Category: nannies

Spotlight on probationary periods

Most contracts have a probationary period, a time with a reduced notice period that allows both parties to decide whether the arrangement works for them. The length can be anywhere from 1 to 6 months, and the notice due on either side is usually just a week.

Think carefully about how long the probationary period needs to be. A probationary period that is too short doesn’t allow a thorough evaluation of how things are going, and if there are still bumps after a month (which is fairly normal) the pressure to make a decision may mean cutting short a relationship that could have worked well, and recruiting a new nanny. On the flip side a long probationary period can be unattractive although it gives more flexibility to let a nanny go if things aren’t working out. In general, though, it’s better to have a shorter probationary period that can be extended following a performance review. A nanny can also ask for the probationary period to be extended, although this is very rare.

While it’s always important for nannies and employers to communicate with each other, the probationary period is a time for regular, fairly structured feedback, and most nannies expect to told how things are going so they can adjust if needed in the early days. Positive feedback is just as important as constructive criticism, but issues which aren’t dealt with at the beginning can turn out to be deal-breakers further down the line.

If at the end of the probationary period nanny or family decide it’s not working out that isn’t necessarily a negative reflection on either side. It just means that in this case it wasn’t a good fit for reasons that weren’t clear at interview. Unless notice was given for disciplinary reasons it’s best to agree a reference and move on.

Spotlight on References

Taking up references on a nanny is a vital part of the recruitment process. Parents should always telephone the contacts provided themselves, rather than relying on a third party to do it for them, especially after the tragedy that led to a lawsuit being filed against an American website supposedly offering a reference checking service. References allow previous employers to share their experience of employing a particular nanny and can help you discover both their strengths and the potential pitfalls.

Try to find a time when and the person you are talking to will be free from interruptions. Prepare your questions in advance and pay attention to both what they say and their tone of voice. If you sense that they are hesitating or might be hiding something that could be a bad sign. Keep your questions open ended and allow the other person space to reply in their own time.

Remember to ask questions that are specific to your situation. If you need a nanny to do overnight care then ask whether this what part of their previous job and how they coped. Written references will seldom give you all the details that you need, another reason why a personal conversation with ex-employers is so important.
At the end of your nanny’s time with you don’t forget to write them a reference of your own!

Please note that we at Nannyjob.co.uk do not at any point check the identity or references of jobseekers and advise you to double check references which have been taken up by a nanny agency on your behalf.

Common nanny pay issues

When parents employ a nanny it’s often the first time they have need to administer a payroll and pay regularly for services. In all the confusion it can be easy to let some things slip through the cracks, like transferring the money on the right date…

Problem #1 My boss never pays me on time

This is more common than you’d think. Many nannies report late payments from their employers, or having to leave messages to make sure they’re paid on time. It has a knock on effect on nanny’s bank balance and they may incur charges if their direct debits go out without sufficient funds. Solution? Set up a standing order when the job starts.

Problem #2 The amount in my account and on my payslip don’t match up

First you need to make sure you’re looking at your payslip correctly. The figure that should be in your account is in the bottom right, not the top right. The top right is the gross figure that you should have agreed at interview and written in your contract. The bottom figure is the net amount, which is what ends up in your account. If that net amount on your payslip doesn’t match what’s in your account then your boss has either over or under paid you, and you need to find out why. Sometimes this is because overtime has been added to your pay but not processed through payroll, or because you’ve had time off sick but it’s not been processed through payroll. Sometimes it’s because you agreed a net wage which is very difficult to match up on a payroll run each month even if your boss has paid what you agreed. Solution? Check your payslip, your contract and your working hours. There will be a discrepancy in the figures somewhere and when you find out what it is you can sort it.

Problem #3  My overtime hasn’t been counted

If you do overtime late in the month it can be tough for employers to get that information to the nanny payroll company on time, or they may have forgotten to add it to the payslip. The other, more alarming, situation is where your overtime appears on your payslip but not in your account. This probably means your employers have a standing order, notified the payroll company and forgot to manually transfer you the overtime payment. Solution? Gently remind them to declare your overtime and/or pay you.

