If you’re a household employer with multiple homes or a jet-set lifestyle (or both), chances are you’ve asked this question at some point:

“Do I still have to pay my staff their full salary when I’m not home?”

Spoiler alert: Yes, you do — and here’s why.

Most of our clients travel extensively, especially during the summer, and while some staff members like nannies may accompany the family, many others, such as housekeepers, estate managers, or personal assistants, remain behind to hold down the fort. And by “fort,” we mean your multimillion-dollar property, valuable belongings, beloved pets, and overall peace of mind.

We often get questions about how this works when it comes to a salaried position, especially when the employee may not be working a traditional full-time schedule year-round. But the answer is always the same: A competitive annual salary should still be offered and maintained.

Here’s the logic:

Whether your staff is working 50 hours one week or 10 hours the next (while you’re enjoying your third month abroad), the value of their role doesn’t change. In fact, that flexibility and trustworthiness is part of what you’re paying for. You’re investing in someone who is loyal, available, and ready when you need them — even if you’re not always around to see the work being done.

Those of us who’ve been in this industry for a while know this is standard practice. But for newer household employers, there’s often a misconception that salary should correlate directly with visible hours worked. While that might sound “fair” in theory, in practice it leads to frustrated employees, high turnover, and a lack of long-term commitment.

The truth? It’s not the employee’s fault that you’re away. And in most cases, they’re still working — caring for your home, organizing projects, managing vendors, or staying available remotely. Paying them a reduced rate simply because you’re sipping espresso in Tuscany doesn’t make the position more attractive — it makes it less stable and far less appealing to the top-tier professionals you want to retain.

I always like to challenge our clients to put themselves in their employee’s shoes. How would you feel if your boss said, “We won’t need you for a bit, and we’re cutting your pay until we do”? Not great, right?

And while we’re being honest, we usually work through the Principal’s assistants, not the Principal directly. (It’s okay, we know you’re busy.) But those clients who do take the time to ask for our advice and listen to best practices? They end up with the most loyal, professional, and long-term staff.

And that kind of loyalty?

That’s worth its weight in gold, or at the very least, an uninterrupted summer abroad.

When you’re a C-level leader in a growing company, you might feel hard-pressed for time. There are just too many tasks pulling you in different directions, not to mention the fires that keep on popping up. Eventually, you’ll find that most of your day is spent doing lower-priority tasks that require immediate attention rather than focusing on strategic, high-level decisions.

Sound familiar?

You can’t be an effective leader if administrative processes, no matter how necessary they are, bog you down. It’s simply not the best use of your time.

That’s why more and more executives are turning to executive personal assistants (EPAs) to help streamline both in-office and out-office operations. Contrary to popular belief, EPAs are not glorified secretaries. They’re core team players that can increase your efficiency by removing excessive administrative and personal burdens.

At Deb’s Domestic Agency, we focus on staffing your team so that both your business and private life can reach its full potential. We hunt for strong EPA candidates who are just as capable of managing your calendar as they are performing research, critical thinking and communicating decisions.

Let’s take a look at the top 3 reasons why C-level executives hire EPAs.

1. EPAs Reduce Your Administrative Responsibilities While Increasing Efficiency

The average EPA should be proficient at answering phone calls, responding to emails, scheduling meetings, running errands and more. Those are all important tasks that can be time-consuming, especially when your priority is best spent elsewhere.

Melba Duncan of The Duncan Group frames productivity this way: Say you’re an executive who earns $1 million in salary per year working a 40-hour week (50 weeks per year). If you spend 5 hours each day answering critical, but low-priority emails, that costs your business $2,500 daily.

Having an EPA handle those tasks (i.e., drafting important emails, managing basic financials, rigorous calendaring) cannot only save time but also give you the freedom to pursue business growth operations.

2. EPAs Understand Your Business Strategy and Can Contribute to Strategic Decisions on Your Behalf

To be an effective high-level member, your EPA should have a strong grasp of your overall business and personal strategy. If they don’t understand why a task needs to be done, they won’t be able to communicate your needs, let alone figure out the best way to do it.

