nanny's meals & contracts

My point of view is you get what you pay for,

most agencies in london charge between 2000 - 5000 for a experienced, professional nanny, but its not as simple of just sending out a cv,

i know personally that there is an awfull lot of work in finding good candidates, they have to meet the candidates, interview then, reference check them, apply for their cv, rewrite their profiles and then send them out to you, not to mention the amount of people they interview that they dont take on ..
i have heard some nightmare stories - and after all that work i bet they have a lot of wasted work when the nanny finds a job through them or the fmaily uses another agency,

i dont think its a lot of money for the amount of wokr they do really ...

I've also noticed that many agencies are now offering fixed rates, based on how many days worked by the employee and discounts if invoices are paid on time as well as not registering with other agencies.

I guess also that even if you are advertising on your own site, it must have some cost not zero e.g hosting costs, web designer, time etc

If there is someone out there that works for an agency, perhaps you could let us know (generally) what the fee structure is based on. I'm quite realistic and understand that the fee has to cover business premises, equipment, employment costs etc, but was wondering how many nannies are interviewed (time cost) that never comes to anything (either get a job elsewhere or after reference checks prove unsuitable) I bet the % of non return on time employed is quite high?

PS. Feel free to e-mail me a copy of the contract, if you want my view on it's contents.

Don't think this got mentioned, but while your hubby is right that in most jobs, lunch is not provided (though there are some jobs in which it is, such as teachers - though I suspect some schools make a nominal charge), nannies don't get a Lunch Hour, or any breaks at all during their working day. So meals is a sort of replacement for the lack of breaks. Info about Rest Breaks

Modify the contact if you feel it isn't totally clear what is meant. Nothing to stop you putting down exactly what you feel is defined as a meal, and which meals are included - eg, Lunch and Tea eaten with the children.

Talking of contracts, make sure salary is agreed GROSS not Net.

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I eat all meals on duty with children. Had a day out to the zoo today, so ate breakfast with children then took pack lunches for all of us - if we were eating out I'd expect my meal to be paid for too. I would always expect entrance costs for me to be covered by my bosses same as the children's tickets, as well as additional travel expenses and my coffee/ice cream if we stop in a cafe on a day out. I've always paid for coffee/tea at playgroups etc out of the children's kitty too.

Wasn't HPI... haven't had dealings with them, though did go on the Watercress line yesterday, so very near them!

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£2000! Fuck me, I'm in the wrong business.

Are agencies really charging 10% of yearly salary as placement fee. Gosh, didn't know it had got to that high... placement fee could easily be £2000+. Mind you, advertising costs can be high, so finding suitable candidates and finding parents looking for nannies, could be costing quite a bit in terms of ad-spend.

10% of a yearly wage!!! I'm sure she's worth every penny and it's great you've found someone you are really happy with - but ouch! Am vowing never to complain about nursery etc 'administration' fees ever again!

Hi monkeyboys, welcome to this section of mumsnet... not seen you around before

I'm a nanny and I work in Surrey (just about), actually right on the Surrey/Berkshire border. Sounds like you may be in a similar area, if so do feel free to contact me directly, if your nanny would like to meet another local nanny (I care for children aged 9mths, 3yrs, 4yrs and 9yrs - older two at school most of the time).

In my contract, I have all meals whilst on duty. I work 7.45am to 5.45pm, so my employer provides lunch and tea - both of which are eaten with the children, and which are typically the same as the children. My employer does not get any food especially for me... I just use whatever is available in the home, which I will occasionally supplement with things from the local farm shop (for example, got to work this morning to find that only veg left were two leaks and some potatoes... so will get a few carrots and other veg from the farm shop to tide us over until the veg box delivery).

Outings, we go to Legoland (it's open in a few weeks ), Lookout, Coral Reef, Windsor Great Park and various other places. Legoland usually involves taking a packed lunch, though sometimes we will splash out and get children's fish fingers meal deal (as a annual pass holder, we get some discount on meals). This comes out of my weekly kitty (£20), so it can be a large amount of the weekly kitty. I always go to Legoland with a friend (much easier having 2 adults and a group of children), so we take it in turn to buy adult things like Coffee - this I use my own money for. Legoland passes I pay for myself... would be nice if my employer would buy those, but it's a big expense, and I don't have to go to Legoland.

So as others have said, allocate a weekly kitty for activities/eating out, and let your nanny decide what to spend it on. Once it's spent, no more money till beginning of the next week... your nanny will soon learn to budget for things, plus finding cheap or even free activities to do!

I met an agency owner recently, who said that she sent just one nanny for interview with a parent, and the nanny got the job. I wonder if you are the parent concerned... could be, if you are local.

I spend £150 per week on food for DD (almost 5), who eats like a bird, DS, who eats like a normal 2-3 year old, DH, who works away Mon-Fri, nanny, and me. I am always being moaned at for not having any food in the house. I open the fridge, and point out there wouldn't be anywhere to put anything if I did buy it cause frigde is full.

What they mean is "the food that I want right here right now is not already prepared sitting in the fridge waiting for me to heat it up in the microwave". No, of course not. Someone has to cook it?

Our current nanny - who is lovely, so I'm treading lightly with her on it - will pretty much spend the full £20 I leave on food if I ask her to go to the store unless I'm really specific. It's not that she's buying stuff for herself or junk food, it's just more like: this would be nice, we could make this etc. Which is fine, to a point, but in line with what Jura and Eleu were saying, it's not something I could have happening three days a week.

TO clarify: i didn't mean bring packed lunches round to friends houses or vice versa, it's more what Jura said, when there is a trip out somewhere extras like food can add up as well.

Hi Monkeyboys,
Not about the food but about your comment about "unfortunately" having to use an agency because of their cost and "quite an easy job for them, as they only sent one applicant"

Well they were obviously worth every penny, as the one they sent you was the "perfect" choice to use your words.

I would be more sceptical of the agencies that send half a dozen or more CV's or applicants as they obviously have not done their job by matching the family and nanny. IMO that would be an easy job of charging a few hundred pounds for sending you a load of CV's....

Agencies can't seem to get it right, can they?

I generally like my nanny to pack lunches not only because they are moreeconomical but also because they are more nutritious.

Be careful, though. The food bill can quite easily get out of control. I run a "you write it on the list and I buy it" system. If I didn't, the food bill would easily be another £100 per week. Easily! So, I wouldn't regard this as quibbling.