Can I ask if you would hire a nanny with great refs but no first aid/CRB - not sole charge

[emeraldgirl1]

I have found a lovely-sounding nanny (meeting her soon) who has great refs and experience (unless she is making it all up!!!), good qualifications but no professional childcare ones - also no First Aid or CRB.

She has been/is currently a sole charge nanny but I need her for more of an au pair-type role (and PT not FT) as I work from home (though would eventually want to leave DC with her for an hour or two)

She is charging closer to AP rates than nanny rates.

Do I need to be a stickler about things like CRB and First Aid in this case?

Sorry, havent't done this before and am worried about doing something silly!!!

It's up to you really. IMO, a CRB isn't worth the paper it's writtein on, but I would check out her refs.

How old are your DCs? Again, the first aid thing is up to you. Are you first aid qualified? If you're not, then the DCs are at no more risk with her than they are with you. If you're concerned, you could go through some first aid basics with her (choking etc) when she starts.

For me, personality and the ability to get on well with, and manage my kids is far more important.

We all had to start somewhere! If you are going to be home and get on well with her then I'd go for it.

A peadiatric first aid course takes 6 hours and costs about £80. Tigerlily run a great course, instructors have all been fun and made the experience fly by. All nannies I know take the course in their own time and pay for it themselves. However, you could offer to pay half, if you don't have first aid, you could go along with her!

I agree with tywy (sorry, can't copy and paste (or remember!!) your full name!) the CRB, now known as the DBS is not worth the paper it's written on. Even nanny agencies don't ask a nanny to get a new one unless the family require one. Mine is almost three years old and I am on many nanny agency books.

Gut instinct is the most important thing, if you like her then give her a chance.

Oh and ask for a home address for any referees, preferably a home telephone number too so you can cross reference them. I have known nannies that have used family members/friends as references to fill gaps.

I think there is a list of questions to ask previous employers somewhere so you get a good idea if they are genuine.

A list of nanny reference questions is useful when checking the references of a nanny candidate. Following is a list of nanny reference questions to ask families who previously employed the nanny:

When did the nanny care for your children?
What type of care did the nanny provide? (live-in? full-time? part-time? occasional?)
Was care provided by the nanny alone or with a stay-at-home parent?
What was the nanny’s rate of pay?
What were the nanny’s work hours?
How many children were under the nanny’s care? What were their ages?
What were the nanny’s responsibilities and daily activities?
How did the nanny relate to your children? (Do they remember her, talk about her, keep in touch?)
How did the nanny relate to adults? (You, neighbors, family, friends?)
Assess the nanny’s ability to help teach a child. (At what age or grade level might she have difficulty?)
How did the nanny handle your child’s illnesses? (Did she administer medication, take the child for doctor’s visits?)
Can the nanny handle emergency situations?
Were there any injuries to your children under the nanny’s care?
Is the nanny neat around the house?
Did the nanny do any housekeeping?
Is the nanny an honest person?
Does the nanny smoke?
Does the nanny drink?
Have you met any of the nanny’s friends or family? Do they seem like good people?
Is the nanny a patient person?
How did the nanny handle behavior problems?
Did the nanny have any problems with lateness or absences?
Did the nanny have any health or other problems that might affect her work as a nanny?
How did the nanny spend any downtime at your home?
Is the nanny a good and safe driver?
Is the nanny committed to being a nanny? Does the nanny have alternative career plans?
Why did the nanny leave your employ?
If circumstances were different, would you hire the nanny again?
What are the nanny’s strengths?
What are the nanny’s weaknesses?
Is there anything else you can tell me about the nanny that I may not have asked?

When doing a phone reference check, you don't have a lot to go by other than the person's voice and assurance on the phone. So ask yourself a few questions afterwards:
Did the reference sound nervous?
Did they answer right away to their name?
Is anything not quite right?
For every 99 great babysitters, there is always one who will use her college roommate for a reference, so use your gut to determine if anything seems odd.
We've learned that you can tell a lot simply from how a person's voice makes you feel, which is why we recommend the phone interview over exchanging emails. Take advantage of your own gut instinct, and take comfort knowing that each phone call take you one step closer to priceless peace of mind.

There is loads more out there, just google.

It isn't hard to get a CRB and first aid, so why not just pay for her to get them?

She is charging - do you mean she will accept the pay you are offering? You decide the salary not the nanny. Agree a gross salary.

Up to you what you accept. Perhaps you could both do a first aid course, always handy with children around.

I just paid for one of our nannies first aid certificates with the proviso that she paid me back if she left within 6 months. If you are going to do that you need to make sure it is written in her contract as you're not allowed to make deductions from wages unless its specifically written in the contract.

