Category: Client

NDAs for Decorators of Affluent Homes

These days—especially when it comes to high-end residential projects—non-disclosure agreements are, as interior designer David Scott puts it, “as commonplace as Ubers and Starbucks.” So much so, in fact, that several architects and designers asked by T&C to comment on the increasing ubiquity of decorator NDAs wouldn’t comment—or, in one case, would only do so anonymously. Some did, however, speak on the record, and they have some constructive advice for the extremely private.

No Dogs Allowed

Scott was once asked to sign an NDA that extended to the clients’ pets. That’s a no-go. You should limit demands to the classics, says acclaimed French architect and interior designer Robert Couturier: “You won’t divulge who you’re working for, how much money they spend, or where they live. Often you have to have all your subcontractors sign one as well.”

Manage Your Ego

“NDAs make sense when it’s a matter of security, when a family could be threatened,” Couturier says. “It’s incredibly irritating, though, when it’s for a society woman who posts photos of herself waking up in the morning and thrives on notoriety.”

Beware of Social Media

“For one client,” Couturier says, “I had to go through my Instagram account and erase pictures that I had taken of the construction site. He had flipped through thousands of posts trying to find those of his job site. That must have taken him hours. I think people have an incredibly inflated opinion of themselves.”

Call It The Michael Cohen Statue

One architect who asked to remain anonymous so as not to jeopardize high-profile projects pleads with clients not to get him involved with law enforcement. “Sometimes,” the architect says, “NDAs ask for restrictions on disclosing information that seem as if they were written by someone trying to hide something from Robert Mueller!”

Leave No Paper Trail

“Many NDAs have archaic language from the days of paper files that doesn’t seem relevant any longer, such as a commitment to destroy all copies if asked,” says the anonymous architect. “This is nearly impossible in a digitally backed-up era.”

Trust Matters

Some NDAs are too demanding. Adjust accordingly. “When documents become so one-sided that they tip away from reasonable restrictions,” says the architect, “you really start to wonder about the intent of the person on the other side.”

Couturier asks, “If a client doesn’t trust his or her designer to protect him, what’s the point of working together?”

Attribution: Town and Country Magazine- April 2019

Care.com Puts Onus on Families to Check Caregivers’ Backgrounds – With Sometimes Tragic Outcomes

On a warm July morning last year, Amelia Wieand left her twin toddlers at an in-home day-care center outside Knoxville, Tenn. She had read about the facility on Care.com, the largest online marketplace for babysitters and other caregivers.

The listing said the center was state-licensed. It wasn’t, state records say. In fact, after receiving reports that the woman who ran it was watching up to 11 children, a state agency had obtained an injunction two months earlier barring her from operating an unlicensed facility.

None of that was available to Care.com members such as Ms. Wieand. At one point, the day-care center indicated to clients there was a problem with its license, but assured Ms. Weiand and other parents it was taking care of the matter.

Hours after being dropped off, the children, Elyssa and Elijah, a month away from their second birthdays, were pulled out of the baby sitter’s pool. Both died.

Care.com Inc., with about 32 million members in over 20 countries, charges up to $39 a month to see listings on its site. Shares of the Waltham, Mass.-based company have quadrupled in three years as revenue has surged. Its biggest stockholder is Capital G, a fund backed by Alphabet Inc.Behind Care.com’s appeal is a pledge to “help families make informed hiring decisions” about caregivers, as it has said on its website.

Still, Care.com largely leaves it to families to figure out whether the caregivers it lists are trustworthy. It does what it calls “preliminary screening” of them, which isn’t a full background check, and doesn’t verify credentials. It does no vetting of day-care centers listed on its site.

Care.com suggests that customers purchase additional screening packages, which cost $59 to $300.

In about 9 instances over the past six years, caregivers in the U.S. who had police records were listed on Care.com and later were accused of committing crimes while caring for customers’ children or elderly relatives, according to an investigation by The Wall Street Journal, which reviewed police records, court records and local media reports. Alleged crimes included theft, child abuse, sexual assault and murder.

The Journal also found hundreds of instances in which day-care centers listed on Care.com as state-licensed didn’t appear to be. Care.com said it has made more than 1.5 million successful matches since it began service a dozen years ago.

Sheila Lirio Marcelo, chief executive, chairwoman and founder, said the company invests heavily in ensuring the safety of members. She said the marketplace is designed for “shared responsibility overall,” with families having the option to pay for more screening.

