What do nanny duties consist of please...

[JellyBellies]

Hi,

I am looking to employ a nanny and was going through the contract and saw that I would have to specify a list of duties. Please could you tell me what you have specified in yours?

I would, of course, expect her to take care of/clothe/feed/play with my son but is there anything else that I should specify? Can I say that she should clear up after him, cook for him etc?

I plan to employ her from 9 to 5 and my son usually takes a 1 to 2 hr nap in the afternoon. Which brings me to another question. Do nannies get like a lunch hour which is unpaid ? (We have discussed an hourly rate)

Nannies are paid all the way through their work hours, the reason for this is, they simply do not get a lunch hour. They cannot leave your son to pop to a cafe, they have to deal with anything that may arise during naptime (they cannot say, no sorry you've been sick or are sad etc this is my lunch time!) and often will fiddle around doing things, ie a load of washing has just finished..nanny is likely to unload it while your son sleeps. You should make sure she knows to take a rest during this time, and has some lunch. Also, your son will not sleep forever and if she is still employed then, her break will no longer exist.

As for duties, this is very fluid and you can put anything that is specific to your family here. Eg dishwasher, cleaning areas after baby, making healthy food from scratch, bulk cooking for freezer, cleaning babies room, taking baby to activities, keeping baby safe and stimulated etc etc or you can be as brief and say all duties surrounding baby, though I would avoid this if I were you. I feel you and nanny should both know what is expected of the other from the start.

Good luck.

Thanks for the quick reply :) Yes, i see what you mean about the lunch hour, I agree.
I do plan to be detailed about the duties, just so we have the same expectations. Thanks again, its more complicated to hire someone than i thought!

Very welcome. There is alot to consider, but if you need anymore help just shout :-)

Things change as children get older, so what duties you have at the start can change over time.

Think about things like:

Children's clothes washing (if you want things to be ironed, then that must be written in the contract - ironing around children can be dangerous, so as your son gets older consider if it's still safe to do).
Keeping child's bedroom tidy
Planning and implementing activities and outings

Don't be too bogged down with detail... just put some things that are most important to you. Include things that are more unusual aspects - such as collecting the chickens eggs and feeding the chickens each working day.

I really wouldn't agree that ironing is too dangerous to carryout around children if nanny has any sense. If for whatever reason nanny needs to move from the board then iron and cable go on a work surface out of reach. It is however time consuming if you want everything ironed and will take interaction time away from DS, the more important needs to be decided. Most childrens clothes if hung to dry properly with a good shake do not need ironed and those that do could take 15 mins a week to iron so long as he doesn't wear starchy shirts daily :-)

Yeah I know it's reasonably safe - well as safe as boiling a kettle, or cooking food. Far more a case of I just won't do ironing because I'm rubbish at it (and yes, I know practice makes perfect ).

Seriously though... if Ironing is part of the job, put it in the contract. Then it's clear to everyone involved.

Haha. Could you read from my post I hate ironing too? avoid avoid avoid. I could never be an ironing lady, that's for sure. Shaking also works for adults clothes too .

Would you refuse a job due to ironing, Nick? I know some people who iron socks....

i refuse to iron, hate it and always say at interviews that i dont/wont iron and familys are fine with that

im lucky and dont do any nursery duties in this job apart from playing/looking after and obv feeding my dc

saying that, the average nanny will iron/wash dc clothes/keep clean bedrooms/nursery/playroom/kitchen as generalnursery duties

I got pulled the other day at work because I hadn't ironed the sunhats and bathing suits!! I had naturally done the towels, socks and underwear.. Can't win.

Thanks everyone! I'll take all you said on board, wouldn't expect her to iron though. Don't do it myself except for work clothes I agree with the shaking method

oh dear, that made me sound terribly lazy [shocked] ... I'm not dressed like a slob.. usually!!

Hi, I included in mine
Empyting nappy bin and kitchen bin if full
Sweeping kitchen floor at the end of the day
Washing up lunch/dinner things
Wiping down surfaces after cooking
Tidying up after children, toys, books, games.
Sterilising bottles (if needed)
Making childrens beds.
Putting recycling into correct bins.
Ensuring buggies and wheels are clean before coming into the house.
Putting on children's washing if asked.
Letting me know if anything had run out.
Tidying garden if children had been out.

My lovely nanny will also empty the dishwasher without being asked, but I don't expect her to.
She doesn't iron anything - the cleaner irons stuff but not the kids clothes and certainly not socks (or bathing suits or sunhats). Wjy iron children's clothes when they're going to be dirty about 2 hours later!