Paid study leave for a nanny?

[KnotsinaWame]

We have advertised a role and interviewed and selected a nanny.

Nanny due to start in 3 weeks but wants to make an addition to the contract. She wants to add in 3 weeks paid study leave (this is on top of annual leave/bank holiday entitlement) and us to pay accommodation and course fees for any further training she wants to do (child care courses etc) and to keep up with her current certificates.

We feel that her current experience and qualifications are perfectly fine for the job (I'm home all day anyway just working in a different room) and we don't want to pay 3 weeks study leave, course fees and accommodation.

AIBU in thinking that if she has a hankering for more quali's that she can do it in her own time? This is our first nanny so genuinely don't know!

Sounds better, though many first aid courses are at the weekend or in the evening (your nanny has an early finish time, so could do evening classes).

Maybe cross the hurdle when it occurs. Do you know when current certificate expires? Knowing that date will give you timescale of roughly when a course needs to be done.

As a nanny I have never had first aid courses paid or time off given to do them, so I feel your nanny is very lucky if she does get one, or both of those perks.

We certainly never paid for first aid courses. If they know first aid they are not likely to forget it after a couple of years surely? They can look it up on the internet at night if they need a refresher.
If it were some other course then you would be paying her to enable her to leave you which is not in your interests.

Most nannies I know do their first aid at weekends - i did mine a saturday last month

yes it's benifical for the employer for the nanny to have first aid but I feel it's the nannies responsibility to ensure she has an up to date knowledge of first aid.

The original request was outrageous.

I do think employers should contribute either financially or by allowing time off for nannies to do first aid training though. Nannies are employees and in any other job training, required by the employer, would be provided. First aid only needs to be renewed every 3 years, so it's not a massive ask on the part of the nanny imo.

I also think it would be very nice for employers to offer nannies other chances at CPD. Again, pretty much all jobs will offer some form of cpd. This nannies request was clearly ridiculous, but offering an extra couple of days a year for training or offering an annual contribution to training is manageable for most employers and will hopefully lead to a better quality nanny workforce.

I'm very lucky because my employers have paid for my first aid when it's needed renewing and given me time off to attend. They are also open to the idea of giving me time off/paying for me to do other courses. We don't have it written into the contract so it's very much a perk and not an entitlement. I've been with them a long time (5 yrs+) and as they have recently had another baby, I'm likely to be here another 3 years or so. I think we are all (me, them and the children) benefitting from a positive long-term relationship.

You see I do agree with nannies being able to take courses, just in the same way that someone working in a nursery or as a childminder should be keeping up CPD. Also, there is evidence that having practitioners with higher levels of qualification is linked to better provision for young children.

However, the original suggestion of three weeks of paid study leave was just ridiculous - especially as no specific course was mentioned.

Its not that we forget, but the fact our certificate only lasts for 3 years, so we have to renew it to continue being trained, especially if ofsted registered. Also, things change all the time, like ways to resusitate, no longer smacking people on the back when choking (which a lot of parents still do), so need to keep upto date as professional.
I agree about the weekend (plenty of nannies sacrifice a whole weekend doing it), but maybe she means if isnt in area shel have to go away overnight re accomodation (if in London there are always courses). if ofsted, parents should pay, im in 2 minds if not. Im no longer registered in my new job and dont think il ask my boss to pay when it expires as tbh i dont think they will see it as affecting them. If they needed me registered then it would and they would be paying!

Choking - back blows still used according to SJA.
2.5 years since my last first aid course, back blows were used then for choking. Maybe you mean mild slaps, when what I recall from training is that it is very hard blows, ideally the object comes out on the first blow.

Things do change though, resus has changed quite a bit over the past 20 years and yes we have to repeat the courses due to expiry, not because we forget things... though we may for get things a bit over time.

If you had something when starting a job I feel you should keep having that, thus nannies responsibility to keep first aid updated.

Where are you? In London the going rate is at least £10/hr net so 12-13 gross, are you under paying?

'If you had something when starting a job I feel you should keep having that, thus nannies responsibility to keep first aid updated.'

That's just not true for any other, employed, childcare professional though is it? If you worked in a nursery, a crèche, a pre-school, a school, an after-school club, a sports club they would provide CPD where necessary. Why are nannies different? Are we not doing ourselves a disservice to say our CPD isn't important enough for our employers to bear any responsibility towards it?

Indeed nick. Renewed first aid last month and a sharp blow 99% dislodges item - was told 5 slaps to the back then turn over and try to dislodge from
Front and then call 999

Hopefully the sharp blow will work

£80 every three years isn't bad - that's just over £2 a month if you want to think of it like that :)

That's true blondes (although SJA in my area is £126) and I bet most nanny employers spend more on their nannies birthday presents, Christmas presents, bonuses etc. Childcare professionals get far less in that regard, but CPD comes as standard! I guess the question is; are nannies childcare professionals or not?

Are nannies paid more than nursery staff? I think we would say that generally they are paid more. So does that mean that nannies should do CPD out of their own salary, rather than expecting their employer to pay?

£80 for first aid, I wish... more like £126 (inc VAT) in my area as well Outraged. Wonder if there are lower cost providers - anyone recommend any in West Surrey?

I'm not sure that how much someone is paid is the measure of whether they should pay for their own CPD or not tbh. Do you think teachers pay for their own CPD? I doubt it. It's an issue of employed vs self-employed more than anything, not low paid vs high paid.

First aid courses run by nanny agencies tend to be around the £80-£100 mark, they also tend to squeeze it into one day or even 6 hours in some cases.

ouch at £126- wonder why such a huge difference :(

maybe come to kent for the day nick - be nice to meet up again :)

my course was run through an an agency and was very through and done in one day ie 6hrs - but is fine for an ofsted reg nanny as my friend was on same course with me and she needed it for ofsted

but yes you are right leeds some employers pay more for a pressie for their nannies birthday - others dont even give a card or acknowledge it :(

Teachers are paid more than Nanny's and not expected to pay for their own first aid courses etc...

Both I & my DH (assistant) have done 1st aid with Tigerlily as per Blondes's link & they were excellent. I went to sevenoaks & DH East Grinstead which is probably better for W. Surrey. Also worth knowing that their 6 hr course can be upgraded to the full 12 hrs a CM needs with an online addition (ie only 6 hours classroom then the rest at home) and it costs £95.

Lechat - you must be semi near me then?

But agree fab course. One of the best I've done and have done a few over the years. Much better the. Peak fitness/st johns which is what I did 3 years ago

I think nannies should be given some kind of allowance/provision for CPD, particularly where it's expected such as 1st Aid. But then many courses just aren't run for/aimed at nannies so beyond the 1st Aid few nannies do anything.

That may well change with the expansion of reputable online provision and a few providers are spotting the niche in the market, but it's still difficult to get that critical mass to put on a course and find a location, which nursery staff already tend to have sorted.