Having a strong business sense often translates to an EPA supporting and coordinating with senior members of your team — which can overlap with more supervisor-like responsibilities in both the office and home.

An EPA can also:

• • Mark down areas that require further research and look into them afterward
  • Delegate potential action items for each involved party
  • Follow up appropriately to ensure completion
  • Travel with you or on your behalf
  • Run business and personal errands
  • Schedule your business and personal calendar
  • Interview, hire or manage company or domestic personnel
  • Arrange business and personal travel arrangements
  • Communicate with clients, employees or family members

That level of execution requires someone who is proactive and well aligned on your thought process, commitments and goals. Over time, a good EPA is like a member of your family, as they will earn your trust, learn your preferences and personality and will have your best interest.

3. EPAs Are Not Limited to Working In Your Office

EPAs occupy a unique position within the company as well as in the executive’s personal life. They’re simultaneously close to top-level management while still being attuned to the executive’s personal and private needs.

The ability to communicate vertically and horizontally allows EPAs to manage your personal and professional appointments as well as your message. This could mean conveying your seemingly authoritative email in a softer, more convincing way. Or it could mean funneling potential dissent upward before it becomes a problem. After some time, your EPA should know you almost better than your own spouse or friends. In fact, a good EPA will have your spouse’s birthday in his/her calendar to remind you to get a card and buy a gift on time! They are there to make sure you are successful in both your business and personal life. If you’re failing in one category, it’ll negatively affect the other.

C-Level Executives Benefit From Effective EPAs

An empowered EPA can play a key role in boosting your productivity thanks to their agile, highly personalized role. However, it can be hard to find the right EPA for your professional and personal needs. That’s where Deb’s Domestic Agency comes in! We have one of the largest databases of top level EPAs in the country and receive applications from all over the world. Some of our EPAs have degrees in law, accounting, business, fashion, nutrition, foreign languages such as Mandarin and a wide variety of other diverse degrees, training and experience. Whatever specialized skillsets you desire in an EPA, it is our mission to find them. EPA placements can take 3 weeks to several months based on your location and the details of the position. We recommend starting an EPA search as early as 3 (or more) months before your desired start date. Although we can work with most requests, we can’t guarantee a fast placement.

So, what is an all-in-one housekeeper? While we don’t have an app for that, we do have a name for it! She’s called an Executive Housekeeper. An executive housekeeper is a housekeeper, personal assistant and even a household manager all in one. Often, smaller households (typically under 5,000 sq. ft.) who don’t require a fully staffed home only need one person to perform these multiple roles. For larger, fully staffed households, an executive housekeeper’s main duties are to train and manage the less experienced housekeepers by example.

Many executive housekeepers have college degrees or specialized training and offer services such as bookkeeping, event planning, decorating, caregiving or cooking for smaller families or households. While the main duties involve keeping the house clean and organized, a second, subordinate housekeeper or service is often necessary to help with periodic deep cleaning. The executive housekeeper manages these periodic deep cleanings, as well as general household maintenance, supplies and communications with the vendors and service providers. All duties are based on the homeowner’s specific preferences and the executive housekeeper’s specialized skills, training and experience.

Sounds great, right? Its no surprise executive housekeepers are one of the most requested services in the domestic service industry. If you’ve ever hired for this position, you can appreciate that it’s like “finding a needle in a haystack.” They must work well with your family’s lifestyle and needs. This versatility, particularly when you’re matched with the right employee who’s in it for the long haul, is pure gold. In many cases they become an extended part of your family.

So now, you may be asking, “what kind of salary do executive housekeepers require?” While this varies based on geography, work schedule, duties and skills, the average base compensation for executive housekeepers typically starts at $65,000 a year with full benefits. Full benefits include health and dental insurance, or a monthly stipend for insurance; as well as housing if it’s a live-in position.

