Our agency was approached by a successful businesswoman who was looking for a male and a female housekeeper for her large house. Both candidates came with impeccable references. Their resumes looked perfect: extensive experience, excellent reviews, letters from previous employers. But, as the saying goes, all that glitters is not gold.
Wanted by the Bailiffs
We began by checking each candidate’s documents and background. The male housekeeper looked like a model candidate for work in a respectable family. However, the check showed that he was wanted by court bailiffs: for many years he had been maliciously evading child support. Several enforcement proceedings had been opened against him, and he had been in hiding. Such a person cannot be trusted with a home and loved ones. That was already serious — but there was more to come.
Debts of Hundreds of Thousands
The female housekeeper also seemed an ideal choice — and turned out to be even more interesting. She had bank debts, and not of a few thousand rubles but of hundreds of thousands: she took out loans but, apparently, had no intention of repaying them. Such a financial situation alone calls her reliability into question: a person in debt living among someone else’s expensive belongings is a risk better seen in advance.
Fired for Theft
And that was not all. Studying her work history, the detectives found that she had been fired from several previous jobs for kleptomania: she had been caught stealing her employers’ personal belongings. She had carefully hidden her past, counting on no one checking.
Even a candidate who seems ideal at first glance can turn out to be a threat to your home and family.
What a Check Shows
A check of household staff answers simple questions: does the person have debts and enforcement proceedings, are they wanted, where did they work before and why did they leave, are the references genuine. The candidate will not tell you this, and previous employers are not always willing to open up to a stranger. That is why the answer is put together from different sources, compared against each other.
Who You Let Into Your Home
Such stories are not rare. Behind fine references there is often a past the candidate prefers to keep quiet about. And the person you trust with your keys, children and belongings gains access to everything you hold dear.
That is why household staff are best checked before they start work. A check will reveal what the candidate would rather hide: debts, warrants, the reasons for previous dismissals. And you will make your decision knowing the facts.