Servants
Servants.—A general or indefinite hiring of domestic or menial servants is said to be in law a hiring for a year, and the contract therefore, unless the service is to begin on the same day or the day following, ought, strictly to be in writing and signed; but it may be made out by the letters of the parties, and does not require any stamp. Wages, though reckoned by the year, are usually payable in monthly instalments, but sometimes quarterly or yearly.
The service may, however, be freely terminated at any time by either party giving to the other a month’s notice, or in lieu thereof paying a month’s wages; and it has been ruled that payment of board wages is not necessary in the latter case. But the law is that where a servant is guilty of conduct which is inconsistent with the true and faithful discharge of his or her service, the master has a right of instant dismissal. Immorality, drunkenness, gross impertinence, disobedience, dishonesty of course, or incompetence to do the work contracted to be done, are all facts which may justify the master. Disobedience means a refusal to comply with a reasonable order within the scope of the servant’s duties—a housemaid cannot be required to groom a horse; nor is a servant bound to perform any service in which he reasonably apprehends injury to himself, and which he has not clearly agreed to perform. If your servant, when summarily dismissed, refuses to leave the house, you may turn him or her out of doors, if you feel yourself strong enough to do so; but, to avoid the risk of an unseemly scuffle, your best plan is to send for the police.
Wages.—As to the wages of a servant who has been summarily dismissed upon legally sufficient ground, considerable misapprehension seems to prevail. Strictly speaking she is not only not entitled to a month’s wages in lieu of a month’s warning, but not to anything at all for the intervening period from the last regular pay day. Thus, if your cook, whose wages fell due and were paid on the 5th of March, so misconducts herself on the 1st of April as to justify her immediate discharge, she has no claim upon you for any wages between the 5th of March and the 1st of April. But if there is doubt as to your being able to prove the misconduct in court, it may often be better to pay a month’s wages and the accruing wages than to expose yourself to the risk of an action and the certainty of costs. Of course if the wages due on the 5th of March had not been paid on the 1st of April, your cook, badly as she might have since behaved, would not lose her right to them. If, on the other hand, you have discharged your servant for your own pleasure, so to speak, although you are not bound to keep her in your house a moment longer than suits you, she is entitled to the accruing wages up to the time when she was discharged, and to a calendar month’s wages in addition, but not to board wages for that period, as has been seen. In the absence of any agreement, the master is not liable to pay a discharged servant the expenses of her journey home.
Breakages.—Servants have no right to break or damage their master’s property, and if it is proved that damage has been caused by any particular servant’s failure to use such care as it was reasonable, under all the circumstances, to require from him, being such as he is, he is liable in law to pay for the same. Formerly, no deductions from the servant’s wages could be made on this account, but recent reforms in legal procedure in effect permit them; but the master when sued for the balance of the full wages must counterclaim in respect of the damage, and had better consult a solicitor. The best plan is to have an express agreement on the subject that deductions may be made.
Character.—A lady, when asked about the character of a servant in whose favour she cannot say much, would do well in the first place to ascertain that the request is made at the suggestion of the person whose character is in question. If it is, and if the lady takes care to speak only of what she knows, she will be safe enough; she will be acting fairly by both the persons interested. Of course, if she has only pleasant things to say, there is no difficulty in answering such inquiries; but if she cannot give a favourable answer, a stranger could not complain if she replied that she did not feel at liberty to discuss a person’s character without that person’s knowledge. Some people never give a character. This is most unfair, and indeed cruel, in the case of a servant whose reputation and competency are above reproach, for silence always implies that there is something which one would rather not mention. Silence is the appropriate refuge in the case of one who has given a reference which he was not justified in using. It is easy to say, in such a case, that the writer is afraid she cannot write such a testimonial as would prove of service to the applicant; but in all other cases it is always, practically as well as theoretically, safe to give a character, if it is given fairly and honestly. A character when given is a privileged communication; and, even if it be incorrect, unless the servant who thinks herself aggrieved can show that it was given with actual malice—as with knowledge of its falsity—she cannot succeed in an action for defamation. To sustain such an action and deprive the communication of its ordinary privilege, a strong case of malicious and officious interference to the detriment of the servant would require to be made out. But there is no privilege attaching to information given to a neighbour of what is going on in her household, if it was given in an idle, gossiping and malicious spirit, rather than with the honest intention of giving important information.
It is best always to interview the late mistress rather than apply by letter, and a little shrewdness in studying the character of the mistress is very desirable, for personal feeling takes the place of impartial judgment in most, if not all, women.
Illness.—A master is not bound to provide medical attendance and medicine for even his menial servants; but if a servant falls ill, and the master voluntarily calls in his own medical man, he will not be allowed to deduct the charges for such attendance out of the servant’s wages unless the servant specially agrees that he may do so.