"Minimum" rates for sitters.co.uk

Sorry for the mad spelling its being like this since i updated the ipad.

Im glad this thread is here. Im a fully qualified paediatric and nnu nurse.ive started to work for sitters because I dont always want to go to work on my days off. Going to someones house for afew hours suits me fine. Ive always been paid rounded up and it badically is £10 an hour which i think is right for London. Some of the mat nannies i see at work are on £35 an hour and are always telling me to do it but obviously im not go8ng to leave my job for it.

Sitters are bloody awful. Not the vetting process or the interview that was actually thorough infact they turned my highly qualified mate down because she doesnt like cats 🙂

They are disgraceful inthat they send you offers of jobs and when you accept them 9/10 you dont get them as they go to the parents “preferred” sitter. Well why not just ask the blinking preferred sitter in the first place? They put you forward the more reviews you get even though most parents dont leave reviews. So basically the same ditters get the jobs all the time.

They are rude and cant justify why they do this.
Luckily i dont need the money but i live alone so sometimes its nice just to be around other dc and have fun with them. I wish i could find a more reliable agency.

Has anyone tried Bubble? Thats fine except, they do no checks whatsoever!

I currently work for sitters on a regular basis. All the families I have worked for have been lovely and have always rounded up . Sometimes I even get a tip too. My reviews have been amazing too which is really good to see. They are really good agency to work for. Its a shame some of the girls have not had a good experience. I can totally relate though I only do jobs locally at the moment and I also am conscious how many hours I do as I work full time. It has to be worth my while to do it.

Hi...I am a sitters sitter in Berkshire. We get to see the jobs on offer and the rate of pay offered, which varies on postcode and whether a weekend or not. We don't have to take a booking, so if your sitter knows the rate, they shouldn't expect anymore...other than a small roundup. We are all told to carry change too. I have many regulars who do roundups but I am just as happy to work for them as the people who round up big time or pay extra. I work in a school during the day and have 16 years experience of childcare. Sitters only take people with childcare experience and we are interviewed and referenced before we can be offered a booking. Hope this info helps, you and others too.

thanks tanith - im nosey lol

tho agree that sitters dont seem to vet their sitters :(

Blondes, the deleted message answered one of my earlier ones about their rating system with some very detailed information that I think could have identified Pinkchick. I'm guessing that's why she asked for it to be deleted.

Basically, what she said was that the rating system was calculated differently to what it said - ie, not customer satisfaction at all! My experience bore that out.

I can also confirm that they don't continue to vet their siitters: I know an ex-childminder who stopped working with children 8 years ago and is still accepting bookings.

Depends what time the bs arrive and age of child. But generally it is nice for child to meet bs incase they wake - so yes I'm happy to put child to bed after a story

This is an old thread but rem Reading it then - thought I did reply but often sitters threads so prob replied on another one

I won't bs through sitters as pay is rubbish and also have a 4hr minimum booking and even if use less I make clear they still pay for 4hrs updront

Pink chick1 - I'm intrigued what your old replies were that you asked to be removed then bump up old thread with a new reply

So is Likeminders the one to go to? Any other good ones in London?

Btw would a babysitter think it was awful if the child was up when they arrived? In pjs & washed, possibly teeth done... But awake and wanting to play/ read books etc?

I loved it when I was a babysitter but I loved the children I babysat for so probably was different!y Ds sleeps late and there's no way I would be able to present the sitter with zonked out child for the evening...

I also worked for sitters and I ran a nanny agency for years as well as being a nanny. I also agree with comments above, I would never leave my child in the care of the sitters company.

They are rude, uncaring from the sitters perspective.

I actually can say, I interviewed many, many years ago. I worked very well with the company, it was then bought out in 2007 I think, don't quote me on that. I was never once re vetted from the time I started to the the time I left. I also stopped and started working for them over the years so I technically could of done anything and they would not have known.

After working in the agency industry, I realised, they work under the nanny agency guidelines, this means they are basically a data base of names, parents and child carers. This means that the parents need to be interviewing their babysitter before the babysitter looks after their child, they then need to be taking up references, preferably 3.

