Finding a Nanny Aligned to Your COVID Practices
COVID cases are on the rise in Rhode Island and in most states across the country. Unfortunately this could also impact in-person learning, daycares, etc. As your family considers employing a part time or full time nanny during this time, how can you be sure they will be a safe option for your children? While employing a nanny may be a safer choice, a family and their nanny still need to be on the same page when it comes to COVID-19. Below are some ways you can prioritize the health of your family during each step of the hiring process.
Recruitment
As you begin to recruit nannies to work with your family, it’s important to state in your job description on child care sites or in your Facebook post, what your family’s COVID practices and philosophy entails. If your immediate family or pod includes someone who is immunocompromised, mention that. If you’re limiting your child’s activities outside of the home, that’s beneficial for a nanny to know as well. Making each of these aspects clear from the start will initially weed out any potential applicants that don’t see eye-to-eye with your family’s practices.
Interviews
Virtual or socially distanced interviews done outside should include some COVID screening questions such as:
Do you follow the CDC’s guidelines around reducing the spread of COVID (ie. hand washing, social distancing, wearing a mask)?
Do you wear a mask appropriately covering your mouth and nose?
Who are you in close contact and who are those people in close contact with as well?
How else do you limit the spread of coronavirus in your daily life/interactions?
How often do you frequent indoor spaces?
Are you or is anyone in your household considered an essential employee?
What is your job outside of nannying?
Be mindful that questions that may introduce potential bias or discrimination must be avoided such as inquiring about a nanny’s spouse and their job or if they have children and if so, are they in school.
Upon Hiring
Be explicit in your contract with a nanny that they adhere to specific COVID practices within and outside of your home with your children. Also include a statement that if there is any concern regarding anyone’s health or potential COVID exposure, immediate communication will occur to one another. Note that isolation and quarantining may be required as a result of someone’s health status or a positive COVID test. Due to the length of quarantining (minimum 10 days), you as the employer should decide if your nanny will still be paid during that time. If you’re paying for unemployment insurance (UI) for the nanny, they could be paid through UI.
Depending on the age of your children or your family’s health, you may also choose to encourage or require that a nanny get tested prior to their first shift in your home.
On-the-Job
To ensure the health of your family, you may want your nanny to track their symptoms and record their temperature during shifts. Make it a practice amongst your family as well! This may bring you some peace of mind as you invite someone new into your family pod.
Talk to your nanny about the COVID-19 vaccine. What are their views on it? If immunizations are a condition of your nanny’s employment, will you encourage or mandate them to get the COVID shot?
Our Agency
Peace of Mind Nannies has taken all of these steps into account by requiring that a nanny and the family complete a detailed COVID-19 Questionnaire highlighting their personal/household’s social distancing practices and health. Each parties’ form is shared with one another to ensure everyone is comfortable moving forward with an interview. Once a family has hired a nanny, we provide a template contract for the family to complete outlining the nanny’s responsibilities. We include a section on COVID for the family to fill in based upon their practices and expectations of the nanny. For recurring shifts, we require families to track all parties’ symptoms at the start of each shift to ensure the health of everyone involved. Learn further about our COVID safety measures via our COVID page.
I hope that these tips and strategies support your family during this time. Good luck with hiring a healthy and safe nanny on your own or through our agency.