Hiring someone to work inside a private residence requires a level of trust that is different from most employment relationships.
An estate manager, personal assistant, executive housekeeper, private chef, housekeeper, chauffeur, or other private service professional may eventually know where a family travels, who visits the residence, how the household operates, when properties are vacant, and where sensitive documents or valuable possessions are located.
For high-net-worth households, protecting privacy should therefore begin before a candidate ever enters the home.
The strongest privacy strategy combines discreet recruiting, thoughtful screening, careful information sharing, clear confidentiality expectations, secure recordkeeping, controlled access, and professional offboarding.
Privacy is not simply a document an employee signs. It should be an operating standard that influences the entire hiring and employment process.
Protecting privacy when hiring private staff begins by limiting unnecessary information, carefully screening candidates, establishing confidentiality expectations, controlling access to household systems, and sharing sensitive information only when it becomes necessary for the employee’s responsibilities.
The hiring process should reveal enough about the position for a candidate to evaluate the opportunity without unnecessarily revealing the family’s identity, exact property details, travel schedule, security procedures, children’s information, or other sensitive matters.
This principle can continue throughout recruiting, interviewing, onboarding, employment, and separation.
Professional privacy is created through layers. No single background check, reference call, confidentiality agreement, or security system can replace a thoughtful overall process.
One of the simplest privacy protections is also one of the most effective: do not disclose information before it needs to be disclosed.
An initial job description rarely needs to identify the principal or provide details that could make the household easily identifiable.
Instead, a discreet job description might describe:
The family’s identity, exact address, children’s schools, upcoming travel dates, security procedures, and other sensitive details can usually wait until later stages of the hiring process.
This allows qualified candidates to understand the opportunity without exposing unnecessary information to every person who views the job advertisement.
The same principle can be applied to interviews. Candidates may initially be interviewed at an agency office, virtually, or at another appropriate location before being invited into the family’s residence.
A résumé can show experience.
It cannot automatically show judgment.
During interviews, pay attention to how candidates discuss previous employers.
An experienced private service professional should be able to explain responsibilities, property complexity, staffing structures, travel requirements, entertaining duties, and accomplishments without revealing unnecessary personal details about former principals.
For example, a candidate might appropriately say:
“I managed two residences and supervised a household team of six.”
That gives useful professional context.
A detailed account of a former employer’s personal relationships, finances, security procedures, medical matters, guests, or private behavior would be very different.
How candidates protect previous employers’ privacy can provide useful insight into how they may eventually protect yours.
Consider asking questions such as:
Candidates do not need to provide perfect rehearsed answers. What matters is whether their responses demonstrate maturity, judgment, boundaries, and an understanding of private service.
Background screening is an important part of private household hiring, but screening should be conducted carefully and lawfully.
When an employer obtains certain employment background reports through a third-party consumer reporting company, requirements under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act may apply.
The Federal Trade Commission explains that before obtaining a qualifying employment background report, employers generally must provide appropriate disclosure and obtain written authorization from the applicant. Additional procedures can apply if information in the report contributes to a decision not to hire the applicant. (Federal Trade Commission)
External resource: Federal Trade Commission — Background Checks: What Employers Need to Know
Employers should also consider equal-employment requirements when conducting and using background checks. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission explains that employers cannot conduct background checks or use the resulting information in a way that unlawfully discriminates against applicants or employees. State and local requirements may also apply. (EEOC)
External resource: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission — Background Checks
For private households, appropriate screening may include verification of:
The screening process should be relevant to the responsibilities of the position.
A personal assistant who manages financial transactions, an estate manager with access to multiple residences, and a housekeeper working inside the home may have different responsibilities and risk considerations.
Professional reference verification is especially valuable because references can provide information a database cannot: reliability, judgment, communication, professional boundaries, longevity, performance, and discretion.
Privacy should work in both directions.
During hiring, families, household managers, family offices, and recruiters may receive highly sensitive candidate information.
This may include:
That information should not circulate casually among household employees, vendors, family members, or unrelated parties.
The Federal Trade Commission’s Disposal Rule requires covered individuals and organizations that maintain consumer-report information for business purposes to take appropriate measures when disposing of that information. FTC guidance specifically identifies individuals obtaining certain consumer reports on prospective household workers, such as nannies, among those who may be covered. (Federal Trade Commission)
External resource: Federal Trade Commission — Disposing of Consumer Report Information
A professional process should therefore consider not only what information is collected, but also:
Respecting employee privacy helps establish the same professional culture families expect employees to extend to them.
