Companions may also accompany their employers to medical appointments and handle their social and business affairs. Households with a large staff may include a housekeeper or a butler, a cook, a caretaker, and a launderer. Housekeepers and butlers hire, supervise, and coordinate the household staff to keep the household running smoothly. Butlers also receive and announce guests, answer telephones, deliver messages, serve food and drinks, chauffeur, or act as a personal attendant. Cooks plan and prepare meals, clean the kitchen, order groceries and supplies, and may also serve meals.
Caretakers do heavy housework and general home maintenance.
They wash windows, wax floors, and hang draperies. They maintain heating and other equipment and do light carpentry, painting, and odd jobs. They may also mow the lawn and do some gardening if the household does not have a gardener. Private household child-care workers are often employed only while children are young. Private household workers usually work in pleasant and comfortable homes or apartments.