Would you take a nanny who has...

[oooyummy]

four other jobs on the side ?

Really stressed and I need a nanny by Monday !

I've interviews 3 nanny's but none are suitable. I recently interviewed one other nanny, who is great, but she has 4 other jobs on the side. I have no issues with this as she cannot live on a part time salary and good on her for earning money. But I'm worried about her flexibility, last minute cancellations and if she would be able to commit long term. If I take her on. I will be her 5th employment.

What should I do ?

offer a gross salary and assume she can only do the days you employ her for
if she is unreliable then sack her as you would for anyone else
maybe make it a long probation period

How long for a probation period ?

Also if you want flexibility you have to pay for it I’m afraid. You can’t expect her to leave time free for you ‘just in case’.

Wouldn't you worry about having a stressed out many looking after your child? It's bad enough when it's he parent who's stressed out but a paid caretaker?

On the other hand, it can work but not ideal.

Nanny*, not many! Being dealing with blooming autocorrect since today!

Georgie Of course I'm going to pay ! I don't take advantage of my nannies I employ .

Flexibility, in terms of, if I'm running late etc.

Nothing that's what I'm worried about, she was even contemplating taking on a 6th job for a family who require some care. I'm more worried about cancellations. I.e, if she is unable to do a pick up on our required days because she has to do a job elsewhere.

Wow! She is really laying it on. I hope she takes a breather. I get that it's hard but one has to be alive and healthy to make money.

Anyway, I personally couldn't do it. The possibility of flakiness is high plus the stressed out/tired overworked nanny looking after a child. If I was in dire need, I might take it on temporarily till I found someone else....and I would be searching like there's no tomorrow.

The problem is that she's from an agency and I have to pay placement fee costs if I take her on.

Ah! I see. Tricky, isn't it?

Well, if you have no other choice ....

Presumably she has 4 other employments because she isn’t flaky and is very professional

I would ask about if you were running late how flexible she is and would that be affected by the 6th family.

I suppose it depends on the other jobs. If she has 5 employers for one day each is very different to her doing one job in the morning, another in the afternoon and one one in the evenings.

Her other jobs are quite flexibility. Though there are some days she will be unavailable to do the job. I think she'll only be doing two jobs when she is with me.

If you want her to be flexible in case you are late then you need to employ her for the hours you might need - so if you are normally home at 6 but sometimes not til 7, then employ her til 7.

If you being late makes her late for another job then that is your flakiness, not hers.

I'm going to think about it. I am interviewing another nanny tomorrow, so I'll see.

Goodluck OP. Hope you find something and someone suitable.

Can you talk to her again.
Ask her, her circumstances

Depending where you are, Are there any nanny acencies you can go through? Even for temp care untill you find a suitable nanny (Not ideal)
Have you tried childcare.co.uk?

Os there local nanny facebook groups in your area you could try?

It totally depends doesn't it - if you need Monday to Wednesday 8-6, and she has a permanent Thursday and Friday job for family A, plus a regular Saturday mornings for family B, and as hoc Babysitting for families C and D it's fine as long as babysitting doesn't take priority over your role Monday to Wednesday without prior agreement (eg. That she absolutely has to leave on time to get to a pre arranged babysitter job at 7:15pm).

Would you take on a nanny who has no nannying experience ? She has worked as a teacher in her own country and currently works in hospitality.

Depends..on referrals and references. I do believe someone can take care of a child without nanny experiences ( of course, parents..hello..lol) but I would need to have a sense about this person plus a practical reason to trust that they can. Like How would employment work wih them? No agency? Tax? Payment? Child safety cert, blah blah, etc.

Depends on what common sense she has I suppose. Does she know child first aid? Would she cope if dc were sick or injured or something? Does she know the health and hygiene basics re cooking food properly to avoid food poisoning and using the fridge (separating cooked and raw meat etc). Is her grasp of English or whatever language you speak good so she understands dc?

Elieza Her English is very good. I just require someone to pick up DS from school, get him to his activities and drop him off to me at my work place- as it's literally 10 minutes away from my home.

That's not a nanny job then oooyummy that's a babysitter/ chauffeur job. She'll presumably have almost no time in sole charge except when driving him from A to B and B to C!

Id ask she have a full clean driving license with no points and insurance. If she’s been done for dangerous driving or something you’d want to know as she’ll be driving your child.

Sounds like she won’t be cooking or anything then so that’s fine. She should still have a first aid qualification but I guess it’s not the end of the world if she doesn’t.