Preparing for New Nanny starting...tips please!

[OverflowingMum]

Hello all again!
So, as you may know from my previous thread, we have found a Nanny and are about to sign contracts
She is coming round on Saturday to go through contract (have already emailed her a draft copy) and finalise details.
We have sorted out start date (4th Jan) and pay, hours and holidays.
We have also arranged car insurance (she will be using our car initially) and have employers liability on our home insurance and have rung to double check this.
We will be signing up to PAYE for Nannies company. Nanny is also in process of registering with OFSTED, has all necessary qualifications in hand etc...although this will not be complete before start date.

On Saturday we will be going through job description in more detail (although have obviously already discussed this) and signing contracts, and hopefully she can spend a short time with the children again.
When she starts I will be at home for the first week (although she only works Mon,Tue Weds, and Mon is a BH!) so we will have 2 days together to help her get used to things/the children etc...but from the following week she will be on her own!
So is there anything I havent thought of???
What else should I be going through on Saturday?
What will be the most useful way to spend the 2 days I have at home with her when she starts? I am going to show her where older kids school is(although they will be on HOL) and where local playgrounds are etc...
and then hope she will spend some time playing with DC, especially youngest son(aged 2) to help them get used to her.....

Any tips please!

Has the person been a nanny before? If so, then I would make yourself scarce quite a lot of the time on those first two days. Remain fairly local and have your phone on, so if nanny has any trouble you can answer questions and come home if necessary. It can be hard for a nanny to get to know the children, if a parent is around... as the children will naturally ask the parent for things, not nanny.

she her where your stop cock is, and burglar alarm code, where the back door key is kept etc.

Also how the washing machine / dish washer works etc and the settings you normally use.

Where your medicine and first aid kit is.

Do you have any good friends that she might have play dates with? Maybe arrange for them to pop round or go together to their house show she knows where it is.

Parks / paly ground / libraries / swimming pools / toddler groups / GP / vet?. (although a local nanny will probably know all these anyway!)

Phone numbers for you.. work and mobile

• dr, grandparents / best friend you can rely on in emergancy etc

and as much as possible just leave her to it.

(how to collapse and lie back the buggy and ensure car seats are safely fitted.

Phone numbers o

Leave her to it. If she is a true professional, she should be able to work all these things out for herself (you can use this as a test). If your children are school aged, they should be able to show her things themselves anyway.

I never bother with contracts personally. Complete waste of time. Either she'll work out or she won't.

Legally you must provide your employees with a contract Annabel (or at least a statement of their terms of employment).

I am in the US and I don't believe that's the case here, at least not in our state. I've always hired through agencies and I don't believe the word contract has even been mentioned.

How is this law enforced over there and what, realistically, are the penalties if you choose not to provide a contract? I'm genuinely curious.

Sorry to hi-jack your thread OverflowingMum.

I think your employee could take you to a tribunal if you fail to provide a written statement of employment, or if it doesn't contain everything it legally should. Not sure if compensation is ever awarded for that alone, but if they employee wins against you for something else (like unfair dismissal) compensation can be awarded for the lack of a written statement too. I'm no employment lawyer though!

A nanny is an employee with the same rights as an employee in any other line of work.

How did it go?