Confidentiality should not first be discussed after an employee accidentally shares something sensitive.
Privacy expectations should be clear from the beginning.
Depending on the household and advice from appropriate legal counsel, employment documents and household policies may address topics such as:
The purpose is not simply to create paperwork.
The employee should understand what confidentiality means in daily practice.
For example:
Can employees photograph themselves inside the residence?
Can they mention their employer on social media?
Can they post photographs that reveal the property’s location?
Can they discuss recognizable guests?
Can household schedules be sent through personal messaging apps?
Can household documents be stored on a personal laptop?
Can one employee access information about the principal’s calendar that is unrelated to that employee’s role?
Clear policies reduce assumptions and make expectations easier to enforce consistently.
Families should consult qualified employment counsel when creating confidentiality agreements or other legal documents rather than relying on generic templates.
An employee does not necessarily need access to everything simply because that employee works in the residence.
Access should reflect responsibilities.
For example, an estate manager may require visibility into vendor schedules, household calendars, budgets, maintenance systems, travel logistics, and certain security procedures.
A housekeeper may require room-access information, household routines, laundry preferences, inventory systems, and specific property procedures.
A private chef may need dietary preferences, grocery accounts, entertaining schedules, kitchen access, guest counts, and allergy information relevant to meal preparation.
A chauffeur may require family transportation schedules and vehicle access without needing access to unrelated financial or personal records.
Each employee should receive the information required to perform the role effectively without automatically receiving access to unrelated household information.
This becomes even more important when multiple residences, family offices, security personnel, vendors, yacht staff, or rotating household teams are involved.
Privacy increasingly depends on access management.
Modern private residences may contain:
During onboarding, determine exactly what access each employee requires.
Where practical, employees should use individually authorized accounts and credentials rather than one password shared across the entire household team.
Individual access can also make it easier to remove permissions when responsibilities change or employment ends.
Physical access deserves the same attention.
Households may need to track:
Someone joining the household should receive sufficient access to perform the job without automatically receiving unrestricted access to every part of the property.
Household employers can have legitimate legal reasons to retain employment information.
The IRS’s current Publication 926, Household Employer’s Tax Guide, explains household-employer responsibilities and the types of employment records household employers may need to maintain. (IRS)
External resource: IRS — Publication 926, Household Employer’s Tax Guide
Employment eligibility documents also deserve careful handling.
USCIS instructions for Form I-9 state that completed forms and accompanying documents should be stored in a safe and secure location. The instructions also establish federal retention periods for Form I-9 records. (USCIS)
External resource: USCIS — Instructions for Form I-9
Employment records should therefore be treated as confidential records rather than ordinary household paperwork.
Families using an accountant, payroll service, family office, attorney, estate manager, or household-management platform should also determine who is responsible for maintaining particular records and who should have access to them.
Hiring is only the beginning.
The first days of employment are an appropriate time to explain how the household actually operates and what is expected.
A privacy-focused onboarding process may cover:
Senior employees should understand not only the policies themselves but also how to reinforce them with other staff members.
This is particularly important in larger estates where the estate manager or house manager may become responsible for maintaining consistent household standards across multiple employees.
Travel can create additional privacy concerns.
A travel itinerary may reveal when the primary residence will be vacant, where the family is staying, which family members are traveling, and how long they will be away.
Employees should only receive the portions of an itinerary relevant to their responsibilities.
For example, an employee responsible for preparing a second residence may require arrival and departure details. Another employee remaining at the primary residence may only need the dates relevant to household operations.
Travel documents should also be handled carefully.
Passport information, flight confirmations, hotel reservations, transportation details, and private itineraries should not be casually forwarded or stored on personal devices unless necessary and appropriately protected.
Social media can unintentionally reveal far more than an employee intends.
A photograph may expose a home’s location, interior layout, artwork, security system, children, guests, vehicles, or family schedule.
Even a seemingly harmless post such as “Working from Palm Beach this week while my employers are in Europe” may disclose information a private household would prefer to keep confidential.
Household policies should make expectations clear rather than assuming employees will know where the boundaries are.
The policy may address:
Clear expectations are particularly important for employees who may use social media professionally or maintain large public accounts.
Offboarding deserves the same attention as onboarding.
When an employee leaves, review all access accumulated during employment.
Depending on the position, that may include:
Access that is no longer required should be appropriately removed or changed.
This can be especially important for employees who worked for the family for several years or across multiple residences.
