Map the workload before the headcount
Write out a normal week hour by hour: who needs support, which duties happen at the same time, and which windows are truly simultaneous rather than just numerous. A long list of duties spread across the day is still often manageable for one person; duties that collide at the same hour — the school run and an elderly parent’s medication, say — are what one person physically cannot do at once.
If the overlap is real and recurring, that’s the strongest case for a second hire. If the list is long but sequential, one helper with a clear, realistic schedule may still cover it — the household brief this site’s own planning tools build is the same starting point either way.
- List every recurring duty and the hour it happens.
- Mark the hours where two duties truly collide, not just cluster in the same day.
- Treat a long sequential list differently from a truly simultaneous one.
A second hire is a second full process, not a top-up
Each domestic helper a household employs goes through the same individual process: her own approval to hire, her own pre-departure medical and FOMEMA check within a month of arrival, and her own PL(KS)/VP(TE) work permit that has to be renewed on its own schedule. None of these steps are shared or reduced for a second worker.
That also means a second hire carries the same route decisions as the first — agency or approved direct hire, and a source country — made independently for her, even if she’s joining a household that already has one helper in place.
Budget it as two full costs, not one-and-a-half
The one-off and monthly buckets that make up a first-year cost — salary, the FOMEMA medical, the PERKESO contribution, and the agency package — apply per helper, not per household. A second hire is closer to doubling the relevant cost lines than adding a smaller increment on top.
The levy does multiply too: Immigration bundles it into the approval and PLKS extension payment for each domestic helper, so a second hire means a second bundled levy payment, not a shared or waived one — confirm the current amount with Immigration.
Design the coordination, not just the headcount
Two workers sharing a household need the same clarity a single hire needs, doubled: a written division of duties, one person in the household who gives daily instructions to each, and a schedule that shows who covers which hours, so responsibilities don’t quietly overlap or get missed between them.
Before committing to two full hires, it’s also worth checking whether a recurring but narrower gap — a specific set of hours, not the whole week — could be covered by scheduled part-time support alongside one full-time helper, rather than assuming a second live-in hire is the only option.
Revisit the decision as the household changes
A workload that justifies one helper today can grow into one that needs two — a new baby, an ageing parent’s needs increasing, or a household member returning home full-time. Treat the workload map as something to redo periodically, not a one-time decision.
The reverse is also worth checking: if two helpers were hired for a specific season or need that has since eased, it’s worth honestly reassessing whether the workload still requires both, rather than assuming the original headcount is now fixed.