Other considerations when employing a Norland Nanny
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Other considerations
Social media is a prevalent part of most of our lives and many of our nannies are active users of numerous platforms. Norland highly recommends that you discuss the use of social media with your nanny when you first appoint them to ensure that you have a full understanding of how they use these platforms and what you, as their employer, are happy for them to post in these public forums. We recommend that a level of acceptable use should be included in the contract so that you and the nanny are happy with the boundaries set. There is a clause around the use of social media in Norland Agency’s template contract.
You may want to consider the impact on your children, of your nanny, who you may not stay in touch with throughout the children’s lives, posting photos and information on social media.
Norland recognises that social media is going to have an unknown impact on the future lives of children who are growing up surrounded by it. As such it is included in our Code of Professional Responsibilities that all of our students and graduates must adhere to, however, specific boundaries, unique to each family’s needs and choices, should be set with your nanny.
If you require the Nanny to drive your children, you should satisfy yourself that they hold a full driving licence (looking into any points or other entries on the licence), and are a competent driver. You are also responsible for ensuring that the vehicle is roadworthy, taxed and that the nanny is insured.
Occasionally you may need your nanny to use their own car for driving duties. In these circumstances you should make reasonable reimbursement to cover the cost of petrol used, wear and tear of the vehicle, servicing costs and business insurance. Please note that Newly Qualified Nannies (NQN’s) cannot use their own vehicle for driving your children and a vehicle must be provided for nursery duties (or no driving required).
For residential nanny positions, expectations are that the nanny is provided with their own bedroom and ideally their own bathroom (a bathroom shared with the children will be considered by some nannies). Positions offering self-contained accommodation, whether on- or off-site, tend to be the most popular.
Before Norland Agency will place any Norland Nanny they must have a current DBS certificate, updated in the past three years. If you wish for a new DBS check to be carried out on a successful applicant, the agency will undertake to obtain this on your behalf. Any costs related to obtaining this new DBS check will be your responsibility as the client. Norland Agency strongly encourages Norland Nannies to enrol onto the DBS Update service which lets applicants keep their DBS certificates up to date online and allows employers to check a certificate online, with the applicant’s permission.
Nannies do not have to be registered with Ofsted. However, they can choose to be voluntarily registered which means that, for example, employers can use employer supported childcare vouchers to pay their Nanny. If you would like your nanny to be registered, please discuss this with the agency.
This is an understandably common question amongst parents. Whilst Maternity Nurses will usually be self-employed, nannies are rarely considered self-employed by HMRC. Norland Agency will be able to tell you if individual candidates are self-employed when CVs are sent to you.
Although there has been a tradition in the past for nannies to negotiate salaries on a net basis, it’s really important that you actually agree a gross salary. This is to ensure the nanny’s salary does not change if, for example tax rates are changed and to ensure that the nanny benefits from any change in Tax Free Allowances, at no additional cost to you as the employer.
Throughout your employment, it is recommend that regular 1:1 meetings are held as an opportunity to discuss how things are progressing and the expectations of both parties. These can be weekly, monthly or quarterly, depending on what works best for you. By discussing the requirements and expectations together, it will avoid any misunderstandings.
Norland has included a few areas you may wish to discuss below and hopefully this will prove a useful template to initiate your discussions.
