Ready to Make Nanny an Offer?
You've searched the site, found a great nanny, made it through the interviews, nanny
reference checking, nanny background report and are ready to make an offer.
Congratulations! Before you make the offer, here are some things to consider:
- Salary
If you haven't already discussed pay, be sure to read our article on Nanny Salaries. You should also discuss vacations
(yours) and holidays, and whether or not you will be pay for those.
- Taxes
Figure out if you will be deducting taxes from her paycheck and if the stated salary
is before or after taxes. If you do not take taxes out, the nanny is responsible
for paying taxes on her income every April. Paying your nanny legally article
- Medical Benefits
Decide whether or not you will pay health insurance. If not, you should offer
a bit more salary to compensate. Even if she is just working for you on a short-term
basis, such as a summer job, you can still get a temporary plan to cover her during
that time. Check with the International Nanny Association (INA) for more information
(www.nanny.org).
- Duties
Define what the nanny will be responsible for; what chores you expect her to
do, what the driving arrangement is and how involved she should be in your child's
homework.
- Hours
Definitely discuss the hours you expect her to work up front. If you want a live-in
nanny who is "on-call" at any time of the week, make sure you compensate her in
some way or that it is clearly stated.
- Nanny Contract
You should absolutely put all terms in writing and use the contract that was
included in your Nanny Success Kit (Gold and Platinum members only). Communication
and openness is the key to success in a nanny/family relationship. Read about the
items it should cover by reading the Nanny
Contract article on our Web site.
- Consider a Trial Period
Are you on the fence? Not sure if you want to make a permanent, long-term commitment
to this nanny for some reason? Try offering a three-month trial period. This way,
you and your employer can get to know each other and evaluate the relationship after
a fair amount of time.
- Deactivate Your Membership
Once you’ve found a nanny, it's very important that you deactivate your membership
on eNanny Source. Log in to the
site and deactivate in the My Account section