If you are considering hiring a nanny or becoming a nanny, you might have some questions about the position or the process. We’ve compiled some of the most common questions – and answers – below.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FROM PARENTS
- What is the process for finding a long-term nanny?
- Where can I get an application?
- What are the fees associated with your service?
- How long does it take to find a nanny?
- How much do nannies get paid?
- Where do you find your nannies?
- Do you place babysitters?
- Do you place educators?
- What areas do you service?
- What type of screening does your service perform?
- What happens if a nanny that we hire through your service doesn’t work out?
- Do you run background checks for parents who do not hire a nanny through The Nanny Network?
- What sets The Nanny Network apart?
1. What is the process for finding a long-term nanny, family assistant or Sidekick?
The Nanny Network defines a long-term search as any search that involves a job of 2 months or more in duration. The first step in the search process is completing a detailed application. Once a completed application is received, someone from our placement team will contact you regarding next steps. As a long-term placement client, you have the choice between our Classic Service or our Concierge Service. The Classic Service provides candidate referrals (nannies and family assistants only) of the same quality, candidate screening and professionalism, however it is designed with a more “do-it-yourself” approach. An hour’s worth of consultation time is included with your search. The Concierge Service, on the other hand, is our white-glove service that allows for the highest level of convenience, expertise, and unlimited consulting time to ensure a successful placement.
Once you have registered with the agency and your position is well understood, the placement team will communicate the details of your position with our pool of experienced, screened candidates. When a candidate expresses interest in your position, a detailed profile (including job history, education, references, skills and additional training) will be populated to your online client dashboard for your review. Upon completion of a thorough interview process (including a working interview), you select the best candidate for your family, complete our offer checklist, and make a job offer. The Nanny Network will then confirm acceptance of your offer and perform a criminal background investigation. Once the results come back and are satisfactory, our candidate is now your new hire and the placement fee is due. The agency will provide you with our proprietary Hiring Guide and a sample Nanny/Family Agreement for you to modify as needed and sign with your new employee.
Read more about our process working with families here.
2. Where can I get an application?
Our parent application is easy to complete and available on our website for your convenience.
3. What are the fees associated with your long-term placement service?
There are two levels of service for long-term placements – Classic and Concierge. Only our Classic service involves a $350 non-refundable retainer to initiate the process and have minimum fees.
Our Classic Service placement fee is equal to 18% of your candidate’s total gross annual compensation if you hire a nanny that we have referred to you. Total gross annual compensation includes all compensation in whatever form, including but not limited to average gross wages, overtime, signing bonuses, and the value of health insurance, received by the Candidate from Client per week, multiplied by 52 weeks (or whatever the duration of employment).
The retainer fee gives you access to 60-minutes of consult time with a Nanny Network placement specialist during the duration of your search. If you need additional phone, face-to-face, or e-mail or text support beyond the 60-minutes that is included, no problem! Additional consulting services are available at a rate of $75.00 per hour.
If you are looking to hire someone for a year or more, there are minimum fees of $5500 for our Classic service, respectively. If you are looking to hire someone for 2-12 months, the minimum fees are $3000.
For the Classic service, the $350 retainer paid at the time of registration is then applied to the Placement Fee, which is due at the time of hire (assuming the minimum fee is met).
Our short-term placement services start at $35.25 per hour and include nanny, family assistant, tutoring and household management support. As of January 1, 2022, we no longer have member vs. non-member rates or annual membership fees, and all temp caregivers are paid W-2 agency employees.
4. How long does it take to find a long-term nanny?
We suggest planning for the search to take approximately 3 to 6 weeks, if you are looking to make a long-term hire. Placements through our short-term division usually takes less time, in some cases as little as one day.
5. How much do nannies and family assistants get paid?
Caregiver rates have gone up 30% since March 2020. The going rate for nannies in the Baltimore area is $22-30 per hour, pre-tax and $25-35 per hour, pre-tax, in the Washington, D.C. area. Family Assistants, who also assist with household management, earn $28-35 per hour, pre-tax, in Baltimore and $30-40 per hour, pre-tax, in Washington, D.C.
6. Where do you find your nannies?
Our nannies come from a variety of sources. The Nanny Network has been in business since 1995 and, since that time, the agency has placed and developed relationships with hundreds of nannies. When our nannies complete a job, they come back to us for help in finding their next job. They also refer their friends. There are also many nannies who find us through job fairs, social media, and online job boards.
