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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm looking for advice about finding my nanny a great new family after we leave DC at the end of the year.

When I was interviewing nannies and following up on references, I noticed several referees acclaimed that their nanny candidate had never taken a day of sick leave. Which I find very strange in hindsight. We give our nanny 2 weeks sick leave a year and she's free to take more if necessary. She's generally ill about twice a year with colds. She was off for a week with the flu this winter. This does not bother me at all, because I absolutely do not want a sick nanny taking care of my baby.

But will this hurt her chances in finding a new job? I feel I'd have to be absolutely honest with prospective new employers.

Also with the punctuality question - she is on time 95% of the time. This is actually better than me when it comes to my job! But occasionally she's late because she has a long drive and traffic can be a bit unpredictable. Again I feel I have to be completely honest but I don't want to hurt her chances.

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If she's truly on time 95% of the time and took the sick leave you provided for actual illnesses, then you don't have to say anything at all.  In fact, to call out that she was sick seems like it could violate the ADA and similar state laws.

Now, different employers do have different timeliness standards.  I'm flexible, so I have never demanded my nannies be 100% on time, because it's not necessary.  But my nanny share family was not flexible about start times, so they immediately told our nanny the first time she was late that she was expected to be 100% punctual.  Which she was from that point on.  So the important thing is that the nanny conforms to job requirements -- which in your case, she did.

After 7-8 years employing babysitters and nannies, I've come to the conclusion that there is no perfect nanny. If your #1 requirement is that your nanny never, ever gets sick or stuck in traffic, then you're going to have to compromise on other qualities that may be important.  [/quote]

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