Personally I would also want a CRB - it seems a little odd that she doesn't have one already if she is working in a professional childcare capacity. Maybe she is currently working as an au pair - but has a lot a sole care.

It's not odd that she doesn't have one if she isn't Ofsted registered or not with an agency.

hettienne - I've never interviewed or had an application from a proper professional nanny (that is discounting all the au pairs and people who have had experience looking after their little brothers etc) who hasn't had a fairly up to date CRB.

We had 4 London nannies and I always advertised on gumtree so that's a lot of applicatnts.

Thanks everyone!
V v helpful
I am a real novice at this.
nannynick - that's good advice, thanks, especially re the first aid course. She has indicated she is happy with whatever we want to pay her (within reason, of course, am eager to pay her a good rate for a good job).

Thanks for the questions to ask, Caillard, that;s really great.

My baby is almost 7m, the nanny has experience from 6m onwards, currently looking after toddlers sole charge, Obviously I will follow up this reference first of all.

Karoleann, that's useful info thank you.

Oh, that's another question - should I follow up her refs before I meet her or after

They'll have got those CRBs either from being Ofsted registered or through an agency though. Someone who isn't either or those things won't have one (unless they previously worked in a nursery) - I don't think that's odd.

I would but would also think they are kind of lazy not to at least have first aid. A 6hr intensive course now covers you for ofsted. That's 1/2 a day and usually at weekend, so I would expect someone to try and make the effort to have one ( and keep up to date)

Meet her then call refs.
See other threads on here about holiday entitlement, nanny payroll companies, tax and employers National Insurance, creating a contract/written statement.

I think if you are planning to claim childcare tax, you will need to have an ofsted registered nanny. see hmrc.

I would definitely pay for the First Aid. Has she never had a CRB done for any previous job or voluntary role? That is a little odd but not completely implausible.

if she is that great then why hasnt she got first aid/crb/

standard thing a professional nanny should have and want, surprised her other familys havnt asked her to do a first aid course and get checked, tho as others have said they arent worth the paper they are written on BUT makes you look as if you are bothered and caring and professional by having iyswim

I would be wondering why she wants to leave her current job, if it is sole charge, then why does she want to change to a shared care/parent at home job? Also you are only offering part-time, so if she works full time now (you don't say if she does or not) then that will result in a drop in pay I would expect. So I would look into why she wants to leave current employer, check refs and try to get a ref from current employer.

If she is actively looking for jobs, then would she not have registered with a nanny agency who would have told her how to get a DBS check? Maybe she does not have suitable training/experience to be taken on by your local nanny agency.

Many parents do not have first aid training, though the current St John's campaign is trying to encourage parents to do some training as things do happen to children in their own home, or out and about. Someone working with children I would expect to have done some kind of first aid training, not having done any I view as a little odd if they have been in employment for a while (and thus have had the money to pay for a course).

If you take them on you could pay for them to do a first aid course, it needs to cover babies & toddlers as that is the important ages for your situation. An Early Years first aid course (12 hour) will cover babies, toddlers, juniors and adult first aid.

Cindy - thanks so much - she's staying in her current job but it's only p-t and she is looking for extra hours. I only need p-t so it works for me on that front.

I will ask about training etc when we meet.

It is posisble she has First Aid etc but just hasn't mentioned it. Though it is not on her CV.

I think if she hasn't got First Aid, but if I like her when we meet, I will pay for her to do the course. Wouldn't mind doing it myself actually.

Thanks so much everyone - I feel stupidly nervous about this. First time (potentially) employing someone, let alone first time employing someone to look after my PFB!!

Other option I have is to get an au pair (am interviewing one this week) who lives with another family but wants extra hours... as it's not sole charge job, if I like the au pair and feel she would do a good job with DD (with me there obv), would that be better perhaps? She'd obviously cost less than nanny option but I want the best solution for DD. Some light housework would be massively helpful atm so maybe an au pair happier with this?

Best nanny I ever knew wasn't qualified and started out as a mother's help to a nurse.

My employers have sent me on first aid courses as did everyone back in the day twelve years ago. Things were obviously different if a nanny is expected to pay for first aid.

I thought it was up to the employer to sort out crb? I didn't think it was something an employee personally I wouldn't be fussed by this as they mean jack shit

Things ARE different

It isn't surprising that she doesn't have a CRB - a lot of nannies only end up getting them so they can be Ofsted registered so that the parents can use childcare vouchers. If the parents she has been working for didn't want to do that, it's pretty pointless for a nanny to be Ofsted registered.

I am very surprised she doesn't have a First Aid Cert though, so yes, it would be good for both of you to do a course - good way to bond :)