Problem#4 My boss is making extra deductions

The standard deductions that should be made from your pay are tax and employee national insurance contributions. You may also have deductions for your pension and student loan repayments. Your contract may specific additional situations where your employer can take money out of your pay, for example if you are responsible for damaging their car they may deduct the insurance excess directly from your pay. If you see extra deductions, or you think other things have been deducted from your pay check your contract to see whether it’s allowed. Solution? Call the payroll company to check what’s being taken off and talk to your boss.

Problem #5 My boss never reimburses my expenses

Many nanny employers provide a kitty which means their nanny doesn’t have to pay for activities and so on out of their own pocket, but some prefer to reimburse expenses. Mileage is an expense which is commonly reimbursed, rather than taken out of the kitty. Paying up front can leave you short of cash at the end of the month, and if your boss doesn’t pay you back you’re effectively subsidising your charges. Solution? Stop paying out. Insist on having a kitty or only do free activities within walking distance.

Puddle jumping

It’s springtime, it’s a tiny bit warmer but it’s still pretty darn wet! What better way to make the most of this than to go puddle jumping?

“There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappopriate clothing” – Sir Ranulph Fiennes

Many parents and nannies believe that every day, rain or shine, children can get out and about. With a good set of waterproofs, plenty of layers and some sturdy welly boots everyone can get out to play. If you do get wet then when you get home dry off, change clothes and warm up with a hot drink. Hot chocolate tastes even better when it’s going into a chilly tummy.

Jumping in puddles is just a natural childhood instinct. It’s also a way for children to see that they can have a big effect on the world around them. They can spend ages jumping in and out of puddles, watching the water fly everywhere and then return to its tranquil state or examining reflections or making water muddy and watching it settle again. This is the start of science, in a playful way.

Puddle jumping a universal game. There’s a little spark of childish glee in all of us when we see a puddle and we get to jump in it. Don’t hold back! Children thrive on experiencing fun alongside adults and are encouraged by adults participating.

“Childhood is a state of mind which ends the moment a puddle is first viewed as an obstacle rather than an opportunity” – Unknown

So what will it be? Obstacle? Or opportunity?

Last one to get their welly boots on is a banana!

Food allergens and nannies

As of December last year businesses providing food, which includes childcare providers, have to give information about the allergens in the food they provide. This applies not only to home-made food but also pre-prepared food bought and served when out and about. In practice children are unable to make their own decisions about avoiding allergens so it’s important to communicate with parents about foods to avoid, what you will be serving, and when their children have consumed allergens.

The legislation applies to 14 allergens:

  • Celery (this includes celeriac)
  • Cereals which contain gluten such as wheat, rye and barley
  • Crustaceans (eg crab, lobster and prawns)
  • Eggs
  • Fish
  • Lupin beans/seeds
  • Milk
  • Molluscs (shellfish, snails, squid etc)
  • Mustard
  • Nuts eg almonds, Brazil nuts, cashew, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecan nuts or pistachio
  • Peanuts
  • Sesame
  • Soybeans
  • Sulphur dioxide/sulphites (a type of preservative) above 10mg/kilo or litre.

Nannies tend to cook food that parents provide, so the parents should be aware of which allergens are available for consumption. It’s worth noting down in a communication diary what allergens were contained in the food consumed that day. Similarly if eating out inform the parents what allergens were present in writing, so make a habit of noting down food information when out and about.

 

NB Self-employed nannies, as a business, do have a responsibility to provide this information, like nurseries and childminders.

Sensory bags

Fancy some sensory play without the mess ? Help is at hand in the form of sensory bags. Just fill up a ziplock bag, shut it and for extra security tape it shut.

