HELP! Nanny Interviews

[Kasia216]

Hi there, hoping for some feedback as I'm interviewing potential candidates for a FT nanny job for my 16 month old son. I want to make sure that I clearly define the role as once employed I've heard it's often harder to make changes to the postion as it often leads back to a dollars + cents conversation. Here is the list of items I intend to discuss - would love feedback and please let me know if there is anything I might have left out.

1. Hours - Stick to discussing on a WEEKLY basis and ensure hours can be flexible. Start + end times should be clear/set. If I go above and beyond those hours, discuss OT. Told that can be a hourly rate ($7-10)?

2. Duties - The obvious - care, safety and nuturing of my DS. Which includes taking him to classes, playdates, making all his meals, doing HIS laundry at least 1X week and making sure his room + play space is clean and tidy at the end of the day.

3. Vacation - Gets PAID vacation when we take vacation time and that will be 3-4 weeks per year. If she needs to take vacation, she needs to provide adequate notice and that will be UNPAID as I'll then need to pay for childcare during that time.

4. Sick time - Will pay for 3 sick days per year, otherwise anything above that is unpaid as again, I'll have to pay for childcare.

5. Pay - Will be paid on the 15th and 30th of each month. Raise to be discussed on a yearly basis. I've heard it's between 1-2%?

6. Transportation - As an added BONUS, since I live in a city, I'll be providing the person a monthly metrocard so they can use mass transit to get to work ($75 benefit) Card to be provided on the 1st of the month.

Misc - I will provide $30-40 week for misc. items in the case she needs to buy snacks, beverages, etc. Some people request receipts but I'm not sure I need to get that detailed.

Lastly - Just curious and I know this will vary based on what part of the country you live in but I'm trying to get a sense of weekly rates? Don't want to nickel + dime but I just want to make sure I'm paying a "fair" weekly rate. Where I live in Manhattan, the rates go fanywhere from $450 - $550 week for 1 child.

Please let me know if I missed anything!!!! Any feedback will be greatly appreciated!

[lee60657]

Kasia

That is a very complete list and I think you have touched on a lot of the important points - I ESPECIALLY agree with discussing all expectations up front w/ the potential nannies. It is very difficult to do after you have hired one. Things I think are commonly forgotten about are the day to day activities. Specifically, what activities do you want the nanny to do w/ your DC? Obviously these are modified as your child grows and develops, but setting expectations upfront is such a good idea. For example, we have said from the beginning that we want the nanny to read to our DD throughout the day and that TV was to be limited to 15 minutes when she is preparing lunch. We also encourage one walk a day as weather permits. Now that DD is older, they do a craft almost every day and work on her vocabulary w/ books, flashcards and games. I have a friend who failed to set her expectations re: these things, then freaked when she felt they were not being done and then gave the nanny the 3rd degree every night - in they end the nanny quit.

Also, make sure to let the nanny know if she can eat your food, use you phone, your computer etc.

As far as hours, we use our nanny 4 days a week from 8am -6pm. We pay her for those hours each week whether we use her until 6 each day or not. Meaning some days I come home at 4:30, but we still pay her until 6. So we really did the hours on a daily basis, but most nannies are looking to work at least a certain # of hrs/wk. I think your sick day policy is fair - we do 4 days, but we have had our nanny for over a year - 3 is a good place to start. We offer our nanny 1 week paid vacation of her choosing, w/ advance notice of course. In addition we pay her for any long vacations or days off on which we choose not to use her.

Our nanny drives to our place (we live in the city) and we pay for her parking, but not her gas. As far as an allowance, we don't do this. But, our nanny does not drive our DD. Also, if I want them to pick up something or go to the bookstore to pick out a new book, etc., I leave $ that day.

The duties you have seem very on par with those we expect - our nanny does DD's laundry usually 2x week, but as needed, it never piles up. She also does the dishes (runs the dishwasher and puts them away :) and will do our laundry when DD is napping. But her priority is always DD.

As far as rates, we live in Chicago and we pay $500 for the 4 day week our nanny works. I have found that that is around the norm for the hours she works. We gave her a 2% raise after one year, plus an additional sick day. We also give her "Bonuses" at Christmas and on her b-day.

I think we are flexible and generous w/ our nanny, but she has really become part of our family. She loves our DD so much and has been a wonderful asset to us. I hope you are fortunate and find a perfect fit for your family too :)

Ok this is a book - let me know if you have any specific questions :)

[SiValleySteph]

One thing you didn't mention was whether or not you are going to paying above or under the table. I think it's important to get it out upfront whether or not you will accept an under-the-table nanny, so there aren't any suprises at tax time when you need his/her SSN for your taxes or to get your DCAP money back.

[jki]

Looks like you have everything covered. Our nanny is only part time, but here are something things that came to my mind.

You might want to discuss if you are going to pay her with a check or by cash. How are you going to keep track of her hours? We keep track of her hours on an Excel spreadsheet, along with check numbers and amounts. Does she babysit on weekends for date nights?

Discuss meals. We provide lunch for our nanny and she is welcome to anything in our house. I asked her what she likes to eat and I always try to keep special food items for her stocked in our house.

Discuss communication. How do you want her to communicate the events of the day to you? When should she call you? Do you want naptimes/eating in writing? I always expect my nanny to discuss naps/eating with me before she leaves.

Rules. My biggest pet peeves are personal cell phone calls while babysitting. I have a no cell phone/computer rule while the kids are awake. My other pet peeve is nannies socializing and ignoring their charges. I don't allow the TV to be on in front of the kids. The nanny down the street from us is always hanging out with her boyfriend at the park and that really bugs me.

