Medical Check

[venys]

Hi all, asking for someone else but is it common to do a medical check when hiring an au pair/nanny? I understand they do it at nurseries.

No. Never had a medical check as a nanny - or as a nursery nurse to be honest

I have for working abroad but never the UK.

I'm pretty sure they are not legally allowed to.

Working abroad it was more for health insurance as there was not NHS equivalent.

I thought not and I thought it was illegal too . Although someone else did say they got a check as a nursery nurse for a chain of nurseries. Thanks guys.

I ask them (au pairs) to sign something to say that they are fit and healthy. Its a copy of something that an agency once sent me.

Why do you think its illegal? Many large companies have occupational health checks before you start, I had to have quite a (ridiculously) comprehsive one before re-registering with the NHS for my job last year.

I am not too sure. I only ever hire summer nannies and mostly informally. But when I was checking on a candidate coming off ESA I got the feeling you couldn't ask for what as its confidential. But obviously people are doing it in some capacity without legal ramifications.

I'm a nursery manager and we don't do health checks on our staff
We do ask them at monthly supervisions if they have any health issues or if they are on medication. But its mostly to cover us, so they can't say a condition was caused at work
We don't do health checks prior to hiring

This is from the gov.uk website. I don't think they are allowed to ask.

I've been asked 'do you have any health conditions?' at an interview, but I've never been asked to go for a health check.

If I was asked I would decline and look for alternative employment.

I'm perfectly healthy, it just feels a bit invasive and screams 'OTT parents'.

Calliard - that's really interesting...one of the reasons I ask, is that we have driving au pairs and medical conditions that aren't an issue in another country can be for the DVLA in the UK and I would hate for someone to come over and then find they can't drive over here. So that seems okay for me and my recruitment.

BUT you could also argue if someone had sole care of a child, it would be necessary for someone to be of good health, so category 2: the job requires it. Someone with for example a hidden physical/mental health condition such as uncontrolled epilepsy or bipolar disorder is not suitable for looking after small children and in that case the children have to come first.

The person in question had hired someone with MH issue. Serious episode just before they were going to be left alone with kids, one with severe SN to boot. All agencies informed and employee now in care! So I wonder where the line is drawn between safe guarding your children and employee privacy / discrimination. It's scary stuff.

Mental health issues seem to me to be raised more often, maybe just recognised more. It does start to make you wonder what checks should be done and how/who makes an assessment as to if someone is suitable to work with children. The childcare regulators do check some things but not usually medical fitness.

Employers should be able to ask for confirmation of fitness to work, but that would come at a cost to the employer and would cause delay in the recruitment process.

How do big employers deal with occupational health, are there private companies who provide occupational health related services who would do work for employers with only one employee?

I agree that someone with severe medical problems should declare it. One of my ex-bosses hired a nanny after I left, who turned out to have a back problem and couldn't lift the 10 month old! I gave them 12 weeks notice so they could find someone perfect and then 3 weeks later they had to scrabble around to find someone else but ended up having to put the girls in nursery. A friend hired a nanny who had depression and was on anti-depressants, the nanny barely left the house and her three year old said that the nanny made her sad all day!

Obviously if they are managing well on medication, it shouldn't make a difference if they can do their job well. Which is where it all falls to pieces! If you had two nannies at interview that you liked, one was on medication and one not, which are you more likely to choose?

I was on anti-depressants when I started my current position after boyfriend died suddenly, had I disclosed that fact, I might not have got this job, 2.5 years later I'm off the anti-depressants and have a wonderful job, employers and an adorable charge and I'm very happy (mostly!)

Yeah it's such a tough call Caillard. I bet that job was great therapy for you. But as you know it can go either way!! As I said before I think if someone had serious medical issues,it would probably be best to take a team job rather than some charge so that any issues could be more easily absorbed should a flare up occur. But you can't persuade everyone to take that view!