household needs personal care, nursing or clinical support, that service boundary must be addressed separately. Filipino Domestic Services introduces candidates; the household remains responsible for the employment arrangement, accommodation, written terms and the day-to-day management of the person it chooses to employ.
Before arrival, make the private space and working week agree with the job offer.
If the live-in setup changes the hours, duties or availability expected, resolve that before the employee moves in rather than after the arrangement has started.
Questions about preparing for live-in domestic staff.
What room should I provide for live-in staff?
Provide suitable private accommodation that is ready before the start date, with appropriate sleeping, storage, heating, lighting and access to bathroom and kitchen facilities. The exact contractual and minimum-wage treatment of accommodation should be checked separately.
Does live-in mean the employee is available at night?
No. Living in the property does not by itself create 24-hour availability. Normal working hours, breaks, overnight duties and genuine off-duty time should be defined separately in the employment arrangement.
What should I give a live-in nanny on the first day?
Alongside the normal employment documentation, give the practical information needed for the job: timetable, relevant contacts, keys and security instructions, household routines, role priorities and a clear explanation of private accommodation and off-duty expectations.
Should I prepare a handbook for a live-in housekeeper?
A short household information pack can be useful, especially for security, appliances, recurring routines and role-specific preferences. Keep it functional and relevant. It should not replace clear written employment terms or become unnecessary control over private time.
How quickly should live-in staff know every household routine?
Do not expect instant familiarity. Use the first week to show household-specific systems, answer questions and check whether the workload described in the brief fits the actual hours. Experience in another home does not mean the employee can infer your routines.
Does this checklist apply to a live-in companion?
Yes for the accommodation, hours, access and first-week setup. The service boundary remains separate: an FDS companion provides non-clinical company and practical support, not regulated personal care, nursing or medical treatment.
Prepare the home, then protect the boundaries.
A thoughtful room and information pack help, but the strongest live-in arrangement is one where role, hours and private time remain clear after the first week too.