In homes that employ a non-Jewish housekeeper, it often happens that the housekeeper will leave for the weekend on Friday night, once Shabbat has already set in. The question arises as to whether the Jewish employer may allow her to leave his home on Shabbat into the public domain with her suitcase. Her departure from the home with a piece of luggage may give the impression that the Jewish employer had requested her to bring the contents of the suitcase somewhere for him, which would constitute a clear violation of Halacha. Perhaps, then, we should forbid allowing one's non-Jewish housekeeper from leaving the home on Shabbat into the public domain while carrying an object, in order to avoid suspicion ("Mar'it Ayin").
Rav Shemuel Pinhasi (contemporary scholar in Israel), however, in his work Ve'daber Vavar (4:2), rules that this is in fact permissible. People who see the housekeeper leaving with her luggage will most likely presume that she takes her belongings with her for her personal use, rather than delivering items for her Jewish employer. It is improbable that anybody would suspect the employer of instructing his housekeeper to run an errand for him on Shabbat, and therefore he may allow her to leave the home with her luggage into the public domain.
Another question arises regarding the Se'uda Shelishit meal that one eats towards the end of Shabbat. Halacha forbids clearing the table after Se'uda Shelishit until after Shabbat. Since it is the last meal, clearing the table serves no purpose on Shabbat itself; it serves merely to save time after Shabbat, and thus violates the prohibition of "Hachana" – making preparations on Shabbat for Mosa'e Shabbat. By extension, it is forbidden to instruct one's non-Jewish housekeeper to clear the table after Se'uda Shelishit before the conclusion of Shabbat. The question arises, however, as to whether a Jewish employer must instruct his housekeeper to stop clearing the table if she began clearing on her own initiative.
Rav Pinhasi rules leniently on this issue, and does not require the employer to instruct the housekeeper to stop clearing. He writes that in all likelihood, the housekeeper chose to clear at this point – rather than wait until after Shabbat – for personal reasons, and not out of concern for her employer. She simply prefers completing her work as early as possible, and therefore clears immediately rather than delaying the chore which might require her staying up late. Hence, she is permitted to continue clearing and the employer need not instruct her to stop.
Rav Pinhasi issues a similar ruling regarding a case of a non-Jewish housekeeper who mops the floor on Shabbat and occasionally wrings the water out of the mop. Wringing water from material is forbidden on Shabbat due to the prohibition of "Sehita" ("squeezing"), and thus one may not instruct a non-Jew to wring water on Shabbat. If, however, the housekeeper chooses to wring the water from the mop, the Jewish employer may allow her to continue doing so. Here, too, the housekeeper acts in the interest of personal convenience, rather than for her employer. She wrings the water not to help the employer, but rather because this allows for more convenient mopping. Hence, she may be allowed to wring the water, even though one may not instruct her to do so.
Summary: It is permissible for a Jewish employer to allow his non-Jewish housekeeper to leave his home on Shabbat with her bags, and we are not concerned that people might suspect him of instructing her to bring them through the public domain. One may not clear the table after Se'uda Shelishit until after Shabbat, or ask his housekeeper to do so. However, if she began clearing the table on her own initiative she may be allowed to continue. Similarly, one may allow his non-Jewish housekeeper to wring a mop as she cleans the floor on Shabbat, but he may not instruct her to do so.
