More and more nannies are looking for jobs where they can take their own children with them. It seems like a perfect compromise between working and having time with your children, and increasing numbers of families are happy to reduce their costs a little bit – or get more for their money – by accepting a nanny who wants to bring her own child to work.
The law
A nanny can care for children from up to 2 families at once, and that includes her own children. So a nanny based at an employer’s home is able to take her own children along. Doing a nanny share and taking your own child is not allowed unless you register with a OFSTED as a childminder on the Early Years and Childcare registers. Registering on the voluntary register as a Home Childcarer, which is what OFSTED call nannies, isn’t enough. Nannies, however, don’t have to comply with ratios so can care for 2 babies or 4 children under 5.
The pay
If you’re returning to your current job with a baby you may be lucky enough to stay on the same wage. Frequently nannies seeking a new job are paid 20% or 25% less than they would be paid without a child in tow, but this may be balanced out by a slightly higher hourly rate to cover less desirable part time work. Some nannies are fortunate enough to continue getting the with their own child as nannies with similar qualifications and experience who don’t have their own child coming to work with them.
The practicalities
Taking your own child is a bit like a nanny share in some ways, although you have just one employer and your employers children come ‘first’ which may mean that your own child misses out on activities or play dates.
You need to lay out ground rules from the start about illness (can your sick child come to work with you? What about when your charges are sick?), food (does your employer feed your child as well as you?), baby equipment (will you need a double buggy and who pays? Can you leave some stuff at their house? Will they keep some baby proofing in place if their children are older?) and activities (is there anything you won’t be able to do because you will have too many children for one adult? Who pays for outings).