Nothing is more important than when it comes to finding the right person to care for your children and if you’re in the process of deciding to hire a live-in nanny, you will need to take into account, a variety of factors to ensure you make the best decision for your family. After all, you not only want your children to be taken care of properly but also your home too, so you need to be able trust the person you’re going to hire and make sure they fit well with your family.
Decide if a live-in nanny is for you
Okay, so the first and most crucial aspect of finding care for your children is considering whether a live-in nanny is suited to your family. Will the live-in nanny be compatible in your lives? Can you be comfortable having another person living in your house full-time and will this work around your current lifestyle? It can often be useful to talk to other families who have or have had live-in nannies in the past to get some insight into live-in nannies.
Financial consideration
Once you have decided that a live-in nanny is for you, an important aspect to take into consideration is your financial situation and what it allows for you to pay for a live-in nanny. The working hours of the live-in nanny will greatly affect this, as will the type of nanny that you employ. A live-in nanny will receive room and board and are paid a salary. It’s important to note that you will need to make sure the nanny is legal, so tax and national insurance contributions also need to be completed.
What does your family require?
How many hours would you like your live-in nanny to work? It’s important to think about what you need from a live-in nanny and what you expect from them. Live-in nannies work all sorts of different hours/days dependent on family requirement so it’s always good to be certain of what you require before hiring a live-in nanny.
Sourcing your live-in nanny
So now you’ve decided on hiring a live-in nanny, you need to find out how and where, you can hire your nanny. Using a reputable Nanny agency such as Nanny & Butler who have pre-interviewed and screened applicants in advance can be a highly efficient and safe way to hire your new live-in nanny.
Remember safety first!
Often live-in nannies will work in your house unsupervised to it’s essential to make the necessary safety checks. Nanny&Butler carry out these essential safety checks and this means they check perspective nanny references, police checks, and first aid certificates to ensure they are suitable to care for your children and live/work in your house. For that extra peace of mind, you can of course, complete your own checks too!
Interviewing the nanny
Prepare for the interview! Be sure of what you need to ask the nanny and be ready for any questions they may have in relation to the position that you are offering. You need to decide where the interview will take place and who will be the person interviewing them. Will you do it alone or with your partner? Will the children be present? How many nannies are you going to interview/short-list
Qualities of a live-in nanny
A good way to establish whether they fit into your family is to talk with the prospective nanny about their lives. How do you feel when you meet a perspective nanny? Does it feel right when you are chatting with them? A very effective way of assessing their suitability is to have a first initial interview with them and perhaps invite them around to interact with your children with you present in the house. This, followed by a trial period can be a good way of seeing, or at least give you an indication of how well you fit together.
Duties of a live-in nanny
Even though the nanny lives inside the house, this doesn’t mean they’re working every hour they are inside it. They will have time-off as set out in their contract and during this time the nanny will have their own private area/bedroom where they do as they wish. Live-in nannies will usually complete nursery duties, play with children and provide all the necessary care for your children.
The contract
You need to consider what hours and days the nanny will work and have off. As with every job the nanny needs set working hour and be paid over-time for extra hours outside of the contract. They might be inside the house but not be working, as this is their time off. You also need to agree on certain conditions such as whether they have use of a car and whether this is for work and/or for personal use as well, can the nanny have guests over and what standards the nanny keeps her personal space in. All these aspects are an important part of hiring a nanny to live in your home.
Ultimately hiring a live-in nanny takes preparation, patience and planning and it will hopefully pay off after taking the aforementioned factors into consideration. You should therefore be able to hire your live-in nanny with greater ease and receive the much-needed help you deserve.
Written by Amy: Amy is a British Nanny and Governess with a Background in Childcare and Social Work. She is currently working with a team of Nannies as a Special Needs Governess.
