Agency - no agency? Stories please

[MummytoLO]

Hi, I'm a FTM and just starting my nanny search.

I am inclined not to use an agency.

I read on here that most nannies are searching for jobs through both agencies and the usual websites. And I'd rather give the £2-3k to my nanny than the middleman.

Mums, can I please have your point of view?

Have you had good / bad experience with the agencies?

We have used both routes, agency and no agency. We have had previous experience of Norland students for our family of multiples so have had some very good and some who seek fame and fortune . When I went back to work we thought at that time it would probably be best to use an agency as this one advertised high calibre nannies, they do all of the advertising, checks inc CRBs if out of date and provide legal advice on the contract set-up and any subsequent employment issues. So far it sounded great! In reality we were sent several candidates where a few didn't match our criteria at all. Of those who did, we interviewed 4, two of which refused to do the working hours with the odd overnight which would have been known prior to interview. The other two were offered the position, the first turned it down to study an unrelated field and the second took our offer. After about the first 3 weeks it was clear that this candidate was completely unsuitable for our demanding young family and this was made known to the agency. We looked to dismiss the nanny under gross misconduct but just prior to giving the letter for this (literally hours) they revealed they were pregnant. We went through 6 months of disciplinary action in the hope they would actually do the job rather than furnish our sofa, before they finally went. The agency was no help in the legal aspects of our circumstances so what they advertised was not what we got. Their lack of checks has cost us a substantial amount aswell.
For our next nanny we vowed to stay away from agencies and had quite a few great candidates from childcare.co.uk, one of which we have employed. They had all of the paperwork up to date and we did our own employment checks. We have been very happy so far with our current employer.
So for what it is worth, I would not use an agency. They will base their fees on the nanny's salary so will push your salary as high as possible to get more fees, which obviously helps recruitment too. They will have as much loyalty to you as the nanny candidates so they are not entirely working for you but for their own benefit. Beware, their terms and conditions have so many 'get out' clauses for them so they have no accoutability at all. Sadly we were let down badly and it had an impact on one of our children to.
Good luck with your search and be brave as you can do this on your own without an agency.

Thank you 2plus1, that's a really instructive story. Sorry you had such a nightmare.

I was hoping the agencies would help particularly if an appointment doesn't work out, by sending a replacement quickly.
But apparently not.

The agency we used would only find a free replacement if the nanny left or they were dismissed within the first few weeks. We could not dismiss our nanny due to the pregnancy and hence potential discrimination claim although our reasons were purely based on poor performance and breach of confidentiality/privacy. Another thread on here where the nanny left within a few weeks have not been found replacement nanny by their agency yet. Lets face it the agency has your money and is effectively finding another candidate for free so why would they put the effort in?

The first time, the agency sent us the same people we'd already spoken to through Nannyjobs.co.uk. The second time, there was similar overlap but generally the nannies with experience came through the agencies adn did not want to deal direct - they wanted the service that the agency provides for their own benefit. As to the agencies - 80% as much use as a chocolate teapot, one very good who we hired through - run by an ex-nanny.
It's ££ for old rope unfortunately, but depending on your area and the nanny network, you may just have to factor it in as a cost of recruitment. If you know people with nannies, try the grapevine first.