Nanny agencies- why? Effect on salaries and nanny expectations

[SuiGeneris]

Have recently started looking at nanny agencies and cannot help but wonder whether many of them aren't just about increasing costs for parents.

So, questions for those who used them: why? What did they do to earn the fee? Do agency users really not double-check references?

Also, have I been unlucky with those I have spoken to or is it the case generally that they seem to push for higher hourly rates than average? Of course, their fees are directly dependent on the nanny's pay, so it is in their interest to push up rates. Yet, at least in theory, they should be acting in the best interests of the parents...

But the fee is often a multiple of the salary so higher salary = more £££ for the agency.

If your ad isn't getting replies you might use one, if you are short on time, if you're recruiting blind (eg overseas) or need someone in a hurry but even then employers should be double checking.

I suppose they're a time saving device and have a bit of experience in spotting BS - a bit like a personal shopper.

Personally I think the traditional agency mode is outdated. Today peolple want less recruitment agency, more headhunter.

Sorry didn't finish that first paragraph - I had a point beyond stating the obvious.

More £££ for agency but also happy nanny getting higher salary, so more likely to spread the word, more nannies = higher chance of a match. Nanny agencies might be paid by the parent but they're more controlled by nannies than they'll admit because they happen to be the larger client base and their reputation is founded on the quality of the nanny.

An expensive agency who gets you a great nanny beats a cheap one who gets you a terrible one hands down.

I got an overseas nanny job through a very famous London agency earlier this year and I was shocked to find out how much they had charged my employer (ten times my weekly net salary).

I've been on their books for around eight years but this is the first time I've had a job through them. They advertised the position on nannyjob, I emailed to express my interest and they put me forward for the job despite knowing I didn't have a recent CRB check and they hadn't contacted my most recent employer for any kind of reference.

It just seemed like they had done very little work for an awful lot of money.

I would advise parents, if you have the time, to advertise privately on nannyjob first.

Sorry to hear that NannyR. Just wanted to say not all overseaas agencies are like that!

I have just started to work for a newly set up overseas nanny agency (based in UK, but all placings are overseas) and yes we do charge a lot (8x weekly salary) but that is a lot less than our main competitors, who charge 25% of annual salary!

BUT we do do everything by the book, and spend hours chasing references, helping nannies write their cvs, organising flights for nannies interviews, helping nannies find a first aid course running near them if they need to update, co-ordinating a parents "interview day" in london. We don't charge any registration fee, unlike a lot of other agencies, so we unfortuantely what sometimes happens is that we spend hours and hours working for a single client, who then employs a nanny via another agency and we have spent several days work on nothing. Such is the nature of the business but it is most frustrating none the less! And like any business this is taken into account when we work out our fees.

I think certainly in the case of overseas agencies we offer an excellent service to parents who simply do not have the time, or perhaps the desire to spend hours doing the above.

advertising on nannyjob (I prefer gumtree) is an effective way often for finding a nanny, but wading through the replies is incredibly time consuming. If you're in a hurry, that's when an agency comes in.

A good agency will match nanny to family, family to nanny, meaning that you end up only needing to meet one or two nannies.

Agencies are bad though for telling nannies to talk Net wage. Agencies work for parents, so should be doing whats best for parents, which is to always agree salary as Gross. Ideally a Gross annual salary, as that makes it clearer to all that nannies are not a pay-as-you-go cost but are paid for contracted hours even if the parents decide not to use all those hours.

As a nanny using an agency can save me wasting my time meeting families who just want the novelty of meeting a male nanny but having no intention of employing me. Good agencies will establish early on if a male nanny is going to be seriously considered.

That's a good point actually nick. Agencies screen out timewasters on both sides. A nanny won't want to lead the agency up the garden path and one presumes families who register with agencies do have a job on offer.

Thank you, that is very interesting. I guess people who use nanny agencies value their time more than I do because even if I spend 20 hours on nanny searching activities that could be delegated, their fees would imply I value my time at £125 per hour minimum...

The agency that I use in my area only talk in gross rate and charge approx £500 one off fee to the parents for a full time nanny. I only go through the agency for work as I tend to find the people who advertise on gumtree etc. have no intention of paying for a nanny (but I'm sure that's just in my area).

I've only ever job hunted through agencies and they've always checked references. I've always worked for families low on time really so I guess an agency worked for them. But if you have the time you can save money by doing the search yourself.

I used a couple of agencies - one was rubbish and the other was excellent. Matched candidates to me really well and helped me with contract etc.

they charged 6 weeks net (special offer!). it was well worth it as they basically took all of the hassle out of it and they had done all the work up front (checked references etc). I didn't feel like i was interviewing/hiring a stranger.

my agency suggested a gross salary which I was happy with as I wanted a set monthly cost. also means my nanny benefits from any tax changes rather than me.

I've just employed a nanny through an agency, the fees are 3 times gross weekly salary, which isn't too bad particularly as we were looking for a part time nanny. We are out in the (northern) sticks though so nannys are rather thin on the ground up here and we didn't manage to find one through direct advertising. We found the people who expressed an interest through nannyjobs and childcare.co.uk were not particularly suited to our requirements eg couldn't work the days we were looking for or had no prior experience. Probably wouldn't have been the case if we lived somewhere with more available nannys though

I've just employed a nanny through an agency, the fees are 3 times gross weekly salary, which isn't too bad particularly as we were looking for a part time nanny. We are out in the (northern) sticks though so nannys are rather thin on the ground up here and we didn't manage to find one through direct advertising. We found the people who expressed an interest through nannyjobs and childcare.co.uk were not particularly suited to our requirements eg couldn't work the days we were looking for or had no prior experience. Probably wouldn't have been the case if we lived somewhere with more available nannys though

Oops sorry, bloody wine phone

Oops sorry, bloody wine phone