“Care.com is a marketplace platform, like Indeed or LinkedIn,” Ms. Marcelo said. “Like those services, we do not generally verify the information posted by users, interview users or conduct employment-level background checks.”

The company said it sends many messages during the membership application process—through its website, emails and other alerts—stating that it doesn’t fully screen caregivers and that parents are responsible for background checks.

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The ‘Hidden Mechanisms’ That Help Those Born Rich to Excel in Elite Jobs

Over the past five years, the sociologists Daniel Laurison and Sam Friedman have uncovered a striking, consistent pattern in data about England’s workforce: Not only are people born into working-class families far less likely than those born wealthy to get an elite job—but they also, on average, earn 16 percent less in the same fields of work.

Laurison and Friedman dug further into the data, but statistical analyses could only get them so far. So they immersed themselves in the cultures of modern workplaces, speaking with workers—around 175 in all—in four prestigious professional settings: a TV-broadcasting company, a multinational accounting firm, an architecture firm, and the world of self-employed actors.

The result of this research is Laurison and Friedman’s new book, The Class Ceiling: Why It Pays To Be Privileged, which shows how the customs of elite workplaces can favor those who grew up wealthier. The authors describe a series of “hidden mechanisms”—such as unwritten codes of office behavior and informal systems of professional advancement—that benefit the already affluent while disadvantaging those with working-class backgrounds.

In January, shortly before the book’s U.K. release, I interviewed Laurison, a professor at Swarthmore College, who told me that while England’s class politics do differ from those of the U.S., his and Friedman’s findings about “money, connections, and culture” broadly apply to Americans as well. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Read More: The Atlantic 
Author: Joe Pinsker

Optimizing Your Home and Domestic Staff

Who is managing whom?

Whether you have one employee or six, how do you spend less time managing and more time doing what you love?

Ironically, when you made your first private staff hire, your goal was to have more personal time. Time consuming frustration can come from:  inconvenient time-off requests, low productivity, staff turnover, recruitment and interview time, explaining and monitoring, etc.

How can you reduce your staff management time and increase your enjoyment of your home, family and friends?

  • Create an employment agreement, which specifies responsibilities, time off, compensation and other expectations. This makes everything clear
  • Set up an organizational structure- who reports to who? Get yourself out of the loop.
  • Schedule a regular time for performance reviews and communications. Once a month?
  • Be knowledgeable about market rates for salary and hours. Don’t lose a valued and trusted employee.
  • Always be thinking of back-up plans. You never know.
  • Review security, confidentiality and asset protection plans. Twice a year.
  • Be generous, respectful and appreciative. Your kindness will be well rewarded.

If everyone is clear, you are inspecting what you expect and communicating regularly, management time will dramatically decrease and productivity and quality will increase.

Contact Private Staff Group for samples of:

  • Job Descriptions
  • Employment Agreement
  • Confidentiality Agreement
  • Performance Review

The World of Staffing for the High Net Worth

We interviewed one of the leading recruiters of private, personal and business staff, Mr. Stephen Candland of Private Staff Group’s  New York office. Their clients employ staff for residences and business to meet a wide variety of unique service requirements. Most requested staff are: personal assistants, estate and property managers, housekeepers and cooks.

What is the biggest change in employing private staff in the last 5 to 10 years?

Homes, art, technology, security and employment considerations are all dramatically more complicated today. Hiring staff that work in our homes and are involved in our personal lives requires a professional process and more business-like management.

What are the most requested job candidates?

Housekeeper and Housekeeper/Cooks are the most requested, followed by Personal Assistants and Executive Assistants for personal, family, social and business responsibilities. Estate and Property Managers in many locations are active searches, as well.

Are Butlers still in style?

Yes, very much so. We see diplomats, high profile CEO’s and financiers and international transplants continuing to use Butlers. There are 3 or 4 excellent butler training schools.

How are women using Private Staff?

We have placed stylists, organizers, personal assistants and of course, nannies.
Women who entertain in beautiful homes in multiple locations may employ a lifestyle enabler with talents in decorating, event management, flowers, and staff supervision.

How does today’s employer of private staff find the right and best-fit candidates?

Historically, personal and household staff was sourced through personal referrals or ads in the newspaper. Our clients today are much more privacy sensitive and don’t invite strangers into their home for job interviews. You never know who is walking in the door. We conduct the search and screening so the candidates who are introduced are vetted properly.

