Posts Tagged ‘nanny contract’

Time to review your nanny’s job description and nanny contract?

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

by, Dr. Lindsay Heller  www.thenannydoctor.com

Maybe you had on your list of New Year’s resolutions to review your nanny’s nanny job description, work agreement and more. Now, it’s time to think about your nanny and your household management.

 1) Review your Nanny Job Description
When was the last time you updated your nanny’s job description? As your life goes on and your children develop, your needs will change over time. As a result, you will need to update your job description accordingly.

 2) Update your Work Agreement or Nanny Contract
Didn’t develop a work agreement or nanny contract when you first hired your nanny? Well, it’s not too late! eNannySource has a complete nanny contract as part of their Nanny Success Kit. Develop a work agreement that includes a start date to the agreement and an end date. Include a 6 month review date and an annual review date. Include your nannies duties, agreed payment and payment schedule, rules and expectations of the household, how you expect your nanny to handle differences or any questions she may have regarding raising your child. Be sure to include the hours and days your nanny has agreed to work. Include also what days off your nanny has throughout the year as well as how sick/personal days will work in your household.

 3) Have your Annual Meeting with your nanny.
You should have an annual meeting with your nanny every year. Ideally this meeting should take place on the same predetermined date every year. At this meeting you and your nanny should sit down, formally discuss your nanny’s current job description and her nanny work, discuss what has been working and what hasn’t been working. This meeting should be a collaborative dialogue. Listen to your nanny and her ideas and make sure you do your best to help her to feel comfortable to discuss her thoughts and concerns.

 4) Show your nanny appreciation! The nanny salary .
At this time, it is also a good time to discuss a raise for your nanny. When giving her a raise, you should pair it with why you are giving her a raise and address all of the wonderful things that she has done for your family. This is a time to express your appreciation! A raise should be anywhere from 2-4%.

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We have found the right nanny for our family, what information should I keep on file about her?

Monday, June 14th, 2010

By, Dr. Lindsay Heller, The Nanny Doctor

Congratulations on finding the right nanny for your family! Now what? 

Once you have been through the interview process and the vetting and nanny background check and have decided on the right nanny for your family, it’s important to collect important information to have on file about your new household employee. You are now an employer and your household is now a workplace. This may be the first time you have ever managed or employed someone. Here is a list of things that you should have on file:

1)   a copy of your nanny’s driver’s license.

2)   A second form of identification

3)   A copy of her resume

4)   A copy of her references

5)   A copy of the nanny backgound check you conducted

6)   A copy of her cpr/first aid certification

7)   A copy of the signed work agreement

8)   A copy of her job description

9)   A copy of a confidentiality agreement if you have one

10)A copy of her driving record from the DMV

11)A signed I-9 form

Once you start a personnel file on your new employee, make sure you keep it in a place where you can find it! This file is a great place to keep notes about your nanny doing something exceptional and discussing it at the review date! It is also a good reference for knowing when you will need her to get recertified for infant cpr/first aid.

Unfortunately, sometimes things happen such as theft or fraud and you need to protect you and your family. One way of doing this is collecting important information about your nanny upfront so that if something goes wrong, you know in fact who she is and have verified it prior to employ.

By creating a personnel file, it forces you to formalize the relationship which can also be important in establishing employee/employer boundaries. This may seem “impersonal” but it is absolutely essential should you wish for this relationship to last!

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How do I conduct a nanny background check?

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

By, Dr. Lindsay Heller, The Nanny Doctor

Congratulations! If you are ready to conduct a nanny background check, you are probably very close to finding the right nanny for your family! There are several layers to the background check that you need to be aware of before you hire your nanny. Check out these tips for conducting a nanny background check:

  • Ask the potential candidate to provide you with at least three references from former employers. Don’t just rely on letters of reference, take the time to call the nanny references. Ask them about the details such as how long they employed the potential candidate, how they managed their children, what was it like to manage them? Did they have any issues with communication? Why did the employment end? Would they hire that nanny again? What are the ages of their children? Use the eNannySource Nanny Success Kit’s nanny reference check form.
  • If you find that you are unable to reach the references provided, ask that they provide you with alternative references or ask that they track down their former employers and get back to you. It’s very important that you hear from former employers.
  • Go to enannysource.com and click on “Order a Nanny Background Check”. Online background  checks are very affordable starting at $49.00. You can complete everything online and in a very short amount of time. Through their comprehensive background check, you can check for criminal activity in all 50 states – scanning as many as 300,000,000+ records!
  • Make sure you order a nanny background check as soon as you believe you have found “the one.” An online check can take 2-3 days, however the completion time varies according to candidate and state. If, in some cases you need the nanny to start immediately, put it in your work agreement that employment is dependent upon background clearance.
  • Make sure that you have authorization in writing to complete a background check on your nanny candidate. Enannysource’s process is completely online. All checks are fully FCRA compliant.
  • By all means just run the nanny’s name in a Google search. You may be surprised what you find!