Raises. I tend to give smaller raises every 6 months to keep my nanny motivated.

Breaks. While the kids are napping, I don't expect my nanny to clean - that is her breaktime.... she is free to watch TV, use my computer, etc. She only has to prepare meals, change sheets, pick up toys and clean up after meals.

Anyhow, looks like you have everything covered.... good luck!

[lee60657]

jki Good points, esp. w/ how to communicate w/ you during the day - it is good to discuss that. We also had our nanny keep a daily log until DD was about a year old or so.

As for breaks, our DD now takes one 3 hour nap a day - so our nanny gets a good break and is free to watch TV, make her personal calls, read etc. - she actually got all of her Christmas cards done this week too :) That said, while DD is sleeping she folds her laundry and might put away the dishes if she ran the dishwasher. Actually, I don't even ask her to run the dishwasher, she just does it, sometimes more often than needed - but she is very domestic and I think she likes that kind of thing, plus she is not a huge TV person, so for her 3 hours is a long time to watch tv. She does not do any household work while DD is awake.

[jki]

Just thought of two other things.

Discipline. What's her philosophy? How do you expect her to discipline your DC? What's ok and what isn't?

Personal errands. I don't mind if my nanny takes the kids shopping or to the post office but some do.

[Kasia216]

Thank You for all the responses. Very helpful to know I'm on the right track and all the other adds have been great and I'll incorporate into my discussions with these ladies.

Lee60657 - I do want to make sure the day has some structure so thank you for the suggestion of making sure she understands she needs to engage in activities throughout the day with him whether it's teaching him how to hold a crayon, reading etc. I guess my only concern is how do I know she's "really" doing these things. I guess it will come out in his development.

Will make sure to mention she can help herself to any of our food. The computer + phone usage can get tricky as I don't want her spending too much time on either. Anyway to monitor usage? I guess you can tell phone usage by your itemized bill but as far as computer usage - not sure I'd be able to tell....

I also think it's important for the person to know that they're becoming part of your family and they need to feel that way too. Sounds like you keep your nanny very happy so that's great. Thanks again for your input.

SiValleySteph - Yup, totally prepared to discuss that!

jki - Hi ;)

I'll make sure to discuss payment form (check, cash etc) with her and I've thought about keeping a log of hours on the computer as well.

Very good question about the Weekend avails. I've added that to my list as It would be great to know if she was available so we wouldn't have to look for a babysitter.

LOVED your suggestion of a Daily Log!!!! It will help me understand what he ate, how long the nap was + what they did for the day. Should be built into the daily communication when I/DH gets home at the end of the day.

The phone + computer thing stumps me. Think I'll say she is free to use both during his naptime as that is her "free time" to do whatever she wants however don't want her on the phone for an hour either. Hmmm.

Thanks again for your feedback - VERY Helpful!

[lee60657]

Kasia Actually my nanny uses her cell phone for her personnel calls - that is what she indicated she would like to do. So it is tough to monitor, but I trust her. As far as computer usage she does not use our computer at all. She has never asked to, she prefers to read, etc. on her breaks so I don't have to worry about.

As far as activities, one of the reason I like the crafts is that each day I see what they made. Also we have a small digital camera that we leave for the nanny so she takes pictures almost every day of DD playing at the park, modeling her tutu, etc., so that is nice to see as well and very easy for the nanny to do :)

JKI made a good point about discussing the day at the end of each day - we do this or we cover lunch in our afternoon call. I always know when she went down, when she last ate, etc., so I can plan the evening accordingly.

[Amaye]

I think you covered pretty much everything.

I actually put together a document of my expectations for the nanny including naptimes, eating times, activities, any kind of housekeeping she will do, etc. That way, she has everything in writing and there is no confusion about her duties.

I also have a book where she can record what time DD wakes up, her nap times, her diaper changing times, feeding times and how much she ate etc. We still discuss DD when I get home and she gives me a rundown on how she behaved or any new things she did that day. We also pay her every 2 weeks versus 15th/30th so make that clear.

I am in the one of the boroughs of NYC and I pay $350. I really lucked out with my nanny cos she also does housekeeping for me - I didn't ask her to but she does it. She comes from 8am - 7pm and we told her we would need her to stay late 1-2 times a month for when we would go out for dinner.

[NYN]

i was going to say the same thing about discipline. i saw a nanny the other day swatting a kids hand and i almost keeled over. i know some people think that is okay but that is something you need to be clear about.

[alisong]

I think you've covered all the basics, but keep in mind that with a list as comprehensive as that, you're going to get a certain type of nanny. Our nanny, for instance, would refuse to work for you. That's probably fine because it doesn't sound like she'd be the kind of nanny you would want.

We absolutely love our nanny, but our arrangement is a lot more casual than yours. Keeping a daily log - ha! We did start out asking her to record eating/sleeping/etc. but it just didn't happen. The trade-off is that she's really, really flexible, will come early/stay late and doesn't charge extra (we don't abuse it), does all the family's laundry (including ironing!), cleans the kitchen from top to bottom, prepares all DS's food, and shops for fruit and veggies for us.

[Wrighty26]

I am so glad you posted this! I am about to start interviewing for a part-time nanny, but am going into this SO clueless. All I know is that I want a reliable person who can be there for my son--which of course doesn't help me formulate an interview or set boundaries. I guess I have a lot to think about!

Also we have a small digital camera that we leave for the nanny so she takes pictures almost every day of DD playing at the park, modeling her tutu, etc., so that is nice to see as well and very easy for the nanny to do

I LOVE this suggestion! What a great idea :)

[tandt]

Bumping up....