Too many private households hire staff on a handshake. We see it regularly — a family takes on a housekeeper, nanny, or butler, agrees a salary verbally, and assumes that's enough. It works fine until it doesn't. And when things go wrong — a dispute over hours, a question about notice periods, a disagreement about whose responsibility something is — the lack of a proper contract makes everything harder and more expensive.
Every employee in the UK has the legal right to a written statement of employment particulars from day one. Not after a month, not after the probation period — from the first day of work. This isn't optional; it's the law. And for domestic staff, where the boundaries between professional and personal can blur easily, a thorough contract is even more important than in most industries.
Here's what yours needs to include.
The Basics: What the Law Requires
Under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (as amended), you must provide a written statement covering:
- Names of employer and employee
- Start date and, if relevant, the date continuous employment began
- Job title or description of work
- Place of work — for domestic staff this is usually the home address, but specify if travel between properties is expected
- Pay — amount, frequency, and method (monthly bank transfer is standard)
- Hours of work — including any requirement for overtime or flexible hours
- Holiday entitlement — including how it accrues and whether bank holidays are included
- Sick pay arrangements
- Pension — details of the auto-enrolment scheme
- Notice periods — for both employer and employee
- Probationary period — length and any different notice terms during probation
- Collective agreements — usually none in private households, but include if applicable
- Training requirements — any mandatory training the employee must complete
These are the legal minimums. For domestic staff, you need to go considerably further.
Essential Clauses for Domestic Staff
Working Hours and Flexibility
Domestic staff hours rarely fit a neat 9-to-5 pattern. Your contract should define:
- Core hours — the standard daily and weekly hours (e.g., Monday to Friday, 8am–6pm, plus Saturday mornings)
- Flexibility clause — explaining that hours may vary due to entertaining, travel, or the family's schedule
- Overtime — whether additional hours are paid, given as time off in lieu (TOIL), or included in the salary. Be explicit. "Occasional additional hours may be required" means nothing in a tribunal.
- Sleep-in provisions — if the employee is required to be on the premises overnight, clarify whether this counts as working time. HMRC and employment law treat sleep-in shifts differently from active work.
Live-In Provisions
For live-in staff, the contract must address accommodation in detail:
- Description of accommodation — room, flat, or cottage. Whether it's self-contained or shared.
- Licence to occupy — make clear that the accommodation is provided as a condition of employment and is a licence, not a tenancy. This is crucial. If your contract doesn't specify this, a departing employee could claim tenancy rights and refuse to leave.
- Condition and furnishing — what's provided and maintained by the employer
- Utilities — who pays for electricity, water, heating, internet, and council tax
- Guests and visitors — your policy on overnight guests or visitors to the staff accommodation
- Notice to vacate — how much time the employee has to leave the accommodation after employment ends. Industry standard is typically the same as the notice period, but many employers allow an additional one to two weeks as a goodwill gesture.
- Offset against minimum wage — if you're counting the accommodation benefit toward minimum wage compliance, the maximum offset is currently £9.99/day (2025/26). This is important for lower-paid live-in roles.
Confidentiality
This is non-negotiable in private households. Your confidentiality clause should cover:
- A clear prohibition on disclosing any information about the family, their home, their guests, their finances, their habits, or their personal lives
- Coverage during and after employment — confidentiality obligations should survive termination
- Specific mention of social media — no posting photos of the home, family, guests, or possessions. No "check-ins" at the property. No discussing the role online.
- Consequences for breach — typically summary dismissal for gross breach, and the right to seek injunctive relief
Some employers ask staff to sign a separate Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in addition to the contractual confidentiality clause. For high-profile families, this is standard practice.
Use of Phones and Cameras
Related to confidentiality but worth its own clause:
- Whether personal phones may be used during working hours
- A strict prohibition on photographing or recording within the home
- Rules about phone use around children (increasingly important for nannies)
Notice Periods
Statutory minimums are one week per year of service (up to 12 weeks). Most domestic staff contracts set longer contractual notice periods:
- During probation: One week from either side is standard
- After probation: One to three months, depending on seniority. Senior staff (butler, house manager, estate manager) typically have three months' notice on both sides.
