As a new company, our focus is not only on recruiting qualified candidates but also on attracting new clients. The quality of the client is much more important than the quantity, though.
RSG was recently approached to search for a year-round caretaking couple team for a secondary property. The long-time couple team was ready to move on, and a replacement was needed. On-site housing is provided, and the property is only utilized during the summer months. While the couple team has to remain on-site during the winter months, the hours are significantly reduced, and they are there for emergency and security reasons. The duties are what you would expect in such a position; exterior property care, opening the home for the client’s arrival in the summer, housekeeping while they are there, and then shutting down the property at the end of the season and maintaining it throughout the winter months (including snow removal).
So far, so good, right? This seemed like a fantastic search, and we were excited at the prospect of taking it on.
Then the compensation discussion arose. Not only did the client only want to pay the couple $30k/yr combined – because the housing is beautiful, and they are hardly working during the winter months, right? – They also wanted to pay under the table.
Are you hearing the same alarm bells and seeing the same red flags we did? Not only is the compensation insultingly low for the hard work a position like this requires, but the client’s unwillingness to pay legally opens themselves up to all kinds of liability and risk. Their reasoning was this is the way they have always done it, and they have never had an issue with attracting candidates to this arrangement in the past.
Forbes published an article in 2019 titled “The Most Dangerous Phrase in Business: We’ve Always Done It This Way”. This couldn’t be truer for Private Service as well.
When my mother first started her agency in 1984, handshake agreements and salaried positions were the norm. The thinking was these were private agreements, and the hours will work out at the end of the year anyway. Private Service positions often flew under the radar of local labor boards. As the years went by, though, Private Service has become a recognized profession, and the protections afforded to other lines of work have been extended to Private Service Professionals.
Currently, there are ten states and two major cities that have passed domestic workers bills of rights and protections, and the push for federal legislation remains active. The days of handshake agreements and not paying legally are in the past. Luckily, there are great companies like GTM Associates that can help our clients navigate the complex world of being a household employer while remaining in compliance with local and federal regulations.
By relying on the “We’ve Always Done it This Way” adage, not only was this client opening themselves up to potential legal issues, but they were also denigrating the achievements of so many in the industry who have worked hard to make Private Service a respected and valued profession.
While I’m sure we would have been able to find candidates that wouldn’t have minded the arrangement, we decided to pass on the search. While having a new listing to work on would have been great, the short-term gain wasn’t worth the long-term damage to the Private Service industry and our reputation.