May 27, 2008
Agency fees. Interviews. Background checks. The risk that your perfect nanny might bolt two months after starting. Landing the right childcare fraught with pitfalls. Here is how to ensure that hiring a nanny, or securing an au pair, doesn’t turn into a full-time job.
From the moment a baby is born, parents are faced with a multitude of decisions. Should you breastfeed? Vaccinate? Co-sleep? And what about childcare? Securing childcare can feel like a true leap of faith, especially when the provider options from nannies to au pairs seem endless and the entire industry is unregulated. In fact, anyone can call themselves a nanny.
But deciding between a nanny and an au pair is just the beginning. As the CEOs of a household, parents preparing to hire a childcare provider need to be aware of the importance of job descriptions, reference checks and any potential fees they might incur.
Au pair is not just a fancy French word for nanny. While a nanny is employed by a family specifically to take care of the children and is either “live-in,” boarding at a family’s home, or “live-out,” returning to her own home at night, an au pair is a foreign student who lives with a family for one year to learn English in exchange for childcare and housework. Nannies can be of all ages and the most sought after may tout their years of childcare experience, but au pairs tend to be more green. They are typically between 18 and 24 years old and in fact may not have a lick of childcare experience. A nanny can charge more and commands a per hour or weekly salary, while an au pair is compensated with housing, meals and generally a small stipend from the host family.
Due to their lack of experience, au pairs are typically better off assisting stay-at-home moms, though some families prefer using au pairs because they want to expose their children to different languages and don’t mind saying goodbye after one year. Another important difference? Au pairs are legally only able to work 45 hours a week, 10 hours per day, which means no overnight childcare. Nannies4Hire provides a thorough comparison of nannies and au pairs.
Are you looking for a part-time or full-time nanny? Will she “live-in” or “live-out”? Will you require 24-hour care or will you outline working hours? Put together a list of responsibilities and a detailed job description in writing. But be realistic. Are you asking your nanny to also do light housework, cooking and errands for the family? If you have a child that needs a lot of attention, like a curious toddler, you likely won’t want your nanny cleaning the bathroom instead of watching your little one.
| Behind the Numbers | |||
| Nannies | Au Pairs | ||
| Agency placement charge | $2,000 to $8,000 | Application fees | $50 to $350 |
| Weekly Salary✝ | $300 to $1,000 | Placement fees | As high as $4,000 |
| Hourly salary for nanny in San Francisco caring for one child | $15 to $20 | Annual program fee✝✝ | $3,000 to $8,000 |
| Hourly salary for nanny in Minneapolis caring for one child | $10 | Weekly stipend✝✝ | $157.95✝✝✝ |
| Employment taxes | 10 percent of the total salary | One-time stipend for education | $500 |
| ✝Source:2006 International Nanny Association Salary Survey ✝✝Covers the recruitment efforts, international transportation, and screening, etc. ✝✝✝Legally required |
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If you are willing to spend $2,000 to $5,000 on a placement fee, using an agency is an excellent way to find a nanny and will eliminate interview scheduling, background checks and reference calls. Ask friends for agency recommendations and also find out how long the agency has been in business, if it has state licensing, and what their screening process is for nanny applicants. Once you outline the type of childcare you seek, the agency will line up candidates for interviews. If your situation is an appealing one—which, in the nanny world, translates into no more than two kids and 50 hours of work a week in a good location with a competitive salary—the agency likely will be able to quickly find interested candidates. The least desired job? Three or more kids plus housework. An agency could to take several weeks to find a single suitable applicant for that position.
Most agencies screen nannies before they place them with families so you don’t have to call references yourself or do a background check. Agencies are also experienced in spotting false references or red flags during applicant interviews. Make sure you understand the agency’s refund policy in case things don’t work out with your nanny.
Want to make enemies at the playground? Try hiring a nanny away from another family with the lure of a better salary and housework-free days. The practice of nanny poaching is something of a sport in some stroller-clogged urban neighborhoods of New York. Is it illegal? Of course not. Is it bad manners? Well, perhaps. The bigger challenge is ensuring that once you find the perfect nanny, she stays put. That means keeping up on the going rates for nannies and making sure you don’t give your childcare provider impetus to gaze across the sandbox to greener pastures.
You’ll likely have to go through an agency to find an au pair, unless you have friends in Europe who are itching to send their teenage daughter abroad. Securing an au pair can take months, so this isn’t the way to go if you are in a childcare bind. First, au pair agencies must be legally designated by the U.S. government to bring au pairs into the country. You’ll submit an application and the agency will work to match your family with one of their pre-screened pool of applicants. You will have a phone interview with the potential au pair and once you select an applicant, she will be flown to the U.S. where both host family and au pair attended an orientation session, usually about four days long. It is possible to be rematched with another au pair if you are unhappy with the original match.
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Families who go through agencies almost always pay employment taxes, which are about ten percent of the nanny’s salary. Check if your employer offers a Dependent Care Account which allows you to put away up to $5,000 of pre-tax earnings for childcare. If not, the U.S. government allows a tax credit for childcare. The INA has a helpful page on payroll and taxes here. Around 50 percent of families in the U.S. who employ nannies do not pay taxes, mainly due to the fact that their nannies are not legally able to work in the United States. This can be risky—not to mention against the law—especially if you have Washington aspirations. Many politicians have been brought down when their illegal nannies were uncovered. In 2006, Bernard Kerik, President Bush’s choice for homeland security chief, was dropped because he hired an illegal nanny, and the same fate played out for Zoe Baird, President Clinton’s first choice for Attorney General.
| Due diligence questions | |
| 1. | What are my childcare needs? How many hours and during which hours do I need childcare? |
| 2. | Do I want my childcare provider to live with my family? |
| 3. | Am I interested in hosting a foreign student who in exchange will provide childcare? |
| 4. | Do I want to use a nanny agency? Will I trust the agency and their screening process? |
| 5. | Do I have the time to find a nanny on my own? Do I feel comfortable doing my own applicant screening? |
| 6. | Does my nanny applicant have solid references? How does her background check look? |
| 7. | Does my nanny applicant have experience with children the same age as my child? |
| 8. | Am I comfortable with my nanny applicant’s position on discipline? |
| 9. | Does the job description for this position clearly outline all of my expectations? |
| 10. | Which is financially better for my family, a nanny or an au pair? Do we have the room for an au pair? Will I pay employment taxes when I employ a nanny? |
When it comes to choosing a nanny agency, smaller is better, suggests Cascio. Boutique agencies will give you more personalized attention compared to national agencies that interview over 20 nannies a day. A smaller agency will understand your needs better and will know their nannies more intimately.
Nannies4hire.com is an online service that connects nannies with families, and provides hiring tools for families, at a lower cost than an agency. For a monthly charge ranging up from $129, families can contact the nannies profiled on the website. It’s important to note that Nannies4hire.com does not screen these nannies (see Risks, False References). NannyNetwork offers a similar service.
Craigslist.org. continues to be a popular meeting ground for families and childcare providers, both in the U.S. and internationally. The “childcare” section is listed under the Community heading on each city’s homepage.
AuPair in America. AuPair in America was founded in 1986 and was the first legal au pair program in the U.S.
AuPair Care. In 1989, AuPairCare was designated by the U.S. government to legally bring au pairs in to the U.S.