Deb’s Domestic Agency specializes in the matchmaking and placement of long-term executive housekeepers. Since our service is 100% commission-based, we are highly selective about the clients we work with and the candidates we represent. If you have questions about any of our services, or if you need help to determine which domestic professional will best fit your family’s needs, we would love to hear from you. The best way to start is by filling out our no-obligation Household Staff Request Form.

Parents are struggling to find qualified childcare and 55% of parents surveyed by the American Red Cross* have chosen to stay home because they could not find a trusted nanny or babysitter.  The survey also revealed that nearly 30% of parents did not hire a potential sitter due to safety concerns.  The great news is that a majority of parents are willing to pay more for trained and certified childcare providers.  So how can you become a certified childcare provider?

Parents need to have trust and confidence in a provider before leaving their children in their care.  Safety and confidence in the sitter are top criteria sought when meeting with potential babysitters and nannies.  It’s becoming increasingly common for parents to ask about CPR, First Aid, and childcare certification.

CPR and First Aid training are easy to complete through online programs available for $25 by the American Red Cross.  The American Red Cross, American Heart Association, and local community colleges also offer in-person training.  If you are already certified, the videos below on child and infant CPR can provide a quick refresher.

If you are a babysitter, nanny, or aspiring to work as a childcare provider, it is worth the time and effort to learn first aid and CPR.  Although you never want to use these skills, you can have the confidence in your abilities that if needed, you may save a life.

There are several options for childcare certifications that include in person and online program.  When looking for a childcare certification program, check the organization is licensed as a post-secondary school.  It’s also important to know who authored the training.  If needed, see if the program offers job training or placement support. For information about childcare certification programs, visit www.AmsleeInstitute.com.

Amslee Institute provides childcare classes and certification programs for Nannies, Babysitters, and others who care for children.  Amslee’s 30+ staff and adjunct faculty members have a passion for education and childcare, bringing them together to help career minded childcare providers gain the skills and certifications to benefit their careers and the children in their care.  Amslee Institute is licensed by the Florida Department of Education Commission for Independent Education and is a member of the International Nanny Association (INA). Amslee Institute partners with industry leading agencies like us to help families connect with Amslee graduates. For more information, visit www.AmsleeInsitute.com.

Are you considering a position as a live-in nanny? If so, there are a lot of things to consider as this is not a typical job. As a live-in nanny, you will work, eat and sleep under the same roof as the family and children. This means you do not leave your job in the same manner as others, so you will have to be disciplined to ensure you have time off and leave your job duties.

A live-in nanny wears many hats. Sometimes you will be a teacher, a best friend, a mediator, an assistant, a first aid technician and so much more. Whenever you are in the home, even if you are not ‘on the clock’, you must act as an extension of the parent, guardian or employer in regard to care of the children and household management.  This means that although you may have your own style, it is imperative that you be cohesive with the parent’s philosophy on raising their children with their household rules.

There are some unique and wonderful benefits to live-in nanny jobs. These include:

1. Special bonds with the children and family. This is a wonderful way to engage on a more personal level with the children and parents as you will be there for the bumps and bruises but also the milestones and triumphs. You gain an extended family as you are part of the family day-to-day activities.

2. Save money. By living where you work, you can save money on housing, utilities, food, and other household costs like buying pots and pans. This really adds up and you can save a lot more of your income for other things.

3. Save time. Since there is no commute to work, you can save a lot of time each day and re-allocate that time for other activities such as fitness, education, or fun.

4. Benefits. Depending on the family, you may get additional benefits which may include a paid cell phone, use of a family car, domestic and international travel, and access to community amenities such as pools, basketball courts, and walking trails. Families may also invest in online training, so you can better care for the children and advance your childcare career. If you are seeking a career in a new city, being a live-in nanny or child care provider, can take you almost anywhere you wish to go, especially big cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Working as a live-in nanny is a unique job and comes with some important considerations: