What duties do nannies do which they feel are part of their job but you feel are beyond the call of duty?

[nannynick]

Events at work this week have got me thinking about how some of the times nannies do are seen by their employers as being beyond the call of duty.

For example, the downstairs toilet Bubbled this week at work. I knew that was a bad sign!
So after doing our usual morning routine and having lunch, toddler and I investigated the household plumbing. Toddler was not allowed to touch anything of course but did seem to enjoy watching, helping clear leaves and stones from manhole covers etc. We established that there must be a major blockage somewhere which we could not find... so called MumBoss to advise her and to suggest that I called Thames Water. I don't often disturb her at work, so she must have realised that I thought it was a major problem. I called Thames Water and arranged for a site visit, they came within a few hours and after a while found where the pipes were blocked and cleared the blockage.
So by the time by boss got home, everything was sorted out, plumbing back to it's normal state.

So is sorting an issue like that out something that is part of a nannies job, or beyond the call of duty? As I saw things, I work in the home and if there is a major issue with the home in some way which affects my ability to work there, then I get it sorted out. It's just part of the job. If MumBoss was at home that day, then I think she would have done the same as me... investigate the problem and then call someone out to fix it.

I think MumBoss thinks that I went beyond the call of duty in sorting it out. Well maybe it's not strictly part of my job but it's not as though I could leave it for her to deal with... she was at work, it needed someone onsite to deal with it.

What duties do nannies do like this which may or may not be beyond the call of duty?

One thing though: do you all feel that these things are becoming more and more expected out of nannies/au pairs and less appreciated? I've noticed more being expected out of au pairs (essentially people after cheap nannies) but can the same be said about nannies?

The au pair contract has changed, in line with people's changed expectations (in the UK au pairs are domestic employees like any other with no special regulatory status).

I'm not sure why nannies shouldn't do a lot of the duties outlined on this thread - mending/altering clothes or running errands like dry cleaning are quite reasonable, as are big household jobs that aren't very onerous, like defrosting the fridge. But wiring and decorating seem to me way beyond the call of duty!

Mending/altering PARENT'S clothes?

Dry cleaning is fine as long as it doesn't interfere with plans for the children but when parents expect that to be done as a priority over going to toddler group then it becomes unreasonable.

Nannies aren't around to look after parents. Fixing stuff when it goes wrong around the house is fair enough, but sometimes it gets a bit out of hand and nanny is expected to do absolutely everything as standard.

No, I was thinking of mending/altering children's clothes.

Dropping things off/picking things up at the dry cleaner's is so easy if you are out and about during the day - it's an errand that combines with other things, like going to toddler group - and so hard when you are at work all day that it would seem quite reasonable to ask the person who was doing the other day time errands to do it.

Our nanny is always very happy to do any small errands that I would do if I were around - taking things to the dry cleaners, calling a plumber, taking the car to the car wash, going to the post office to collect a parcel. I only ask her to do things if I think the dcs will find it vaguely interesting/informative. ds adores the car wash, for instance, and thinks it's a huge treat to go - so everyone is a winner. And I know the dry cleaners doesn't sound much fun but the guy who works there keeps a glove puppet under the counter and entertains the children with a puppet show while his colleague gets the stuff. I wouldn't ask her to do something that was just for me and I do try not to take advantage.

AP employer rather than nanny, and if I had time I would argue with Pix about the "essentially people after cheap nannies" comment.

I would not expect or ask a large number of the things appearing on the lists here, expecially anything (laundry/dry cleaning/repairs) to do with my clothes.

The two main one for us are, taking in the Tesco delivery on a Tursday or Friday on weeks when we are away at the weekend, and driving me to the local bus station so I can get a bus to work where there is a social in the evening (this is two or three times a year).

It's easy if you're in a big city - in Paris the dry cleaner was on the way to school, everything was in walking distance and I had the time so it was fine to run errands like that. Less fine to say 'we can't go to the library/park/museum because we need to sort a problem in a room you and I don't use'. When I was working the deepest, darkest (erm) Oxfordshire the nearest dry cleaner was a long car trip and all our toddler groups were much more local, so we'd have had to make a special trip and sometimes the 'request'(demand) was made on a day we had regular activities planned. Or 'the cleaner's on holiday so could you do X, Y and Z'?

I think some things are expected as standard - if you're in the house and something goes wrong you fix it/wait for the plumber. If you're going out anyway then taking the dry cleaning/picking up some bits and pieces isn't exactly difficult. Likewise receiving the Test online shop or a one off to receive a delivery of something expensive (with a bit of respect for your weekly schedule, so arranging for it to be a free morning/afternoon when you could be at home without missing something).

I can't comment on the relative change over time about what's expected - you need nick or blondes for that - but over 5 years I've always said I'm willing to do things within reason to contribute to the smooth running of the house but some nannies flat out refuse. In this climate you need to make yourself as attractive as possible so yes, willingness to do this is becoming more standard (why shoot yourself in the foot?) and therefore the expectation is becoming more standard. IMO.

"I've always said I'm willing to do things within reason to contribute to the smooth running of the house but some nannies flat out refuse. In this climate you need to make yourself as attractive as possible so yes, willingness to do this is becoming more standard (why shoot yourself in the foot?) and therefore the expectation is becoming more standard. IMO."

I couldn't agree more. My current bosses interviewed another "top calibre" nanny who said she ONLY did child care. No cleaning/tidying/laundry/cooking/errands ("surely you have other staff for that?" she said LOL)

I think I am sometimes too flexible/willing/soft. But I also LOVE what I do. So as long as I am appreciated I will err on the side of going above and beyond rather than not be helpful enough IYSWIM.

I must be one of the few people on MN that has spent a bit of time living in a fully staffed house, and I think that the snobby nanny mentioned would be very surprised how much other people's jobs overlapped. I think my housekeeper would have been pretty miffed if the plumbing packed up while she was off the premises and the nanny refused to do anything about it 'because it was someone else's job'. Basically common sense has to prevail.

Hmmm in some staffed houses the jobs overlap, in some they most certainly do NOT. Depends on the attitude of the employers and the individual staff. Personally I'd hate to work in the kind of environment where the staff couldn't pull together and cover for each other. I'm eternally grateful to one housekeeper for cleaning my charge's room and bathroom during the school holidays even though it was my job not hers because she could see I had enough to do! But in return charge and I used to do the market shop a couple of times a week in the holidays so she didn't have to. Snobby nanny may have worked in the sort of households where the distinction was much more marked (and was probably very lonely).