clueless about hiring a nanny

[sparklygiraffe]

I'm looking into hiring a nanny when I go back to work after mat leave in a few months. I'm completely clueless about the whole process and what to expect so I've been trying to do some research on here and other sites, but I still have some questions. Can anyone advise please?

We've two children, DS will be 3.2 and DD will be 10 months when I go back. DS is currently at private nursery 3 mornings a week, partly to give me a break with the baby and partly for social interaction for him. He loves it and I love the nursery but they can't do the days I need at work.

My questions are:

-Is it usual to provide/prepare lunch for the nanny or for them to bring their own?
-Do I prepare meals for the kids for the nanny to heat up, or does she do it?
-We probably wouldn't be able to provide use of a car. I go to some groups with the kids that are a half hour walk away-is it reasonable to ask her to do this?
-I would be looking for the nanny to work 7.45 to 5.45 3 days a week but I also do some out of hours work. For example, about once or twice a fortnight I work a late day and wouldn't get back until 7pm or so, sometimes I have days off in the week to compensate for weekends worked and once a month I work 4 days. Is it normal for nannies to have some flexibility and work extra hours (paid and mutually agreed of course), or would it be taking the piss to ask them to do this?
-can anyone give an idea of the going gross hourly rate?-we're in Edinburgh.
-how far in advance should I advertise the job? Back to work mid-January.

Sorry to be so clueless! I just want to make sure I get it right when we advertise it. Thanks for any advice!

Is it usual to provide/prepare lunch for the nanny or for them to bring their own?

my nanny told me she likes cheese sandwiches for lunch so I always make sure there is bread and cheese! new one about to start and I will ask her - I think it is the done thing to provide it, unless on a special diet etc

Do I prepare meals for the kids for the nanny to heat up, or does she do it

Generally nanny would cook, you leave ingredients

We probably wouldn't be able to provide use of a car. I go to some groups with the kids that are a half hour walk away-is it reasonable to ask her to do this?

Don't see why should be a problem but worth mentioning at interview. Would you be happy to pay mileage/provide car seats if she wanted to use her own car?

I would be looking for the nanny to work 7.45 to 5.45 3 days a week but I also do some out of hours work. For example, about once or twice a fortnight I work a late day and wouldn't get back until 7pm or so, sometimes I have days off in the week to compensate for weekends worked and once a month I work 4 days. Is it normal for nannies to have some flexibility and work extra hours (paid and mutually agreed of course), or would it be taking the piss to ask them to do this?

Yes normal - I have fixed hours but sometimes have to stay a bit later, nanny does an extra hour and I pay her extra. Need to work out how much notice they want and whether they will guarantee to always be available or if it is optional and you have a backup if they can't do it e.g. babysitter, grandparent

can anyone give an idea of the going gross hourly rate?-we're in Edinburgh.

Can only give London figures, going rate seems to be £10 per hour net which is anything from £10.50 to £13 gross depending on tax code and hours worked. Use the mranchovy paye calculator online to work out details - always put gross salary in contract. 1000L is standard tax code if no other employer

-how far in advance should I advertise the job? Back to work mid-January.

I needed my first nanny end July last year, rang agencies in April and they said much too early, though in fact I did find someone in May but that was unusual that she was willing to wait. My current nanny gave notice 3w ago and I now have someone new via childcare.co.uk . If you're back to work mid January, you probably want to have it sorted before Christmas if possible. I would suggest put a profile on childcare.co.uk now - no harm - and start looking in earnest, emailing people, contacting agencies etc early November.

hope that helps!

Working late by prior arrangement is fine. Working 3 days a week but then expecting them to do a 4th day could be more of a problem, as nanny may be working for someone else the other days. Explain carefully about the need for this 4th day, how regularly it happens. Consider if you would pay that day as extra or if you would give an additional day off in lieu, so still doing 3 days that week, or doing 4 days that week and 2 days the following week.

ah yes, I hadn't spotted that it was extra days not just extra hours. may be trickier.

Thanks for the replies, that is all really helpful. I may be able to negotiate out of the extra day at work, which would make life easier. I thought of another question:do most nannies do any housework, like the kids' laundry? Or is that not normal?

-Is it usual to provide/prepare lunch for the nanny or for them to bring their own?

You provide but they cook/make it from ingredients you have. They would probably eat the same as your 3 year old, so could cook a meal for your children plus a portion for themselves.

-Do I prepare meals for the kids for the nanny to heat up, or does she do it?

Nanny makes meals. If you meal plan, then discuss what meals will be made and come up between you with some recipes if necessary.

-We probably wouldn't be able to provide use of a car. I go to some groups with the kids that are a half hour walk away-is it reasonable to ask her to do this?

Yes. A live-out nanny would be needing to get to you anyway, so they may well drive their own car. You may want to consider them using their own car for transporting your children (mileage payment would apply).

-I would be looking for the nanny to work 7.45 to 5.45 3 days a week but I also do some out of hours work. For example, about once or twice a fortnight I work a late day and wouldn't get back until 7pm or so,

Be as precise about the timing as you can. If you won't be home by 7, then have nanny work till 7:30. Out-of-hours work sounds like you may work in healthcare - are rotas planned in advance? Is there a cycle? Thus will you know these longer days quite some way in advance, or do they happen at late notice?

• sometimes I have days off in the week to compensate for weekends worked and once a month I work 4 days.