So basically I ask, if you were to employ a nanny for your children, would you simply call the agency, have them turn up on a Monday morning and care for your children, no references or interview, this is in effect what you are doing with this company.

Yes the child care providers may be in the profession, or may have been in the profession when they registered. But are they still, if not and why, or have nanny agencies black listed a nanny etc for a serious reason.

I won't use this company for my child ever, I won't trust her safety.

Although this is an old thread I totally agree with lalualu. Having worked for sitters for a number of years I would definitely NOT use it for my own kids!

My 'interview' was by a local mum which consisted of two questions - what's your favourite book and how do you know if a child is ill (duh)

I built up good relationships with regular clients who told me of awful experiences they had, ones who had rifled through drawers and even one who let an expensive cat out and lost it!

All sitters cares about is filling jobs and making money. They are rude, unappreciative and greedy.

I would 100% recommend Likeminders over sitters! A pleasure to work for and extremely professional

I was thinking about sitters, we have no-one to babysit and the girls at our nursery aren't allowed to babysit for parents :-( sitters have a great reputation but it feels odd to leave a stranger at home -hhmm

lalulalu didn't you check the distance before accepting? I never take anything over 7 miles away.

Could you not have turned down the job lalu? & this is a 2 year old thread...

hate Sitters.
They NEVER listen to you .
They NEVER are Wrong.
They are ALWAYS grumpy
They sent me 24 miles away!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you, that makes perfect sense!

I live in a semi-rural area and was offered a lot of bookings miles away, often for a couple of hours. I think the furthest was 15 miles! They also sent several bookings at once so, even if you did accept a booking for one evening, you obviously couldn't accept those offered for the same evening.
No wonder they were so evasive!

Didn't smile enough indeed!

I'm an occasional sitter, and make it quite clear by text that my absolute minimum is 4 hours.
I also always take along a purse with a selection of coins & notes, so I have the correct change myself for any note I am offered.

One occasion of being left hanging around for 15 minutes at the end of the night whilst parents scrabbled around the house/their kids' money boxes for change was enough. It's so rude!

God, they sound awful

to them

You probably won't get male babysitters with Sitters.
My DH, also an Outstanding graded childminder with the same experience as me and a Level 3 qualification, was actively discouraged when he tried to apply to them.
When he persisted, he was told very grudgingly that they'd put him on their books, but they doubted very much that he'd get any bookings.
Another reason I don't work for them any more.

Their ratings are a complete waste of time as well. I had regular clients, positive comments from parents, never any complaints and I was rated "poor".
I tried to find out why and they didn't seem to have a clue how the ratings were worked.
"Perhaps you didn't smile enough?" was one suggestion they came up with!

Hi, I work for sitters and I love them!

Some families round up, others pay the exact amount. I don't mind. I only expect to be paid the agreed amount so anything more is a bonus.

All my families have been lovely

I use sitters a lot. Always overpay. Will round up to the nearest hour and then to the nearest fiver.

Always book til midnight jst in case but we are usually back by 11 pm. But that is still a 5.5 hr booking.

Whatever Lilly said. I have also stopped working for Sitters as it is not worth for my while. I have never ever paid more then they suppost! to pay. And as a sitter you can't complain. One occasion Sitters said "the families pay you don't. And if they book you for 4 hours and came in 3 hours they need to pay you 3 hours not 4 hours." That was the response I got from Sitters. Needless to say I do not work for them anymore. I get offers from my regular families but I don't accept them.

I'm also registered with Likeminders and they are very professional and lovely people and they do care about their sitters. Also they are cheaper compare to Sitters and they give more to their sitter.

safehands network is another babysitting/childcare agency and pay about the same as sitters but in my experience have always been better - dont do work for either now though as get most work privately.

good thing about safehands is you can negotiate rate and if they are desperate for that nights often they will pay travelling costs if more than 15mins travelling and pay a higher rate per hr (the agency pay the extra costs)