Try:

Paint – either one colour or two colours in opposite corners of the bag so they can be mixed

Hair gel and glitter

Cornflour and water

Shaving foam and a few drops of food colouring

Oil and coloured water

Sand and water

Miniature toys or googly eyes and hair gel or water

 

You can also create windows in bags by taping over part of the bag and just leaving a few gaps. Children can manipulate objects until they can see them and watch them appear and disappear from view.

Questions to ask nannies at interview

Even if you’re an experienced recruiter thinking up questions to ask a potential nanny can be tricky. Here’s a list of useful questions for you!

 

Professional training and experience

What qualifications do you have? Why did you choose to study those?

Did you qualifications involve placements? How long did you spend on placement? What kind of setting were the placements?

What course/part of the course did you enjoy most? Why?

How long have you been working with children? How long have you been nannying?

What’s your experience with weaning/potty training/babies/toddlers/school aged children?

Tell me what you did with X family (look at their CV).

When did you last update your First Aid certificate? Have you ever needed to use your First Aid knowledge?

Why are you leaving your current job? Why did you leave your previous jobs?

 

Job satisfaction

Why did you decide to become a nanny?

What do you enjoy most about the job? And least?

What makes a job good for you?

What are your deal-breakers in a job?

 

Childcare style

How do you deal with temper tantrums?

What kind of meals do you cook for children? What kind of snacks would you feed the children?

What activities would you suggest for our children now? How would you encourage their future development?

What kind of books do you like to read children?

What are your views on TV for children? What are your views on electronic devices (iPad etc)?

What does a typical day look like for you?

How often do you like to go out? Attend groups? Organise playdates?

What do you consider is important for children to learn from a young age?

How do you encourage children to have good manners?

How would you react in an emergency? (Try to give a couple of scenarios e.g. choking, parent not arriving home)

 

Living in

Would you want to have guests to stay from time to time?

Are you a morning or an evening person?

What kind of food do you like to eat? Do you prefer to eat your evening meal with the children or later on?

Do you have any evening commitments? Do you plan to go to the gym/evening classes?

What do you like to do at weekends?

 

Living out

How far away do you live? How do you plan to get to work?

What would you do if we were delayed on the way home and you had to stay longer at work?

Are you occasionally able to start early or finish late?

Creating a portfolio

More and more nannies are taking a portfolio with them to interviews, to present their qualifications and other paperwork and demonstrate their style of childcare to prospective employers. A good portfolio is well-organised, neat and relevant. A battered file stuffed with tatty pieces of paper won’t impress anyone – in fact it will probably do more harm than good – so you need to pay attention to what you choose and where you put it.

 

First impressions really count. Whether it’s a funky scrapbook or a sleek leather wallet the outside of your portfolio sets up expectations for what parents will find inside. You should present a coherent and authentic image, so if you are a creative person show that your personality carries over to your work with children. Everyone can put things in a folder, making yours different, even if it’s choosing blue leather rather than black, will make you memorable.

 

Parents will expect to see your qualifications ordered logically. You can order them chronologically or by area (general childcare, maternity specific, Montessori etc). You don’t need to present all of your First Aid certificates, just the most recent will do. It can really help parents to create a quick overview of what your course involved and what you learnt alongside the certificate. Many certificates don’t give any more information than the date and title of the course so giving additional detail will help prospective employers see how the study you have done makes you a better nanny.

 

Some nannies like to include sample menu plans or weekly activities for different ages. These can help parents see what they can expect if they employ you, especially for first time employers who may not really know what a nanny does on a day to day basis. By including a typical menu you can demonstrate your cooking skills and your understanding of nutrition. If you like to present food in new and interesting way then jazz up your menu with some photos (and if you don’t have any ideas hop over to our pinterest board to see what we like in the kitchen). Showing what you might do in a typical week also shows your understanding of appropriate activities for various ages and stages, and gives parents an idea of whether you’re a nanny who likes to get out and about to classes and on playdates, or one who likes crafting, or one who’s at the beach or in the forest in all weathers. Throughout your portfolio you can include photos of activities you’ve done with past charges to bring your experience to life. Do get permission from your previous employers before including them though!

