The Essential Guide to Household Staff Definitions and Acronyms
Struggling to understand the countless acronyms and jargon words in the household staffing industry? Here is our complete guide and glossary to help you understand essential terms in private staffing.
Job Title Glossary
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Someone who is paid to watch your children occasionally. They often don’t have formal childcare qualifications but we recommend looking for a babysitter with basic children’s first-aid training to keep everyone safe.
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A nanny is hired on an ongoing basis to take care of the children in a family. The role can either be full- or part-time and nannies can be live-in or live-out depending on your needs.
A nanny should have clear responsibilities which can extend to all aspects of childcare, including meal-planning, laundry, social calendars, academic and personal development.Read more on the difference between a nanny and a babysitter here.
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A house manager (also called a domestic manager, housekeeping manager, estate manager or household manager) is an individual who is solely responsible for overseeing and governing the ins and outs of the household.
House managers may live on-site in the employer’s home, have a set number of hours per day to come in, or be on call to take on tasks as needed — all depending on the needs of the employer and home.
Read more about the role of a house manager here. -
A housekeeper is responsible for managing the general upkeep of a home or household. Responsibilities include ensuring the home is kept organised, clean and tidy; laundry and ironing; dealing with tradesmen or contractors. It can also include cooking, pet care, running errands or specialist skills such as antique furniture maintenance.
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An estate manager (also called an estate director, director of properties, director of residence, chief of staff or often abbreviated to EM) is an individual who is responsible for the supervision and management of the day-to-day operations of private estates.
From maintenance and repairs, to estate budget and event co-ordination, estate managers are a hugely important role in the smooth running and (where appropriate) the profitability and productivity of an estate. -
A personal assistant in a private household is hired to support the principal of a family, or the whole family. Their role includes things such as managing diaries, running errands, co-ordinating gifts and organising travel.
Read more about hiring a personal assistant in Chicago here. -
A Majordomo is a high-ranking, versatile, and skilled professional who oversees the seamless operation of a private household. They embody a unique blend of butler, estate manager, personal assistant, and even social co-ordinator.
For further details on job titles and the differences between various roles, see our Services page.
Household Staffing Acronyms
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High-net-worth individuals are people or households who own liquid assets valued between $1 million and $5 million.
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Very-high-net-worth individuals are people or households who own liquid assets valued between $5 million and $30 million.
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Ultra-high-net-worth individuals are people or households who own liquid assets valued more than $30 million
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DINK stands for “dual-income, no kids” and refers to couples who are living together and both earning. Generally they are thought to have DINKs refer to couples who have higher disposable incomes.
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HENRY or “high-earners, not rich yet” refers to the group of people who are earning a higher than average wage but who have minimal savings. Whilst HENRYs have wages often between $250,000 and $500,000 annually, they may also have high financial outgoings because of home loans, school fees, student debt etc and therefore don’t fall into the HNW category.
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PSP or Private Service Professional refers to people who work within the household staffing/hospitality industry and provide a service to their employer, usually a HNW individual. Jobs for PSPs include roles such as: personal assistant, butler, housekeeper, nanny, gardener, estate management, private security.
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A non-disclosure agreement or NDA is there to ensure the privacy of an employer, be that a family, couple or individual. An NDA will specifically state what can and cannot be disclosed with the public, media, or friends and family of the employee.
Importantly, a NDA will not restrict you from providing an agency or potential employer with the name of a past employer for employment verification purposes.
Private Household Employment Terms and Definitions
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Fair & Legal Pay means paying a living wage for all hours worked, including the correct compensation for overtime. Fair + Legal Pay also means paying required employment taxes on wages paid to employees.
*taken from PrivateServiceAlliance.com
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Guaranteed hours are a set amount of hours that a nanny commits to working each week. It is the nanny’s responsibility to be available for this amount of time each week, much like a daycare promises to be available during certain hours each week. In turn, it is the family’s responsibility to pay the nanny for these guaranteed hours every week. This creates stable employment for the nanny and can help families retain quality care providers.
Read more about how to navigate the guaranteed hours policy here.
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A W-2 employee is an individual who is formally employed by a company or organization in the US. Household workers can also be employed formally by families to be considered a W2 employee.
Read about the benefits of paying household employees through a payroll system here.
