Isabelle treats her kasambahay with respect & dignity

Isabelle Daza received positive comments after sharing on her social media the draft of the employment contract she created for her household helpers last January. The agreement, which she asked her employees to sign, serves to protect all parties concerned.

She shared that it was the idea of her husband Adrien Semblat to create one for both parties — employer and employees — to know their rights, duties and responsibilities. “My husband said I need to have a contract with the maids then he explained why I have to write down the list of deliverables. It gives them dignity to have a contract,” Isabelle said during her one on one on the hot seat of Tonight with Boy Abunda, and added, “It protects both parties so you don’t get mad at them for forgetting your charger when it’s not their job. It’s not right to fire employees just because I’m in a bad mood or I’m hungry.”

The move, she said, deeply touched them, telling that it was a gesture that her employees didn’t feel that they deserved. “People are scared to lose their jobs. I want them to have something that will help them sleep better at night.”

Her statement obviously explained that the actress wanted to treat them with respect and the dignity of a human being, and that includes giving them their time to rest or take a day-off. “Tayo nga napapagod ng five days a week, (so) why do we expect them to be at home (working) for seven days? They also need a life.”

What’s more fantastic is the fact that the actress didn’t just make her household helpers sign the agreement. She also asked them to answer a questionnaire about the things that make them happy or sad in order for her to get to know them better, visibly reflecting her aim of telling everyone that it’s not all about money that is involved in an employer-employee relationship but also about the EQ (emotional quotient) and the work environment.

Without discounting the importance of being financially secure, Isabelle came up with another brilliant move. This time, she is helping her kasambahay save money by encouraging them to set aside an amount in the bank accounts she opened for them last year and promising to double the total of their savings come December. Thus, it motivated her employees to have a target. “I want them to reach their goals.”

Speaking of goals, Isabelle also recently shared on YouTube a video of her workouts in the gym that resulted to her shedding off 68 pounds of excess weight she gained during her pregnancy with her and Adrien’s first-born child Baltazar, or Balty as she fondly calls him.

“I think I made that my job for the past six months because I had gained a tremendous amount of weight almost three times with the pregnancy. I created it because a lot of people are asking how I lost weight and more than the weight, it’s also because of health, since at the end part (of my pregnancy) I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes but I don’t want to sugarcoat it, it’s definitely about weight. It’s something that I had a problem with; it was my truth and I can’t lie about it. With my video, I didn’t mean to body-shame people.”

A lot of squats truly benefited her and Isabelle even shared the basic routine of doing several repetitions of the combination of jumping and squats anyone can do at home except, of course, for those who have a knee or joint problem. Her slim figure fits her to her role as the girlfriend of Zanjoe Marudo’s character in the daytime series Playhouse.

Off-cam, Isabelle is proud of her role as wife and mom. She admitted that motherhood has changed her point of view and explained how. 

“I think there’s a lot of aspects. I’ve never been more of myself than as a mother. This is what I want to be. I want to be a mother who has time for her child. When I was younger, I wanted to work, work, work that I was so afraid that I would lose work. Now that I have a child, it’s like work is not the only thing that makes me happy.”