A housekeeper’s primary role is household care rather than childcare. The exact duties depend on the property, working hours and family brief, so the job should say what “housekeeping” means in that particular home rather than relying on a generic list.
This guide covers the duties families commonly include, how to distinguish routine housekeeping from heavier or specialist work, and when a separate nanny-housekeeper role may be more appropriate.
What does a housekeeper do?
A housekeeper maintains the home according to the duties and standards agreed with the employer. That can include recurring cleaning, laundry, ironing, household organisation, bed linen, kitchen upkeep, meal preparation or errands where these are part of the job.
The role should be defined by the work actually required. A small flat needing routine upkeep is a very different job from a large property with extensive laundry, formal entertaining, specialist surfaces or regular family cooking.
Typical routine cleaning duties
Depending on the household, routine duties may include:
- vacuuming and mopping floors;
- dusting and cleaning accessible surfaces;
- cleaning bathrooms and kitchens;
- making beds and changing linen;
- emptying household bins and maintaining general tidiness;
- keeping agreed rooms and shared areas organised;
- following household instructions for products, surfaces and equipment.
Families should describe the expected frequency and standard. “Keep the house clean” is too vague to be a useful job description.
Routine cleaning and deep cleaning are not the same workload
Routine housekeeping keeps a home maintained from week to week. Deep cleaning is more intensive and may involve work such as detailed appliance cleaning, heavier descaling, inside cupboards, high-level dusting, detailed bathroom work or other periodic tasks.
If substantial deep cleaning is expected regularly, state that in the brief and make sure the hours allow for it. A role can become unrealistic when a family expects full routine maintenance and frequent deep cleaning within the same limited schedule.
Laundry, ironing and wardrobe care
Laundry may form a significant part of a housekeeper role. The brief should make clear whether duties include washing, drying, folding, ironing, changing bed linen and organising wardrobes.
If the household requires specialist garment care, hand washing, steaming, treatment of delicate fabrics or detailed wardrobe management, ask candidates about comparable experience rather than assuming it is part of general housekeeping.
Kitchen duties, cooking and shopping
Kitchen upkeep can include cleaning worktops and appliances, loading or unloading dishwashers, keeping food-storage areas orderly and maintaining general kitchen cleanliness.
Cooking should be described separately because expectations vary widely. A family may want simple meal preparation, regular family meals, batch cooking or no cooking at all. Grocery shopping, pantry management and household errands should also be stated explicitly where required.
Household organisation and supplies
Some roles include keeping track of routine household supplies, organising storage areas, receiving deliveries or completing agreed errands. These tasks can be useful additions to a housekeeper role, but they consume working time and should be prioritised alongside cleaning and laundry.
If the position involves wider household management, contractors, budgets, staff supervision or complex property administration, the family may need a more senior household-management role rather than a standard housekeeper brief.
What about childcare?
A dedicated housekeeper role should not acquire substantial childcare informally after the employee starts. Occasional incidental contact with children is different from being responsible for their supervision, routines, meals, school runs or activities.
If childcare is a regular substantive part of the job, see our Filipino nanny-housekeeper service. Our nanny-housekeeper vs separate nanny and housekeeper comparison can help when both workloads are significant.
Full-time, part-time, live-in or live-out?
Those labels describe the working arrangement, not the duties. A full-time housekeeper may still have a tightly defined remit. A part-time role must fit the tasks into the agreed hours. A live-in housekeeper lives in accommodation connected to the job but is not automatically available at all times.
Before recruitment, write down the normal days and hours, the tasks expected, any accommodation provided and how extra hours or schedule changes will be handled.
How should you write the job description?
A useful housekeeper job description should cover:
- normal working days and start/finish times;
- property location and, where relevant, approximate household scale;
- routine cleaning responsibilities;
- laundry, ironing and linen duties;
- cooking, shopping or errands where required;
- any driving requirement;
- live-in or live-out arrangement and accommodation where applicable;
- tasks that are occasional rather than part of the normal routine;
- gross pay and the employment arrangement;
- the expected start date.
See our nanny and housekeeper job description templates for a copyable structure.
How should you assess a housekeeper candidate?
Compare candidates against the job you have written. Useful evidence includes:
- previous housekeeping duties in homes of a comparable scale;
- references confirming the work actually performed;
- examples of how the candidate organises recurring tasks;
- experience with cooking, driving, wardrobe care or other role-specific requirements;
- availability for the proposed schedule;
- communication and ability to follow household instructions;
- right to work and the employer-side checks required for the role.
Filipino Nanny specialises in Filipino housekeeper candidates, but nationality is not evidence of an individual’s housekeeping ability, reliability, communication or work ethic. Those points should be assessed candidate by candidate.
From our work: define the household standard before matching
Our current client Terms and Conditions require families to specify the exact nature of the work they need. For housekeeper briefs, the most useful information is the recurring task list, working hours, property and location, cooking or errands, live-in or live-out arrangement and any specialist experience required.
That detail lets us compare candidates against the same role and reduces the risk that “housekeeping” means one thing to the family and something very different to the person being interviewed.
Our candidate screening process explains what the agency checks and what remains the family’s responsibility.
Employment responsibilities still apply
Where a family directly employs a housekeeper, household-employer responsibilities may include right-to-work checks, written employment particulars, payroll and tax, paid holiday, workplace pension duties where applicable and other statutory requirements.
See our household-employer legal guide for the shared employment framework, and use current official guidance for your circumstances.
Housekeeper duties checklist
- List the recurring cleaning tasks.
- Separate routine cleaning from periodic deep-cleaning work.
- Define laundry, ironing and linen responsibilities.
- State cooking, shopping or errands separately.
- Identify any driving or specialist household skills required.
- Make clear whether childcare is outside the role.
- Set realistic days and hours for the workload.
- Describe live-in accommodation where applicable.
- Use the same written brief when comparing candidates.
Ready to hire a housekeeper?
Review our Filipino housekeeper service in London, then use the client enquiry form to tell us the duties, hours, location and working arrangement you need.