7. Do you place babysitters?
Yes, the Nanny Network offers temporary nanny (aka “babysitting” services) to help parents or event planners when they encounter a need for short-term child care. Perhaps your primary child care provider has notified you that he/she is unable to work, or perhaps you are planning a night out on the town. Whatever the case may be, the Nanny Network can help provide temporary relief so that you can go about your schedule without interruption. We also can arrange group child care for special events (i.e., weddings, conferences, etc.)
There is one major difference between The Nanny Network’s short-term and long-term placement services. More specifically, with a temporary nanny or other short-term search, the agency will select and book a caregiver that we think will do a great job given the job details you have provided to us. You will not receive multiple candidates to select from. Of course, if you are concerned about our choice of caregiver, let us know right away so we can find another solution.
Please be aware that if your needs change after a nanny has been booked for you and you cancel one day or all days, a cancellation fee of 2 hours will be charged for cancellations more than 24 hours in advance. If you need to cancel with less than 24 hours, please be aware a 4-hour charge will apply unless the caregiver is cancelled within 2 hours of the start time, in which case the entire original hours of the request will be charged. For more information on our process for placing temporary nannies, click here.
8. Do you place educators?
The Nanny Network launched School@Home in April 2020 in response to the school closures caused by COVID-19. School@Home was a natural extension to our existing child care staffing operations that allowed us to quickly help many parents who were forced to manage their career and their child’s education when the pandemic hit. Our School@Home program includes eLearning Aides (online tutors and homework helpers) and long-term Private Educator searches (for in-home support) allowing parents to customize a solution that works best for them.
9. What areas do you service?
The Nanny Network offers long-term and short-term nanny placement services; long-term and short-term family assistant placement services; group child care; back-up child care and hotel sitters in the Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and New Orleans metropolitan areas. Our sister agency, Sidekick, is able to provide long-term and short-term household support in Baltimore, Washington, DC., and New Orleans offering laundry service, errand service, grocery shopping, simple meal prep, pet care, and household management.
Our online homework helper and tutoring services (aka “eLearning Aide”) are available nationwide!
10. What type of screening does your service perform?
The Nanny Network conducts a strict 8-step vetting process on each and every candidate. All candidates :
- Complete provider application
- Meet minimum requirements (2 years of recent professional child care experience, minimum of 2 non-relative references)
- Online pre-screen (National Sex Offender Registry, Google search, etc.)
- Complete Round 1 Phone Interview
- Complete Round 2 Personal Interview
- Thorough Reference checks (personally verified and documented)
- Criminal Background Check (A criminal background check, covering each county in which the nanny has lived in for the last 7 years, is performed. Depending on the level of service selected, additional background checks are available including a driving record and a drug test.)
- Agency Training/Orientation
11. What happens if a nanny that we hire through your service doesn’t work out?
The Nanny Network offers two different replacement policies (Classic vs. Concierge) to choose from, ranging from 90-days to 180-days. In order to validate any replacement policy, families are required to have a written “Nanny (or other) Family Agreement” (provided by the agency) and pay the applicable placement fee on time. If parents have returned their completed Nanny Family Agreement to us on time and proceed to terminate their household employee during the replacement period, then the Placement Team will resume the search and referral process (provided that the job description has not changed). Once the family hires a replacement, a 100% credit is applied to the placement fee. There are no refunds of placement fees.
For short-term placements, if you realize the nanny we have booked for you is not a good fit, let us know ASAP and we will make our best effort to find a replacement for you.
12. Do you run background checks for parents who do not hire a nanny through The Nanny Network?
Yes, the Nanny Network can run a criminal background check for parents who have successfully hired a nanny on their own. Call us for rates!
13. What sets the Nanny Network apart?
As a local, brick and mortar company, we can work directly with you to provide you the highest level of customer service and the quickest response time. Our unwavering commitment to safety/caregiver requirements and our 28+ year track record set us apart from the rest; not to mention our industry-leading online platform that provides for a convenient and seamless user experience. You will want to be sure to review any child care service’s recruiting and vetting strategies that you are considering. There are few who conduct the level of background review that we do for each and every caregiver. Many competitors today supply a technology platform to connect you with sitters but do little, if anything, to verify their caregivers’ qualifications. The Nanny Network is proud to say that we do both of these things and we do them very well. Our core values lie at the heart of our business and personal operations. Take a peek. We hope you like what you see.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FROM NANNIES
- What does it cost me to go through your service?
