Most maid arrangements break for a plain reason: the job was agreed as "cooking and cleaning" over a phone call, and cooking and cleaning mean different things to the two people who said them. You pictured utensils, two floors, bathrooms and dinner for four. She pictured utensils, one floor and lunch. Nobody lied. The list was never written down.
This is the checklist to settle before the first day. Go through it together, mark what is in and what is out, agree the hours and the weekly off, and write the salary against it. Ten minutes here prevents the argument that otherwise arrives in week two.
Download the printable checklist (PDF)
Why a verbal agreement always drifts
A spoken scope has no edges. Each side remembers the version that suits a normal day, and the gaps only show up when the day is not normal: guests arrive, a child falls sick, the washing machine breaks. At that point one person feels the work grew and the other feels the help fell short, and neither can point to what was agreed because nothing was.
A written list fixes the edges. It does not need to be a legal contract. A shared note, agreed out loud and kept by both sides, is enough to end most disputes before they start.
The duties checklist, by category
Work through each group and decide: in scope, out of scope, or occasional and paid separately. Not every home needs every line.
Kitchen and cooking
- Washing utensils, and whether that includes soaking and drying
- Cleaning the gas stove, slab and sink after cooking
- Cooking, and if so how many meals a day and for how many people
- Chopping and prep versus full cooking
- Cleaning the refrigerator and kitchen storage, and how often
Cleaning
- Sweeping and mopping, and how many rooms or floors
- Dusting surfaces, furniture and fittings
- Bathrooms, and how many, and how often
- Balconies, staircases and common areas
- Windows, grills and high surfaces, which are usually occasional
Laundry
- Washing clothes by hand or loading the machine
- Drying, folding and putting away
- Ironing, which many treat as a separate paid task
- Changing and washing bed linen, and how often
Childcare, if any
- Feeding, bathing and dressing a child
- School drop-off and pickup
- Supervised play or homework help
- Whether the maid is ever left alone with the child
Elder care, if any
- Help with bathing, dressing and mobility
- Meal support and medication reminders, not medical nursing
- Company and daytime supervision
Pets, errands and extras
- Feeding, walking or cleaning up after pets
- Small errands such as milk, vegetables or parcels
- Watering plants
- Answering the door and taking deliveries
The two lines people always forget
Two entries prevent more conflict than all the others, and both get skipped.
The first is duties not included. Write down what the maid will not be doing, alongside what she will. If deep cleaning, terrace washing, car cleaning or caring for visiting relatives is out of scope, say so on paper. This is the line that stops scope creep later, because you can both point to it when a new task comes up.
The second is the number of meals and people. "Cooking" with no count is the most common salary dispute in Bangalore homes. Cooking one meal for two is not cooking three meals for six. Fix the number of meals a day and the number of people, and revisit it if the household grows.
The schedule half of the agreement
Duties are only half the job. The hours and the rest are the other half, and they belong on the same sheet.
Agree the daily timing and the total hours. A full-time maid in Bangalore commonly works eight to ten hours with breaks; a part-time maid comes for a fixed slot and leaves. Write the start and end time, rather than "morning."
Agree the weekly off and how festival leave works. A fixed weekly off is the single practice most linked to a helper staying, so treat it as part of the deal rather than a favour. Decide in advance how annual village visits and major festivals are handled, because deciding the night before is how placements end.
Agree the salary and the pay date against this list. The scope you have just written is what the number is for, so set both at once. If you are not sure what the work is worth, our maid salary guide for Bangalore gives current ranges by duties and arrangement.
Use this checklist before you hire
Take the list above into the interview or the first conversation and mark each line together. A candidate who is clear about what she will and will not do is easier to keep than one who agrees to everything and resents half of it later.
If you would rather not run this conversation yourself, it is the core of what we do. Every EzyHelpers placement sets duties, the tasks left out, hours, the weekly off and the salary date in writing with both sides before the first day. You can hire a full-time maid in Bangalore, part-time help or a live-in maid with the agreement already handled.
Get a placement with the job agreed on paper