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Pre-tax simply refers to a salary before taxes and deductions are taken out. It is industry standard and best practice to negotiate your hourly rate in terms of “gross pay”, or “pre-tax” pay before taxes are taken out.
Use this nanny tax calculator to help you work out what is an affordable salary.
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A healthcare stipend is a fixed, taxable amount of money that your employee can spend on health insurance or put towards unexpected medical bills. You are not required by law to provide your domestic staff with health insurance or any other medical benefits. However, there are a variety of reasons you’ll want to! Read more here.
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Yearly raises are meant to adjust for inflation and increased job responsibilities ( due to additional children, pets, or added duties ) and to reward high performing employees for their hard work. Bonuses may be performance-based or considered holiday pay.
Read more about why yearly raises and bonuses are important here.
Other Terms You’ll Hear in the Domestic Staff Industry
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To be considered a career nanny or career household employee, you should typically have been working in that profession for 5 or more years. Generally career employees have dedicated themselves to continuing to work in the industry for the foreseeable future, and invested in professional development with no plans to change professions.
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Newborn care specialists (or an NCS) are staff that work primarily with families who have newborn babies (aged 0-24 weeks). They do not have medical training and cannot diagnose illnesses which is why the term night nurse is used less and less.
An NCS provides a family with around-the-clock care, often working long overnight shifts and taking a break in the middle of the day. Newborn care specialists also often work in pairs so that there is always someone on hand to help. A good NCS will be able to help you with feeding, sleep conditioning, spotting common newborn illnesses to be treated by a doctor, swaddling and other infant-related topics. -
Live-in staff will live with you 24/7 in onsite accommodation/sleeping quarters. If you have multiple residences, they may stay at the home they are assigned to or travel with you between residences depending on your needs.
Live-out employees come to your home each day to undertake their working responsibilities and then returns to their own home at the end of the day. -
Domestic staff refers to people working in a private residence or household. It could include people who work directly with the family such as a nanny, housekeeper or house manager, but also includes jobs such as chauffeur, gardener and private security.
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A household employee is someone who is paid to provide a service within a private individual’s home residence.
To see the types of household employees we work with, head to our services page.
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A fully-staffed home may have any number of staff, including but not limited to nannies, house managers, housekeepers, executive housekeepers, estate managers, private chefs, drivers and gardeners.
In many fully-staffed homes, employees work within teams and report to executive housekeepers, house managers or estate managers rather than the principal (homeowners).
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High-profile employers are generally those known in the public eye either due to their sporting accomplishments, or careers in the performing arts, tech, or political industries. Employees working in high-profile households will usually have a more stringent interview process and/or security screening.
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Domestic placement agencies work with clients looking to hire household employees by matching them with high-calibre candidates who are a good fit for the role. Read more about how we help you hire the best household employees in Chicago.
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A nanny agency is a domestic placement agency that works with families to help them find the perfect nannies or caregivers for their needs. Find out how we help families find the best nannies in Chicago.
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Principal refers to the primary owner or person in charge of a house that employs household staff. It most often means the homeowner themselves.
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A household manual or maintenance schedule is a document detailing all of the tasks required to ensure the smooth running of your luxury home or household on a daily basis.
Find out what should be included in a household manual here.
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A family office is a privately held company that exists in a high net-worth (HNW) or ultra-high net-worth (UNHW) household to help them manage their wealth and investments. The family office assists a HNW or UHNW family to run their businesses, investment, and lifestyles and often includes administrative staff, accountants, HR, and executive assistants.
Read more about the role of a family office and whether you need to start a family office here.
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Vendors and contractors are third-parties that either supply goods or services to a home. From A/C cleaning to gardening and landscaping or from party planning to private catering, there is a huge variety of vendors or contractors who may work with a HNW household.
Find out how to build strong relationships with your vendors and contractors in this article from one of the My Household Managed partners, Nines. -
Discretion is of the utmost importance when working as a household employee.
Some of the ways a domestic worker can be discrete includes being able to “read the room” and knowing when to intervene or leave. Household staff should also know not to post photos of their employers or employers’ children on social media.
You’ve got enough on your plate in your day-to-day life — let us make your life easier by handling your unique household staffing needs.
If you are a family looking for a nanny, housekeeper, house manager or other private household staff, register with My Household Managed.
If you are looking to work within a private household, apply at My Household Managed.
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