Worried new nanny may be on drugs..

What a bizarre thread.

She has never been a nanny before, you can’t get decent long term references and you have a bad gut feeling. Surely you just don’t hire her rather than start a thread about whether she and her husband do or don’t take drugs. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Try to get to speak to parents she has babysat for in the recent past. If she attends a church then someone there may able to provide a reference, especially if she helps with youth group. Try to speak with people who know her and ideally in some kind of work with children.

Everyone starts in childcare without childcare references so they rely on someone taking the chance on them.

Trust your gut feeling though, if there is something putting you off, then keep looking. You can always contact her in the future if you do not find any other suitable candidates.

How do you mean? Why not assume she just has bad skin? There must be something more to make you worry?
I take an anti depressant which gives me slight tooth grinding etc and so I can see how some perfectly legitimate medication could lead to misleading side effects.

Keep trying the references. Try to talk to families for whom she has worked in the past. Her previous employment do not give out references - perhaps it was not a nanny job?

You very much like her, so it sounds like you want this to work.

A DBS check won’t tell you if she’s a drug user.

I think you are being completely ridiculous on the drugs thing - you can't tell someone is on drugs because their skin is odd.

Having said that, if you don't have a good feeling, you have every right not to give her the job. This is a job that is very important, in your home and to do with your child so you have to feel 100% comfortable with the person doing it. Similarly, if you can't get decent/proper references, that's also a perfectly valid reason for not wanting to give her the job.

Sounds like you need to keep looking.

Once in your employment if you have grounds for thinking their health prevents them doing the job, then many nanny contracts prepared by nanny payroll companies include a clause about the employer being able to pay for a medical check by a doctor. That doctors report though is purely about if the person is fit to the do the job, it won't reveal their health record.

Have you spoken with her former employer? Reference checking can sometimes help reveal things about being fit for the job - such as how much time off they have had, how good they are at turning up to work on time.

Trust your gut instinct. If there is something which is telling you that someone is not suitable, then don't employ them. At this point you have not made an offer of employment so I would keep on looking.

What on earth makes you think she takes drugs? You "look at her" and think she takes drugs? Sorry, I'm really not understanding that. Either you like her and have a good feeling about her or you don't. But jumping to "she must be taking drugs" feels like a leap. .

Of course she needs a clear DBS and you should be able to check that. Does she have references? She should and you should be able to check them by talking to them directly. You could also ask for Ofsted Registration but you would have to pay for that and I think it costs about £120

Can you not do a drug test? I mean she will be taking care of your child after all.