My butlers are really quite good. They will take breaks and when they sleep, which is not often, it's for a long time. They never put food away so you have to watch for this. But they garden, cook, make repairs and clean up messes. If the toddlers ask for stuff they give it to them, but they're not so great with babies. Every once in a while they send in a substitute for whatever reason, but they come back the next day. And the substitutes usually stay as alternates. You can only have one butler per save. If you get a bad one (check their traits in manage worlds), you can replace them.