asking me questions about my nanny ad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm living abroad and had a new nanny who took more than 10 days of sick leave in the first six months. Each individual time seemed reasonable at first. It wasn't a single serious illness or event, which I would be more understanding about. The final straw was when she took a week for a super minor medical procedure (think teeth cleaning -- that level). I had a new job and no leave, so I was in a real bind.

So, yeah, I'm asking EVERYONE about a nanny's historic use of sick leave. And when I saw someone post recommending the same nanny, I made sure to respond that she had had a lot of absences and wouldn't recommend her.

She had an attitude problem by the end anyway and I was sure she was abusing sick time, not just having a string of bad luck.

OP here. Well, the fact that I employed my nanny for years might be a hint that I found her sick time requests reasonable. Sorry you had bad luck, but I still don't think asking about sick leave is appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You posted yours and your nanny’s phone number publicly?!? No! You are not professional.

Nanny is a responsible adult who shows up for work on time, gives my children love and support as well as educational experiences. She does not misuse sick time. Her salary is within the $20-25/hr range, depending on a variety of factors.

I wouldn't give out her salary. Not my business!

What you shouldn’t do is give out her phone number! Her salary range prevents everyone from wasting time, but you are clearly clueless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You posted yours and your nanny’s phone number publicly?!? No! You are not professional.

Nanny is a responsible adult who shows up for work on time, gives my children love and support as well as educational experiences. She does not misuse sick time. Her salary is within the $20-25/hr range, depending on a variety of factors.

I wouldn't give out her salary. Not my business!

What you shouldn’t do is give out her phone number! Her salary range prevents everyone from wasting time, but you are clearly clueless.

OP here-my nanny asked me to give out her phone number and she approved the testimonial I wrote before I sent it. And anyway, I put it on my local listserv of parents in a fairly wealthy neighborhood where you have to be validated as a community member and a parent to join, so it's not like I stuck her # on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You posted yours and your nanny’s phone number publicly?!? No! You are not professional.

Nanny is a responsible adult who shows up for work on time, gives my children love and support as well as educational experiences. She does not misuse sick time. Her salary is within the $20-25/hr range, depending on a variety of factors.

I wouldn't give out her salary. Not my business!

What you shouldn’t do is give out her phone number! Her salary range prevents everyone from wasting time, but you are clearly clueless.

OP here-my nanny asked me to give out her phone number and she approved the testimonial I wrote before I sent it. And anyway, I put it on my local listserv of parents in a fairly wealthy neighborhood where you have to be validated as a community member and a parent to join, so it's not like I stuck her # on DCUM.

I don't think OP is clueless since she found a nanny she was happy with for years that other people want to hire--that's more than most people on DCUM can say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I put up a testimonial for my family's much beloved nanny who has been with us a number of years on a few local listservs listing my nanny's cell and email and also my contact info in case people had further questions. people have been asking me a bunch of questions that have made me uncomfortable and I don't know how to respond appropriately, namely what is her age? how many sick days has she taken? how much do you pay her? Am I being too sensitive?

For the first two questions, she's not old, barely takes any sick days, but I feel they're inappropriate questions somehow, because people shouldn't make hiring decisions based on age and sick leave information they wouldn't have unless I told them. For the last one about salary, she was with us for a long time, and got regular salary increases, so I don't know if she'd charge a family that had 1 kid rather than 2 the same rate we paid her, or vice-versa, she may want to make more with another family. In any case, I believe these people should ask my nanny these things directly. Am I being too sensitive? How should I respond politely? I really want our nanny to find someone great, but I feel like some of these questions blur the lines on legality in terms of things you ask in a hiring process.

Age is irrelevant, some people are fit and active at 60, others are couch potatoes at 20. Turn it to discussions of what she was able to physically with your kids.

Pay is always asked, normally benefits are included too. Nobody wants to waste time on someone who is looking for $30/hour if they can only afford $18. You should also be clear on how much vacation she was offered/took, because some families can’t accommodate two consecutive weeks but can do 5 total weeks, while others can do three consecutive weeks, but three weeks total is the limit.

Sick days, tardiness and extra unpaid days all go to reliability. It doesn’t matter if she’s the kid whisperer, if she’s only there for 6 hours of a shift that was supposed to be 9 or she misses 2/5 days, she’s not reliable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm living abroad and had a new nanny who took more than 10 days of sick leave in the first six months. Each individual time seemed reasonable at first. It wasn't a single serious illness or event, which I would be more understanding about. The final straw was when she took a week for a super minor medical procedure (think teeth cleaning -- that level). I had a new job and no leave, so I was in a real bind.

So, yeah, I'm asking EVERYONE about a nanny's historic use of sick leave. And when I saw someone post recommending the same nanny, I made sure to respond that she had had a lot of absences and wouldn't recommend her.

She had an attitude problem by the end anyway and I was sure she was abusing sick time, not just having a string of bad luck.

OP here. Well, the fact that I employed my nanny for years might be a hint that I found her sick time requests reasonable. Sorry you had bad luck, but I still don't think asking about sick leave is appropriate.

Sick leave never exceeded the amount stated in our contract, and Nanny was always considerate in letting us know ASAP to make other plans.