Category: parents

Why you put up with your nanny’s quirks

 This is a guest post from a reader who wishes to remain anonymous. Just to remind you we welcome all contributions, and look forward to a respectful discussion!

Sometimes your nanny will drive you crazy. She dumps her bag just inside the door. She teaches your children songs that get on your nerves (get on your nerves, get on your nerves). The garden has been turned into a mud-pit. She never writes enough in the nanny diary. She always uses the last of the butter. There’s only ever one baby wipe left in packet. But you wouldn’t swap, or would you?

You focus on the good and let the niggles slide, and that’s fine as long as they’re just niggles. You can stop here if using up the butter is your biggest bugbear. This article is not for you.

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The psychology of hiring a nanny

Hiring a nanny is a risky business. You’re working from CVs with a variety of qualifications and employment histories, and a three line personal statement which is telling you what you want to hear. Not only that but you’re choosing someone to take your place, in a high-pressure, unsupervised role with unrestricted access to your children. Mitigating risk, a natural human tendency, is going to play a big part in your decision making when choosing a nanny.

To do this you may place arbitrary limits – you want your nanny to be confident handling an emergency so you insist they have a first aid certificate (sensible), you want to know they are a reasonable and law abiding person so you ask for a DBS check (also sensible). You may have preconceived notions about certain academic backgrounds or hobbies, which again is you trying to reduce risk by avoiding the unknown. You may be put off by an unprofessional email address, or an overly-familiar voicemail message, because it calls that person’s judgement into question.

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6 scenario based interview questions to ask at a nanny interview, and the responses you should be getting

 

Scenarios are a great way to test out how quickly your potential nanny can think on her feet and see what her natural reactions to everyday situations are. A lot of the questions you ask in an interview lead a nanny to respond in a certain way. Any clues that she’s gained about your childcare style will help her answer them, but she doesn’t need to have additional information because it’s all about how she would react.

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Sickness during pregnancy

As nannying is an industry dominated by women it’s inevitable that each year nanny employers will find themselves dealing with a pregnant employee. However delighted you may be for your nanny on a personal level it’s entirely understandable that you might be feeling anxious about your new responsibilities as an employer. We have previously looking at managing pregnant employees and what might happen about your nanny returning to work, so let’s look at some less likely scenarios – when your nanny suffers from some kind of pregnancy related illness.

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Second interviews, trials and settling in sessions – to pay or not to pay

First interviews are very rarely paid in the nanny industry. The exception would be paying expenses or a weekend long interview, which doubles up as a trial.

Some parents will offer to pay for the time taken for a second interview. Whether you do or not is your choice, but if you didn’t give your children the chance to meet your nanny at a first interview then she’s probably expecting to come back for a second interview, and many nannies won’t accept a job where they’ve not met the children first. Shortlisting candidates is fairly standard, especially in a competitive market, and second interviews are sufficiently common that they count as part of the normal recruitment process. A second interview should remain fairly short, although you might ask your nanny to play with your children or join in the evening routine.

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Pensions for nannies

There’s been a lot of buzz in the news lately about new pension rules for nannies that are coming in on June 1. Here’s a quick FAQ!

Is it coming in for everyone on June 1?

No. When it comes in for you will depend on your staging date. You can find that out by entering your PAYE reference on the Pensions Regulator website. Nannies can find a PAYE reference on their P60.

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Spotlight on qualifications

Although nannies do not have to be qualified, studying for a qualification shows commitment to a career in childcare and proves that a nanny has knowledge of good professional practice with a range of ages. There are many different qualifications that a nanny may have, and these are offered at different levels which correspond to the difficulty of the qualification, not the number of hours taken to achieve it. Here are the most common qualifications for nannies, including the new Early Years Educator courses which started this autumn. You can find more details on these and other qualifications on here.

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Spotlight on Holidays

As employees nannies are entitled to paid holiday and the amount is specified in the contract. It can be expressed as weeks, days or hours depending on the nanny’s employment pattern – see here for more.

Previously the norm was to give 4 weeks plus Bank Holidays, but recently the trend has been to state 5.6 weeks (28 days) including Bank Holidays, which usually works out to the same amount but fairer to part-time workers who may not be actively working on Bank Holidays but are still entitled to the same proportion of holiday as full-time employees. Holiday in a nanny share can be complicated to arrange but it’s important that the nanny gets their full holiday entitlement so both families must communicate clearly.

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Spotlight on Christmas – gift or bonus?

Most people like to give their nanny a token of appreciation over the festive season. This can range from a bottle of wine or basket of toiletries to a week’s wage as a bonus. When deciding what to give your nanny there are two important things to consider –the budget for this gift and future gifts, and tax.

Any kind of cash bonus is taxable. It needs to be declared to HMRC and appear on the payslip, along with the tax and NI deductions. This is worth bearing in mind if the intention is to give a nanny an amount other than their weekly wage, as adding £100 will not translate to giving them an extra £100 spending money. Even if the bonus is in the form of cash or a cheque inside their Christmas card tax and NI still need to be paid on the value of it. Vouchers are also treated as cash.

Some employers find cash impersonal, although it is a safe option, and prefer to give a gift. Some gifts are taxable, particularly if they can be resold, but others are exempt as they are considered a trivial benefit. Seek advice from a payroll agency or by calling the HMRC employer helpline, then request confirmation in writing from your local employment office.

Above all remember that gift-giving should be a pleasure, not a chore (remember this when buying for Aunt Mabel too), and it is far worse to not give anything than get it wrong, particularly if you keep the receipt!

Spotlight on NWOCs (nannies with own children)

Gone are the days when nannies stayed with families until they were old and grey, forfeiting families of their own, and for many families gone are the days when they could comfortably afford to have a stay at home parent. Nannies are understandably reluctant to pay someone else to do what they are qualified to do, so look for nanny jobs where families are happy for them to bring their own child along.

There are many advantages to this kind of arrangement for employers. A nanny who can bring their own child may be happy to accept odd hours such as before and after school and full time in the holidays, enabling them to balance time along with their child and earning a wage. A nanny whose child is the same age as her charges provides a playmate, which can be particularly valuable for only children and appreciated by parents who would like their child to be around other children but for whatever reason don’t want out of home care. Finally nannies who are allowed to bring their own child are often doubly motivated to provide stimulating activities and promote good social skills, as it benefits their child too. If you get the logistics right it can be a very stable arrangement, which reduces the time you spend worrying about childcare.

There are downsides: you may need extra equipment such as a double buggy or extra high chair, it’s an extra cost to feed another child, if nanny’s child is younger you may need to keep baby-proofing for longer and there’s added potential for bugs and breakages. Your children also won’t be the full focus of your nanny, even if she puts her own child second most of the time. To compensate for this many nannies who want to bring their on children are happy to accept a reduced rate of pay, meaning you can have an experienced nanny for less.

Having a nanny bring their own child can be a really positive and beneficial arrangement all round. The important thing is to make sure that everyone is a good fit – parenting styles and boundaries need to be aligned from the get go – but a good match can last for years.