Absolutely love the first nanny we interviewed!

[Nannysearch25]

I have posted a job in childcare.co.uk and have had a lot of messages from potential nannies - of these I liked three, I had an initial video call with two and still trying to organise video call with the third. Today we had one of the candidates come to our home for an in person interview and baby meet. She is absolutely perfect and I want to offer her the role. Just wondering if this is enough?

• video interview 45 mins
• 1 hour in person interview (I paid her for her time)
• then job offer conditional on reference check?

It seems like other people take a lot longer but she’s perfect. My main fear is she will reject US in favour of a better offer or if someone offers an hourly rate higher than she’s listed on the site.

I think as long as you’re offering a probationary period where either of you can change your mind if it’s not a good fit, then go for it.

You’ll never truly know if you’ve made the right decision with a nanny until routine kicks in, so if you get good impressions off the bat, I’d say that (and references obviously!) is as good a start as any!

Of course! The most important thing is she is a good fit for your family and it sounds like she is. Two interviews including an hour F2F is enough to tell. You probably knew in the first few minutes.

Sounds fine. I wouldn’t overthink it and agree that there’s a risk of losing a good candidate. It’s more than possible if the others are hard to get hold of that they’re about to get other jobs. Agree about the probationary period.

We had something similar transpired she was great at interviews but couldn't sustain the performance long term.

You could perhaps do a one day trial (paid), although to be frank I suspect it won't change your views.

I would recommend being very thorough when obtaining references. I thought I was, but in hindsight the two referees I spoke to alluded to a couple of issues (would have stopped me from proceeding) I missed until it was too late.

We had the same, she was brilliant and exactly what we needed. Sometimes we just get lucky first time. As long as you continue to be cautious, good luck

okay fabulous. She is just finishing up 4 years in a position as kids go to school and her previous post was also 4 years, same reason for finishing - so as long as this is accurate I feel like her previous families liked her!

She will be working three days a week, probably Monday will be one of those days - is 20 days annual leave including bank holidays enough? (I have done the entitlement calculator with her hours and it works out she should have 16.8 days stat requirement a year). I would love to give her 5 weeks off like we have but I am aware that if she has sick leave I’ll need to take my AL for that so I need some buffer.

20 days works out as 4 “weeks” she can be off plus the 8 bank holidays. Then I have a week of my own leave in my pocket incase she takes sick leave.

What would you recommend for this, one month? How did you word it in the offer?

As a nanny, I’m amazed to hear that Childcare.com has come through! I used to use it for all my jobs but it has been dire for me for a couple of years now sadly.

Standard probationary period tends to be 3 months. Stat notice period is a month on both sides. I would have 5 paid sick days written into the contract (or 3 since she isn’t full time) and then everything else is discretionary on that front, rather than adding more holiday. As a nanny the absolute worst thing is not knowing you’ll get paid for (very occasional and genuine sick days) but you don’t want to give leeway for piss taking.

I presume you’re paying by the book via a payroll company. NannyTax has a standard contract you can look through.

If you’re getting a good feeling and the references back this up then try not to worry, she sounds very professional.

I’d be inclined to say 12 weeks.

This role will have a probationary period of twelve weeks, to ensure it’s a good fit for both you and our family. During this time, either party can end the arrangement by giving four weeks notice. At the end of the probation period, we’ll meet to review how things are going and confirm the role moving forward.

Something like that? Obviously adjust the time periods to whatever you think will suit you all 😊

Oh stat notice of a month comes after the probation period of course. Yes standard 12 weeks/3 months probation. But do look at Nanny tax or NannyPay as they have templates for all of this.

Perfect thank you all, she accepted woop!