Reply to MB told me she didn't want an overweight nanny

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]First, nannies are not covered by anti-discrimination law. Know your rights, and know which ones you don't have. Employers with fewer than 15 employees are not required to follow federal anti-discrimination laws. Some states have lower limits, but the lowest I know of is 5 employees.

Second, weight is not a covered category, even if anti-discrimination law did apply.

Third, we have had two young, very overweight nannies (early 20s). Both were active, and appeared healthy. Bot h had ongoing, chronic and acute health problems related to their weight that resulted in a lot of time off for doctors' appointments and A LOT of days of "not feeling well" related to their conditions and joint and back issues. These are young women, and they are having many of the issues my menopausal friends relate (though my friends are healthier, frankly).

Our current nanny has been with us for three years. We are now encountering activities she can't participate in with them because of her weight (a ropes course is the most recent example).

So, in the future, I would hire someone with a little extra weight, but I will not hire a substantially overweight nanny again. It's like the mental health thread; I am not allowed by dictates of being a kind, trusting, and pleasant employer to ask nanny candidates to undergo a physical or do regular drug testing. That would be considered invasive. So, I am going to err on the side of hiring someone who looks like she's as active as she tells me she is in her interview.[/quote]

[b]Sometimes looks aren't predictors.[/b]   I am very overweight due to genetics.  I eat a salad for lunch/dinner, smoothie with fruits and vegetables for breakfast.  Not only am I capable of running around and doing things with kids, I am strong enough to carry kids long distances in an emergency (my personal opinion is that any nanny should be able to carry their unconscious charge out of the house, at the minimum,  and that if she takes them hiking, she should able to carry them down).  All of the ropes courses I have done had a high weight cut off, something around 300 or 350, but the true test was whether the person could buck the belt correctly (I can).  Why would you not ask references for examples of what the nanny did with their children and whether there were any issues that precluded her joining in?  Weight isn't the only thing that could keep a nanny on the ground at a ropes course,  there are a number of other issues that would do the same thing (fear of heights,  high blood pressure resulting in dizziness, laziness, disinterest in physical activity, etc.)?[/quote]

I understand that, and I hired twice based on the nannies' self reports of good health and an active lifestyle despite them being significantly overwieght. They were young, and references attested to their activity level. But in both cases, the health issues started soon after hiring and never let up. Since I can't go by anything besides references and the nanny herself, and I would feel too shitty to fire someone just because she has some health challenges, I am not taking that chance again next time.[/quote]

What we are telling you is that you are asking the wrong questions.  Instead of asking the nanny how active she is, ask the former employers whether the nanny used all of her sick days.  Ask them what kinds of activities she did with the children.  Ask how active they are as a family.

I am sort of in-between (size 20 and 235 lbs which is not quite fat enough that employers assume I will feed the kids nothing but cheetos but fat enough that nonone worries about me f-ing their husband).  I feed the kids made-from scratch healthy whole-food plant-based hippy food diet.  I take them outside in all weather and I currently tandem babywear twin 18mos on the hike back from most of our outings (I don't use strollers because I want them to walk as much as they can).  I have used two sick days since I started 18 months ago, one for food poisoning and one for a virus I caught at work.  If you asked my references about my stamina, activity level, need for sick days, and ability to model healthy eating they would gladly go on and on about how well I do in those areas.  Oh, and I am in my 30's.[/quote]

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