There’s a lot of Chinese customs and traditions during the Chinese New Year season that your helper may not be familiar with. Each household chooses to follow different traditions and perform different rituals. So it’s important to communicate with your helper on the expectations and practices in your household. Even if your helper has been with you for a while, it’s a good idea to communicate your plans for the new years celebrations and what you need your worker to get done. If your employee is expected to welcome and serve guests, we recommend explaining how you would like guests to be greeted.

Here’s some of the Chinese New Year traditions that your worker may not be aware of:

• Try to do all your house cleaning on the 28th of the lunar month (29th of January, 2022) to clear space for the good fortune of the upcoming year. Don’t clean, clear away things or sweep on New Year’s Day, otherwise you’ll sweep your good luck away. 

• Don’t wash clothes or wash your hair on New Year’s day (1st of February, 2022), otherwise you’ll wash your good fortune away. It’s also considered bad luck to cut anything during Chinese New Year, so no scissors, no needlework, no knives including getting a haircut.

• Wear new clothes on New Year’s Day, signifying a fresh new start. Try to avoid wearing black or white coloured clothing. Red coloured clothing is always a good idea to bring good luck! 

• The third day of the new year (3rd of February, 2022) is best to avoid visitors as some say it is generally considered bad luck to have guests or to go visiting on this day. 

Red packets (or lai-see) are usually given during the Chinese New Year for good wishes and good luck for the new year ahead. In general, someone who is married or more senior in age will give a red packet to someone their junior, or bosses to staff or parents to children. Avoid giving any amount with the number 4 in it as it sounds like “death” in Chinese which is considered bad luck. People also usually give two red packets at a time, to signify “good things come in two”. 

Chinese New Year may be a good opportunity to give a lai-see or annual bonus to your helper to show your appreciation for her hard work. If you are giving your helper their annual bonus, we encourage employers to be clear about the nature (Is it a gift or bonus?) and reason (performance, extra workload, appreciation). We also recommend being very clear if the worker can expect something similar in the future. Other Chinese New Year gift ideas include gift vouchers, traditional dishes from helpers’ home countries, or new clothes. When doing your spring cleaning before the new year, you can even consider gifting your helper with items you no longer need at home. They may like to send these items to their family at home.