This 4th day is where I think the biggest problem will be. Whilst you can find a nanny who want's a 3 day a week job, a 2 day a week job, a 4 day a week job, finding someone who want's a 3 day job but for one in 4 weeks wants 4 days is a bit of a tall order. You may get lucky and find someone who does not do any other work, or have any other commitments on the days they don't work for you and thus could do the 4th day but many nannies would be combining jobs together, or have other commitments which may make the 4th day tricky.

Is having a 4 day nanny out of the question? Having a day to do whatever you like is a luxury but it may be something to consider, especially if there are things you might be wanting to do without children - training courses, studying, getting your hair done, gym personal trainer, shopping.

• Is it normal for nannies to have some flexibility and work extra hours (paid and mutually agreed of course), or would it be taking the piss to ask them to do this?

Yes but there is a limit to that flexibility, they have a life of their own and they may have other work. So it needs to fit with their other commitments.

-can anyone give an idea of the going gross hourly rate?-we're in Edinburgh.

In Aberdeen area it is £8.50-£10 gross per hour. Edinburgh I expect may be similar though may be a little more.

NannyJob: Edinburgh, Live Out - not many jobs listed at time of checking, only one gives salary £10 gross. So I would say go for £8.50-£11 as a range.

-how far in advance should I advertise the job? Back to work mid-January.

I would start now, then modify ad and place more ads in November. You are aiming to interview in November, agree contract by early-mid December. Mid-Dec to Mid-Jan may be a very quiet time for recruiting, xmas gets in the way.

As you are in Scotland, if you intend to use Childcare Vouchers or the new childcare scheme in Sept 2015, then from what I understand you need to recruit via a childcare agency. Some agencies may do this for you even if they don't find the nanny for you. SCSWIS - Care Service Search, use type: Child Care Agency

SuperMums is in your area. May be worth contacting them as they provide permanent nannies and do an ad-hoc service, which may help resolve the 4th day issue if you did not mind having someone different on those occasions.

Just found an ad from an agency where live-out nanny, 20 hours a week, is £9-10 Net. So maybe think of having your salary budget up to £12 gross.

• do most nannies do any housework, like the kids' laundry? Or is that not normal?

Yes, often child related. It may include things like:

Loading/Unloading Dishwasher
Putting children's laundry in the machine, hanging it to dry.
Some may iron if they had sufficient time - may be more for those whose children are at school.
Children's bedding laundry.
As time goes by, some may end up doing adults laundry as well as it may be easier not to separate it out.
Quick tidy of children's bedrooms, playroom.

Don't expect a deep clean - they are not a cleaner. Be realistic in what can be done in the time with two young children around.

re housework, also depends if they have child free time - if your oldest is going to use free nursery hours, and your youngest sleeps 2 hours a day the nanny will have more time than if she has both kids all day.

My nanny tidies the kids rooms, changes their sheets and washes them, loads or unloads the dishwasher. when my son is at nursery and my daughter at school she irons our shirts which is a real luxury but I don't expect this in the school holidays. She also doesn't mind taking our washing out of the dryer if I've forgotten to, but again she offered, I wouldn't expect it. Their playroom is usually tidier when she leaves than when she arrives !

Yes I'd agree factor in a 15 minute handover. I have my nanny til 6 - I could be home by 5.30 most of the time but it would never be earlier. This way I am always home by 5.45 for a chat and sometimes by 5.30 so she gets off a bit earlier, which I think fosters goodwill.

Thanks all, really appreciate you taking time to answer my questions.

You're spot on nannynick, we are in healthcare. So we would have a rota in advance to negotiate longer days. We do have childcare vouchers, so that is good to know about the agencies. Am I right in saying that you can use pre-school funding to offset private nursery costs but not nannies?

Correct, nannies can not currently access pre-school funding. Childminders in England now can (though not sure about Scotland and other parts of UK) and I don't know if there are any plans to let nannies access it.

You may want your 3 year old to attend some funded education sessions at pre-school. That would give your nanny some 1:1 time with your youngest and gives 3yr old some time in a group environment thus helping prepare them for school. So look in to using some of the funded sessions, you often don't need to use up all 15 hours, some places can't even offer all 15 hours.

Depending on what your job is within healthcare, do build in enough time to get home. Your job may not have a set finish time, the last visit of the day may end up taking a lot longer than planned. So better to arrive home early, let nanny leave early, so that when it comes to being late back you nanny is more understanding.

Remember to include your partner in the arrangement. They may have more of a fixed schedule than you do, so they may be first back home. They may be able to leave later on occasion, which may be handy if nanny gets stuck getting to work (traffic, snow, car trouble, wakes up late). Nannies are like anyone else, not every day runs perfectly to schedule.

I would really like him to go to some nursery sessions, nanny nick, as he loves his current ones and I think it'd be good for DD and the nanny to have a break from him too! Unfortunately the waiting lists are massive. Still, he's on them so fingers crossed.

We are both doctors and it can be very difficult getting away. DH's job is particularly unpredictable unfortunately. I tend to be able to get away on time but have these annoying long days. I totally agree about having a decent handover-so many times when I was working pre-DD I was racing to the nursery to get DS, getting there at 2 mins before closing and he'd be the last one there with his coat on It's not ideal for anyone. My hope is with a nanny we can arrange times that I can commit to and be there with time to spare, instead of being bound by what the nursery does.

One more question: holidays. Presumably nanny puts in for leave when she wants it and there's not set holidays (like some rotas I've worked, totally crap).

Ignore last question-just read 2 recent threads on same topic!