It is essential both the employer and Nanny have insurance to cover the work they will be doing.
Employer
- Employer's liability insurance- to protect you against legal costs for any accident or injury that your nanny might suffer while working in your home.
- Home Contents Insurance (with “endorsement” to cover nannies working in your home). If your nanny is live-in, the contents insurance should ideally cover her personnel belongings against damage and theft.
- Motor Insurance- with your nanny as a named “business use” driver, if they will be driving your car in their work as a nanny.
Nanny
- Public Liability Insurance- to protect you against legal costs for any accident or injury that a child might suffer while in your care, or to cover any damage that a child in your care might have caused to another persons property.
- Motor Insurance, if you will use your own care for “business use” while working as a nanny.
General expenditure
It is good to have a kitty of money that she can use to pay for necessities such as drop-in entrance fee, nappies, milk etc. This is recommended, as the nanny will not have to ask to be reimbursed. It is advisable to ask the nanny to keep receipts whenever possible, so that you are aware of general expenditure.
Communication
Many families ask their Nanny to keep a diary. The diary is very useful to be kept informed about your child's everyday developments. This could include information on sleep, what they have eaten that day, if they have had a good appetite, the activities they have done, or if they have been feeling unwell.
A diary is good to have a weekly overview on what your child is doing so you know they are enjoying a good balance of activities, eating a good balanced diet and their routine is working well for them. It can be useful in accessing any changes to the routine.
A diary should not replace verbal communication, but assist in aiding good communication and organisation. You can put appointments in the diary in advance, play dates and morning/afternoon spent with you can be organised and planned.
Prioritise and Preference
If you would like the nanny to prioritise certain duties on a particular day then it is important you communicate this to her. The nanny will need to know so that she can organise her day accordingly.
If you have strong preferences on certain issues it is important you discuss this with a nanny during the interviewing process and ask her if she would be able to work in agreement with you on these particular issues. For example only offering organic food.
