Steps to Follow When Hiring a Live-in Nanny in London

Hiring a Live-in Nanny is a significant decision for a family to make. Parents looking to get a Live-in Nanny for their children for the first time may experience a lot of stress, especially in ensuring they will find the right person to take care of their children while they are away.

Little Ones, as a leading childcare provider in the UK, provides thousands of families throughout the UK with the help they need to find the best candidate for their children. In this article, we will guide you through the necessary steps you need to take when hiring a Live-in Nanny in London and to avoid any pitfalls that may jeopardise the safety of your children.

Step 1: Determine your Needs

Whether you are planning to get assistance from a childcare placement agency like Little Ones UK or hire on your own, you should begin by understanding your family's needs.

There are several childcare options in the UK, so you need to define the specifics such as:

• How many hours of childcare do you need every week?
• How many years of experience would you require from a live-in Nanny candidate?
• Are there any specific qualifications you are looking for?
• What qualities or personality do you look for in a live-in Nanny?
• Do you require a specific skill from your live-in Nanny like First Aid Certification or cooking skills?

After you answer these questions, it will be much easier to look for the right type of Nanny to hire.

Step 2: Use Reliable Resources

There are a lot of people posting online about their availability and their desire to become a childcare provider. The problem is that it is time-consuming to filter them out one by one, checking their qualifications, doing interviews and checking their background. What you can do to simplify this process is to use reliable resources like Little Ones who can do all this work for you.

By getting assistance from a reputable placement agency like Little Ones, you would be able to make sure you get the right person for the job without having to go through all the hassle and stress of hiring a Live-in Nanny on your own.

Step 3: Conduct Thorough Interviews

After you list down the potential candidates, set a schedule of interviews with them. Ask them questions about the following:

• Their experience in childcare, including the age of the children they previously handled and what are the responsibilities they had in their previous job experience
• Verify their childcare qualifications like First Aid training or other childcare certifications
• Give them scenarios to better understand their approach. For example, how they handle tantrums or illness

Request character references from their previous employers to get a better insight into their reliability and work ethics

Step 4: Contact their References

You may contact their previous employer to confirm the details they mentioned during the interview. Ask them about their attitude, work ethics, and how the live-in Nanny candidate you interviewed helped them in caring for their children.

You may also ask them if they would recommend the candidate to other families. By doing this, you will be able to understand them better and see if they are best suited for your family.

Step 5: Conduct a Background Check

To ensure the live-in Nanny’s suitability for the job, you should conduct a background check. Requesting an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is important, especially since it is crucial in making sure your selected candidate does not have a criminal record that may jeopardise the safety of your family.

Step 6: Trial Period

Before finalising the employment, you may consider taking on the live-in Nanny candidate for a trial period to get a better feel of their service. This would allow you to observe and assess the live-in Nanny’s compatibility with your family, especially how they interact with your children.

Step 7: Hiring and Contract of Employment

Now that you have assessed the live-in Nanny candidate and saw that they are the perfect fit for your family, you need to make sure you have everything written down in a contract of employment.

It is essential to have everything in writing as it protects both your family and the live-in Nanny you are planning to employ. The contract should include  the following details:

• Job responsibilities: specify their duties and responsibilities. Will it include certain household chores or pet care? Be specific with the tasks you need assistance with. This will help the live-in Nanny understand their role before getting into employment.
• Working hours and pay: This includes overtime pay and holiday pay. Make sure it is included to avoid any legal disputes. Taxes should also be discussed and put into writing. By putting it into the contract, it would protect the interest of both parties.
• Days off, sick leave and holidays: Include which holidays the live-in Nanny gets off and how many days of paid time off they will be entitled. Make sure to include what will be the rate during those days. Also, include how much paid sick leave they will have in a year.
• Termination: Grounds for termination should be discussed and put in writing. This usually includes how long the notice should be issued before terminating the contract with the live-in Nanny. It is also applied if the Live-in Nanny decides to part ways with their employer. It is also important to include the details about the amount of severance pay you ought to give them once you decide to terminate their employment.

Step 8: Enroll with HRMC

If you decide to run payroll on your own for your employee, you need to make sure you have Payroll Software that is recognised by HRMC. You need to make sure that this software reports PAYE automatically online.

This will ensure you keep on track of any tax-related obligations that might lead to possible legal repercussions and further penalties. Should you find it complicated, you can consider getting the help of the payroll experts from the Little Ones Payroll Service.

Hiring a live-in Nanny requires parents’ careful consideration. You need to be specific with your requirements to find the best fit for your family’s needs. We hope that with the help of this article, you can find the right live-in Nanny for your children. Should you need our assistance, feel free to contact us or visit our website here.