Long-term employees may gradually accumulate access to systems that household leadership no longer remembers granting.
A formal offboarding checklist makes these connections easier to identify.
Any ongoing confidentiality requirements should also be reviewed as part of the separation process with guidance from appropriate legal counsel when necessary.
Working with an experienced private household staffing agency can provide another layer between the household and the broader applicant market.
Instead of publicly distributing highly specific family information, a staffing agency can gather the household’s requirements, evaluate prospective candidates, conduct interviews, review experience, coordinate references and screening, and present candidates whose backgrounds align with the position.
The household can then disclose more sensitive information progressively as candidates advance through the hiring process.
This approach is particularly useful for households seeking experienced private service professionals who already understand expectations surrounding discretion, boundaries, confidentiality, and private residence etiquette.
Lorraine Lee Estate Staffing works with private households and family offices seeking experienced estate managers, household managers, personal assistants, executive housekeepers, private chefs, housekeepers, and other private service professionals.
Families maintaining multiple residences face additional privacy challenges.
A family may divide its time among Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Jupiter, Miami, Miami Beach, Naples, New York, or other locations while relying on different employees and vendors at each property.
Different residences may also use different:
Privacy procedures should therefore follow the family rather than exist only at one residence.
A consistent standard helps prevent situations in which one property has tightly controlled access while another relies on old passwords, outdated credentials, informal communication, or information-sharing practices established years earlier.
An estate manager or senior household professional can often help maintain consistent procedures across residences when the position includes responsibility for multiple properties.
A private household cannot operate effectively if employees are afraid to communicate or lack the information necessary to perform their work.
Privacy practices should create clarity rather than confusion.
The goal is to ensure that the right people have the right information at the right time—and understand their responsibility to protect it.
Experienced private service professionals generally understand that discretion is a fundamental part of working within a private residence.
Hiring people who understand that culture, establishing clear expectations, and supporting them with thoughtful household systems creates a stronger foundation than relying on a confidentiality agreement alone.
Many private employers establish written confidentiality expectations as part of the employment relationship. The appropriate agreement depends on the employee’s responsibilities, household circumstances, and applicable law. Families should work with qualified legal counsel when creating contractual confidentiality provisions rather than relying solely on generic templates.
Avoid unnecessary details that could identify the family or reveal sensitive information. This may include an exact residential address, children’s schools, detailed travel dates, security arrangements, personal names, information about valuables, or other identifying household details. Candidates generally need the position, general location, responsibilities, schedule, compensation, qualifications, and employment expectations first.
Listen carefully to how the candidate describes previous employers. Experienced private service professionals should be able to discuss the complexity of their responsibilities without sharing unnecessary personal information about former principals. Professional reference checks can also help assess judgment, boundaries, reliability, communication, and discretion.
Employers can conduct appropriate background screening, but federal, state, and local requirements may apply. When an employer obtains an employment background report from a company that compiles background information, the Fair Credit Reporting Act may require disclosure, written permission, and specific procedures if information in the report affects the hiring decision. (Federal Trade Commission)
External resource: FTC Employer Background Check Guidance
Not necessarily. A need-to-know structure is generally more privacy-conscious. Employees should receive access to the information and systems necessary for their jobs rather than automatically receiving every household password, document, schedule, or security credential.
Covered consumer-report information should be disposed of securely. FTC guidance identifies methods such as shredding appropriate paper documents and securely destroying or erasing electronic information so it cannot be read or reconstructed. (Federal Trade Commission)
External resource: FTC Consumer Report Disposal Guidance
Families should use a structured offboarding process that reviews physical and digital access. Keys, access cards, alarm credentials, staff email, shared calendars, household software, devices, vendor accounts, smart-home applications, and other permissions should be reviewed and removed when they are no longer needed.
A professional staffing agency can reduce unnecessary exposure by screening candidates before highly sensitive household details are shared. It can also help evaluate relevant private-service experience, references, professionalism, and discretion before candidates advance to direct interviews with the household.
The strongest household teams are built on trust, discretion, professional boundaries, and clear expectations.
Lorraine Lee Estate Staffing works with private households, estates, and family offices seeking experienced professionals who understand the distinctive expectations of private service.
Whether you are hiring an estate manager, household manager, personal assistant, executive housekeeper, private chef, housekeeper, or another household professional, a thoughtful recruiting and screening process can help protect your privacy while identifying candidates whose experience aligns with your household.
Protecting confidentiality should not begin after someone has been hired.
It should begin with the first conversation.
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