What is different today in employing and managing private staff?

Smartphones! Your staff each has a movie camera, which instantly uploads to the Internet. Security and trust are more important than ever.

Your most unusual placement?

Finding the right estate manager for a couple who had struggled to find an estate manager able to execute their style, values and constantly changing schedules. They had perpetual turnover issues. This candidate dramatically improved their lives by allowing them to realize their family and home priorities.

6 Ways To Promote A Better Working Environment For Your Household Staff

Fostering a team environment in a household setting can be tough. Many households require round-the-clock care as well as many moving parts all working at the same time. As a result, some employees working for the same family may hardly, if ever, actually cross paths. This can create inconsistencies in service and ineffective communication. It is important for employees to understand what they can accomplish together, as a team.
Benefits of communication include:

  • Building trust
  • Clear sense of direction
  • Boosting of employee morale
  • Measuring effectiveness
  • Goal setting

Ways to promote better communication include:

  • Group bulletin board – A bulletin board can be an important way to keep your staff informed and connected to the daily routine of the household. A staff bulletin board can be used to highlight various items including a calendar of upcoming dates, important household contacts, updates, or even staff member of the month. The more updated information you maintain on the bulletin board, the more prone your staff will be to look at it on a regular basis.
  • Shared break area – A shared break area can foster a sense of community among your staff. By sharing a break area, your staff is able to relax and connect with others who are working alongside them. Even if certain members of your staff are not able to interact throughout their day, a shared break area can allow them to build relationships that otherwise would not have been possible.
  • Newsletters (digital or print) – This is especially important if your household employs staff in different areas. Whether it is it the kitchen, personal assistants, or nannies, all staff members should be aware of what is going on in the household as a whole to ensure there are no miscommunications. A newsletter, no matter if it is digital or in print, can keep different staff informed on developments occurring in other areas of the household.
  • Team meetings – Like a shared break area, team meetings can also foster a sense of community. By bringing together all your staff in one place at one time, important household matters can be addressed. Whether you are just going over next week’s agenda or addressing a new development, team meetings can allow all staff members to connect and stay in the know.
  • Online groups – Online groups are a great way for you and your staff members to stay in constant communication. Everyone in the group is working towards the same goal of a smoothly running household, so support and advice from other staff members can be very helpful.
  • Staff mailboxes – Staff mailboxes can be beneficial to both you as an employer, as well as for staff members as another option for communication. Staff can receive daily agendas or updates every morning and can leave communications for each other.

Effective communication will give every employee an opportunity to have better access to the information they need to best do their jobs. Employees who feel that they are contributing to the success of the team will be happier and therefore more productive.

Traveling With Your Staff

Traveling can be stressful at times, even when it’s not meant to be. Imagine having a helping hand to lighten the load. Whether it be for a business trip or a family vacation, bringing along a personal assistant or nanny can make traveling a much more positive experience. However, in order to get the most out of traveling with your staff, make sure to iron out the details before you leave.

Accommodations: Make sure you and your household staff are both aware of where each of you will be staying. If a nanny is traveling with you, is she sharing a space with you or will she have her own room? It’s best to sort this out before your trip to avoid confusion later.

Time on and Time off: If you are traveling with a nanny or butler, your needs might be different than they are at home. This being said, so might their expectations. For example, a butler traveling with you to the Hamptons may need to be available for evening driving which was not necessary in New York City. Compromise before the trip to work out their hours based on your needs.

Itinerary: A top-notch personal assistant will already have the itinerary handy, but it’s important to double check that you both are on the same page. Where everyone should be at certain times, what they need, and travel accommodations from one place to the next are especially important.

Proper Documents: This is vital especially when it comes to traveling abroad. If traveling internationally, make sure your staff is properly screened. You should also be aware of things such as immunizations, visa and passport requirements, and foreign exchange rates to avoid unnecessary and unexpected hassles during the trip.

Emergency Plans: Unexpected events such as sudden illness, accidents, or even death can put a damper on your trip, so it’s always best to be prepared. Emergency cash advances, message relays to family and friends, legal assistance, etc. are things that should be prepared before your trip. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Reimbursements: Like accommodations, reimbursements should be sorted out before the trip. You should be clear with your household staff on what is covered and what isn’t.