- Garden leave clause — the right to require the employee to stay at home during their notice period, fully paid but not attending work. Useful when a departing employee has access to sensitive information or when the transition period needs careful management.
Probationary Period
Three to six months is standard for domestic staff. During probation:
- Notice period is usually shorter (one week)
- Performance can be assessed without the full disciplinary process
- Either party can end the arrangement relatively easily
Make clear what happens at the end of probation — does the employee automatically pass, or is there a formal review? We'd always recommend a formal review meeting, documented in writing.
Holiday and Time Off
Beyond the statutory 28 days (including bank holidays), consider:
- When holidays can be taken — many households restrict leave during certain periods (school holidays for nannies, the social season for butlers, Christmas and New Year for most roles). State this clearly.
- Carry-over — whether unused leave can be carried into the next year. Statutory rules allow carry-over only in specific circumstances, but you can be more generous contractually.
- Family holidays — if the family goes away and doesn't need the employee, does this come from the employee's holiday allowance or is it additional time off? This causes more arguments than almost any other issue. Define it upfront.
- Bank holidays — are they guaranteed off, or might the employee need to work them (with a day off in lieu)?
Duties and Standards
A job description should accompany the contract, listing specific duties. But the contract itself should include:
- A general description of the role
- A clause allowing reasonable changes to duties as the household's needs evolve
- Reference to any house manual or standard operating procedures
- Expectations around dress code or uniform
- Requirements for training or professional development
HMRC and Tax
As a domestic employer, you're responsible for operating PAYE, paying employer's NICs, and auto-enrolling the employee into a pension. Your contract should reference:
- That employment is subject to PAYE and the employee will receive payslips
- Pension auto-enrolment details
- That the employer will handle all tax and NI obligations
- Whether any benefits in kind (accommodation, meals, use of a car) will be reported to HMRC — which they must be
Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures
You need a fair process for handling problems. The ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures applies to all employers, including private households. Your contract should either include or reference:
- A disciplinary procedure (verbal warning, written warning, final written warning, dismissal)
- Examples of gross misconduct warranting summary dismissal (theft, violence, breach of confidentiality, safeguarding concerns)
- A grievance procedure for the employee to raise concerns
- The right to be accompanied at disciplinary or grievance hearings
Restrictive Covenants
For senior staff with access to sensitive information, consider:
- Non-compete clause — preventing the employee from working for another family through the same agency, or in the same social circle, for a set period after leaving. Courts scrutinise these heavily, so keep them reasonable (three to six months maximum, limited geographic scope).
- Non-solicitation clause — preventing the departing employee from poaching other staff from your household.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Using a generic template from the internet. Domestic employment has specific nuances — accommodation, confidentiality, flexible hours — that standard templates don't cover. Get a contract reviewed by a solicitor who understands private household employment.
Forgetting the accommodation licence. Without explicit licence-to-occupy language, you risk a departing live-in employee claiming tenancy rights. We've seen this happen and it's a nightmare.
Being vague about hours. "The role requires flexibility" tells the employee nothing. Define core hours and explain how additional hours are handled.
Not addressing social media. A single Instagram story showing your dining room can compromise your family's privacy and security. The contract should make the rules crystal clear.
Skipping the probation review. A probationary period means nothing if you don't formally review performance at the end of it.
Getting Professional Help
Employment law changes regularly, and the consequences of getting it wrong — unfair dismissal claims, tax penalties, accommodation disputes — can be costly and stressful. We always recommend having your contract reviewed by a solicitor who specialises in private household employment.
For a comprehensive overview of your responsibilities as a domestic employer, visit our employer's guide. And if you're hiring new staff and want guidance on building the right contract, get in touch — we work with families through every stage of the process, from drafting the brief to finalising the paperwork.