Households in residence: our advice for the coming weeks

Since the governor’s order on Monday, the telephone at Tarrant Place has barely stopped. Most of you are asking the same three questions, and I will try to answer them here.

Can our staff stay with us?

Yes, if they wish to and you can house them properly. A number of households have asked their live-out staff to move in for the coming weeks, so that nobody comes and goes. Where staff agree, we are drawing up short residence agreements that set out the hours, the rest days, the rate of pay for the period and the date it ends, which may be extended. Please do not ask a member of staff to stay without one. And please do not ask anyone who has children or a parent at home to leave them.

Can you still send us someone?

For permanent searches, yes: interviews are taking place by video, and trials, where they can be safely arranged, at the house. For temporary staff, we are placing only staff who are able to stay in residence for the whole of an assignment, and who have been at home for fourteen days beforehand.

What if our staff are unwell?

Then they should rest, in their own quarters or at their own home, and be paid while they do. Our agreements already provide for sick pay, and we would ask households to be generous beyond them. We will find temporary cover where we can.

The office is closed to visitors, but every consultant is working and the duty line is answered as it always is. My mother kept this agency open through the slump of 1970, when she had one secretary and a card index and very few households who could afford either. We will manage this.