Private-home versus business-work test
PERKESO defines a domestic worker by work connected with a private dwelling and not a trade, business or profession carried on by the employer. Immigration also frames the foreign domestic helper role around domestic chores. Treat shop, office, packing, customer and business-cleaning tasks as a separate work question before assigning them.
- Name the place, beneficiary and purpose of each proposed task.
- Separate household meals and cleaning from commercial production or premises.
- Confirm unclear duties with the relevant authority before assigning them.
The direct answer, and the specific examples given
The JTKSM/ILO/MOHR employer guide’s Q&A on this is unambiguous: directing a foreign domestic worker to help with a business or commercial activity is prohibited, and the guide specifically names catering, a restaurant, and a sundry shop as examples of what that covers — it doesn’t leave the boundary to guesswork.
This sits alongside a second, related prohibition in the same answer — directing her to work at a relative’s residence — covered in the dedicated guide on that specific question if it applies to your situation too.
Why the contract backs this up in writing
The standard service contract limits her duties to household tasks and caregiving responsibilities tied to the one household in the placement — commercial work, even inside the family’s own business, sits outside that written scope. It is the same written contract clause — worth checking directly if a specific request is being considered — rather than an unwritten expectation.
Whether the business runs from the same home or a separate premises doesn’t change the restriction — the prohibition is about the type of work, not where it physically happens.
The consequence if it happens anyway
PERKESO’s own domestic-worker FAQ addresses what happens if something goes wrong: an accident while she’s doing work outside her contracted scope isn’t eligible for benefits, because the employer isn’t permitted to direct her outside her household duties in the first place. A family-business task falls squarely into that excluded category.
This is a stated, sourced consequence rather than a general caution — worth weighing directly against whatever short-term convenience the family-business help might offer.