- What are the requirements of a nanny?
- What are considered standard nanny duties?
- What types of jobs are available?
- What do long-term nannies get paid?
- What is the minimum time commitment for a nanny position?
- Why should I choose the Nanny Network?
1. What does it cost me to go through your service?
Nothing! The service is free for nannies. Apply today!
2. What are the requirements of a nanny?
Initial requirements include two years of recent, professional child care experience, multiple (excellent) non-relative child care references, a car (in most cases), and the ability to legally work in the United States.
Our sister agency, Sidekick, looks for similarly minded household professionals, however there is no child care experience required. Do you have a strong desire to help others? Are you organized, poised, and professional? Do you have a positive approach and are you a strong communicator? If you answered yes to these questions, then becoming a Sidekick could be the perfect fit for you.
If you are interested in family assistant positions, you are required to complete our agency training program.
3. What are considered standard nanny duties?
Standard nanny duties include preparing meals for the children, doing the children’s laundry and doing any child-related clean up. They also include having fun with the children!
Family assistants, on the other hand, are asked to do more. Generally, in addition to some child care, family assistants will assist with grocery shopping, errands, simple meal planning and preparation, family laundry, in addition to other household organization.
4. What types of jobs are available?
We place nannies in full-time, part-time, and temporary positions (including long-term temp, back-up and group child care jobs).
We also place family assistants in full-time, part-time, and temporary positions.
Our sister agency, Sidekick, focuses on the placement of household managers (including simple meal prep, family laundry, errands or household projects) in full-time, part-time and temporary positions.
Lastly our School@Home division, launched in April 2020, places eLearning Aides (virtual) and Private Educators (in-home) for those with a strong teaching background.
In 2021, we were excited to launch our Nanny Specialist program to strengthen the connection between our office team and the caregivers who are working in the field. Nanny Specialists are an integral part of the core team, communicating and meeting regularly with agency staff, while playing a key role in the agency’s growth and benefitting from:
- Guaranteed, consistent hours (minimum 30 hours per week)
- Higher pay ($19-23 per hour pre-tax)
- Benefits (paid time off and health care support after 90 days)
- Flexibility and work-life balance
- Access to full-time work that will accommodate regular/seasonal schedule and availability changes
- Career development opportunities with TNN office staff
Apply today and get to know us!
5. What do long-term nannies get paid?
A nanny’s hourly rate typically depends on experience, the number and ages of children needing care, the location, and the household duties which are included in the job description. Typically, nannies make between $22 and 30 per hour, pre-tax, in the Baltimore area. In the Washington, D.C., area the hourly rate is between $25 and $35 per hour, pre-tax.
Family assistants, on the other hand, are typically paid more since they are asked to do a variety of household duties in addition to child care. Family assistants typically earn $30-40 per hour, pre-tax, in Baltimore and $35-45 per hour, pre-tax, in Washington, D.C, depending on experience.
Our Nanny Specialists (who work as a staff nanny on our back-up child care team) earn between $19-23 per hour, pre-tax. Nanny Specialists are Nanny Network W-2 employees and paid via the weekly company payroll.
6. What is the minimum time commitment for a nanny position?
Our permanent jobs require a minimum time commitment of one year. However, the Nanny Network also works with many families whose child care needs are more temporary. In fact, our long-term placement department can help you find a temporary job for 2-6 months (or possibly longer)! And if it’s short-term work your looking for (i.e., a day or a week here and there), never fear, our back-up care program is here! We have loads of temp work. 🙂
7. Why should I choose the Nanny Network?
The Nanny Network has been around since 1995. We take great pride in the enduring relationships we have created with our caregivers over the years. We are good listeners and are constantly looking to improve the way we do business. We have developed our own proprietary technology platform to make working with us easier and more convenient than ever. We care about our caregivers, as individuals, and want to compensate them fairly. To this end, we pay the most of any nanny agency in the area and also offer Same-Day Pay + other benefits. Gone are the days of waiting for payday! We also want to provide ways for you to connect with others in the child care field and provide helpful tools and resources to support your professional development. Our success and your success go hand-in-hand and, when we work together, children receive the highest quality child care available and parents are able to achieve work-life balance and wellness. Our core values lie at the heart of our business and personal operations. Take a peek. We hope you like what you see.
We’re here to help. Want to schedule an appointment or speak to someone in our office? Contact us.