Beware of websites that promise “instant” reports. These nanny background checks tend to rely entirely on information from preexisting databases that are outdated and incomplete. However, these “instant” background checks are valuable as preliminary background checks, for example in the case that you need a nanny to start right away and will have to wait a few days for the comprehensive background check.

I cannot stress enough the importance of a background check. So many people skip this step and later discover something in their nannies background that is troubling. No matter how “sweet” you nanny appears to be, no matter how many families gush about her, conduct a nanny background check.

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How do I get my nanny involved in doing crafts and activities with my kids? How can I help our nanny to get in the groove?

Friday, June 4th, 2010

by, Dr. Lindsay Heller, The Nanny Doctor

Sometimes new nannies need some guidance and sometimes a nanny you’ve had for awhile needs a little jumpstart when it comes to being a self-starter. As a nanny employer, you need to provide your nanny all of the tools she needs to be successful! Here are some tips:

 1)   Find books or workbooks with craft ideas that are age appropriate for your children.

2)   Go through these books and mark activities you think your child will enjoy doing.

3)   Clip activities from parenting magazines about activities that would be good throughout the year. Put these together in a binder and separate the tabs according to months in the year.

4)   Make sure you have all of the materials needed and pulled together so that these craft projects are easy to start. Set aside a specific day or time for craft time.

5)   Make sure you take the time to sit down with your nanny and discuss what you expect…don’t assume she already knows! Nannies come from their own family background as well as other families they have nannied for. All families are different; educate her about your family needs.

6)   When it comes to activities other than crafts, show her where to look in your community for child friendly activities. Is there a local magazine that lists a calendar of activities? Or perhaps a local website? You may need to help her and guide her on how to look at these at first but then you should be able to “take the training wheels off” and let her go on her own.

Remember, communication of your expectations is key. Don’t assume she knows “because she is a nanny.” Strong communication helps maintain healthy relationships between nannies and families; sometimes it just takes a little preparation ahead of time.

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Review your nanny’s position yearly

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

by, Dr. Lindsay Heller, The Nanny Doctor 

1) Review your Nanny Job description yearly

When was the last time you updated your nanny’s job description? As your life goes on and your children develop, your needs will change over time. As a result, you will need to update your job description accordingly.


2) Update your Nanny Work Agreement/Nanny Contract

Didn’t develop a nanny contract/work agreement when you first hired your nanny? Well, it’s not too late! Develop a work agreement that includes a start date to the agreement and an end date. Include a 6 month review date and an annual review date. Include your nannies duties, agreed payment and payment schedule, rules and expectations of the household, how you expect your nanny to handle differences or any questions she may have regarding raising your child. Be sure to include the hours and days your nanny has agreed to work. Include also what days off your nanny has throughout the year as well as how sick/personal days will work in your household.

3) Have your Annual Meeting with your nanny.

You should have an annual meeting with your nanny every year. Ideally this meeting should take place on the same predetermined date every year. At this meeting you and your nanny should sit down, formally discuss your nanny’s current job description, discuss what has been working and what hasn’t been working. This meeting should be a collaborative dialogue. Listen to your nanny and her ideas and make sure you do your best to help her to feel comfortable to discuss her thoughts and concerns.

4) Show your nanny appreciation!

At this time, it is also a good time to discuss a raise for your nanny. When giving her a raise, you should pair it with why you are giving her a raise and address all of the wonderful things that she has done for your family. This is a time to express your appreciation! A raise should be anywhere from 2-4% of her nanny salary.

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How do I handle Monday holidays with my nanny?

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Post by The Nanny Doctor, Dr. Lindsay Heller

Many families ask about this issue regarding nannies. The short answer is that this should be predetermined prior to hiring your nanny and be in your first nanny job description and work agreement. However, if you didn’t do that at that time, it’s not too late! There are many Monday holidays throughout the year. This may affect your family in several ways.

1) Your older children are out of school

If you have older children, they will be out of school on a Monday holiday and you will have to decide what your nanny’s work schedule will be like that day as well as what extra pay you will provide her for the additional children.

2) You give the nanny a day off.

You may choose to give your nanny a day off as part of her annual paid holidays that are included in your work agreement. If you choose this option, you will need to make sure that you are available to care for your children or that you have alternative childcare available.


3) Your nanny has school aged children.

Another issue that may arise is that your nanny has school aged children and on a Monday holiday, those children need to go somewhere. Some families are okay with a nanny having her children come to work with her on these days, while other families tell the nanny she will need to make arrangements for childcare for her own children ahead of time.

Whatever you decide, you will need to think ahead about this situation ahead of time so that you are not caught off guard. What will work best for your family?

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