Domestic helps, while being a boon to working professionals to give them some respite in their hectic lives, are often known to be accomplice in robbery/ murder of their employers for money and valuables.
Recently in Khar, Mumbai as reported by the DNA (http://goo.gl/Xz3Nh0), a domestic help had attacked and robbed his employer, an elderly couple, of valuables and fled. Police are finding it difficult to trace the person as the couple only knew his first name and no other details to trace their address/ origins. This is not the first time that such daunting incidents have come to light. Many times these house-hold helps or drivers/ babysitters allow their acquintances to enter the house with the intention of robbing the residents. Police are typically clueless as victims are unable to provide any details of their domestic help, apart from just first names and a few basic details. It’s also a myth that this doesn’t happen in gated communities.
So what could be done to avoid such incidences? Can RWAs/ association help in safeguarding their residents and make their community a safer place to live? Based on our interactions with many communities, we have found the following lacunae/ challenges being faced :-
Lack of central Staff Database & Attendace Tracker:- Often residents end up employing multiple domestic helps like maids, drivers etc. and it gets almost impossible for associations/ security to keep a track on them. Security guards do not know which houses do they service or even when does their shift start and have to allow them inside when they claim to be working for a resident.
Lack of Background Verification :- Residents are more than relieved if they find the right help and are often negligent to get thorough background checks done on the staff. Even basic details like their ID/Address Proof is not collected, which, in case of any unfortunate incidence,c an help them trace the staff.
Lack of Efficient Vendor Management :- Each housing society will also have various vendors who service the apartments such as plumbers, electricians etc. Documentation is required for these as well, so that the reason for change in vendor and detailed information about blacklisted vendors/staff is available.
Lack of Staff Feedback Mechanism :- Even if you catch someone stealing, the chances are high that after a few months, the same staff gets employed with another resident, who doesn’t know the background. It’s now essential to have feedback shared across residents and managing committee on their staff and vendors. This will credibility and will help residents to employ the right people for the job.
Even if the above is being done by many communities, it’s being done on paper/ old and dirty musters that serve almost no value after a period of time and it becomes quite tedious to manage.
But these woes would soon be sorted very with our upcoming solution that’ll address all these staff and vendor related issues. Do keep an eye on this section for more information.