 

Last, but certainly not least, you should include copies of all your references and testimonials. It’s unlikely that a future employer will want to contact a temp job you did 10 years ago but you probably got a glowing reference and you should be proud of it.

 

What else would you include in a portfolio? Let us know!

 

 

Sickness etiquette

It’s a fact of life that people get ill, and those in contact with small children more often than most. One of the advantages of a nanny is that they will care for poorly children, but an oft cited disadvantage is that you rely on one person for your childcare, as you do with a childminder, and if they are sick you have no childcare. The sooner everyone knows about any sickness, the easier it is to deal with the disruption.

Tips for parents:

Sick children: As we said a nanny will normally care for sick children as part of their job, but it’s always good to give your nanny a heads up before they arrive. If your nanny is female and your children have an illness which could be dangerous in pregnancy you should warn your nanny in case they are in the early stages and haven’t told you.

Sick parents: There’s no reason your nanny shouldn’t come to work but they might need to adjust their plans slightly to give you the peace and quiet you need to recuperate.

Sick nannies: Before employing a nanny it’s a good idea to have a backup plan in place. Local nanny agencies should have temporary nannies available to work in your area or your employer may offer emergency childcare solutions. Most nannies will only take time off when they’re absolutely incapable of coming to work so even if it’s a day when you have a really important meeting try not to make them feel worse than they already do.

Tips for nannies:

Sick children: Your charges may want Mummy or Daddy, and many more cuddles than usual. Make sure your employers understand that your priority is your poorly charge and the usual jobs might not get done.

Sick parents: It can be hard having parents at home, especially when the children don’t understand that they need to rest. Don’t feel too awkward though – chances are they’re too busy feeling rubbish to listen to your out of tune renditions of head, shoulders, knees and toes at nappy change time.

Sick nannies: Call, rather than text, if you know the night before that you won’t be in the next day. Send a text between 10pm and 6am and follow it up with a phone call to make sure your employers know you won’t be in. If you can suggest any nanny friends who might be happy to cover all or part of the day, and it’s a good idea to have a list in the nanny diary at your boss’s house, then your employers will probably be very grateful.

Don’t judge a nanny by her weight

There’s a bit of a debate going on in a Facebook group at the moment about agencies asking for personal details like weight and height on application forms, and on our own Facebook page earlier in the week we posted a link to an article about a teaching assistant who was told to cover up her tattoos at school which got quite a reaction, so we’re wondering, why does appearance matter so much, and is it okay to ask these things?

Most parents will say they try to teach children not to judge people on their looks, and they’ll mean it. We all know that your height, which you don’t have any control over, is no indicator of anything other than the height of your parents! So we don’t go round judging people according to whether they’re tall or short. We also know that hair colour doesn’t affect how good someone is at their job, so we don’t tend to use that to make judgements. But people are often judged or stereotpyed for thir weight and expressions of their personality like hair dye, tattoos and piercings.

Apparently being over a certain number on the scales means you’re automatically unfit and unhealthy. You must have bad eating habits or be unable to run around after children. It’s understandable with all the concern around childhood obesity that parents want their nanny to be a good role model. The reality is that numbers don’t mean a lot, so that kind of information on an application form tells you nothing about someone’s lifestyle or their fitness levels. The only way to really find out is to interview them and ask alongside all the other questions, which is only fair since it gives them an equal chance.

Tattoos, hair dye and piercings are even more emotive. On the one hand we’re encouraging children to express themselves and ignore the boundaries society wants to impose, particularly regarding gender. On the other we’re telling nannies (and teachers, nursery workers and anyone else working with children) that they have to conform and hide their tattoos away and keep their hair a naturally occurring colour. There are some legitimate safety concerns about small hands and piercings, but just as sensible nannies avoid wearing large hoops or dangly earrings to work with children who are likely to grab them and pull, those with facial piercings will want to minimise any potential damage to themselves and wear small studs or bars to work.

So just like you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, don’t judge a nanny by his or her appearance!