Nanny Tax & Payroll Updates! HomeWork Solutions

Background Checks - How Important?

We know, as parents, the importance of keeping our children safe. Childcare choices are simply an extension of our obligation to our children. As the mother of 3 children myself, I speak from both personal and professional experience.

Back in the 1980's when I first began employing nannies, criminal background checking was not that common. Were we naive? Lazy? Ignorant? Perhaps a little bit of each. Before the Internet Age, getting a criminal background check done was both time consuming (try finding someone to do it back then!) and relatively expensive. Today, we have no such barriers or excuses.

HomeWork Solutions operates 4nannies.com, the web's original online nanny recruiting venue. I have occasion to talk to families on an almost daily basis. As is the nature of customer service, I hear from far more families disappointed in their newly hired nanny than those who are pleased. 4nannies.com members have a criminal background check credit included in their site membership - they simply need to obtain their new-hire's signed consent and spend 2-3 minutes online ordering the search. I noticed a trend some time ago and in the last few months I began informally tracking the correlation between poor hires and families who did not do the background checking.

Amazingly, more than 9 out of 10 families I have spoken to in the last several months did not take that final step of ordering the background check they had already paid for! If this wasn't done, were references checked either? One family called horrified - the Mom was sure she smelled marijuana in the nanny's quarters. No background check had been done. The mom did not believe her children were in immediate danger and was reluctant to dismiss the nanny. I encouraged the mom to order the background check; three days later we received the report back. The nanny had two moving violations on her license and a misdemeanor drug conviction. Is she a horrible person? Probably not. Is she mature enough to have full charge, unsupervised responsibility for two young children? That is not a bet I would take! Needless to say, the family immediately began searching for a replacement.

Another mom called to discuss problems she was having with the nanny. Nothing particularly dangerous, but non-professional. Arriving to work late for example. I asked her what her references had to say about her prior performance. "Oh, I didn't call them," reported the mom. Why not? Mom didn't want to ask the nanny and have her think Mom didn't trust her! Why should she trust her before checking all references and background? She is a stranger!

Most nannies are wonderful caregivers and many families form deep and lasting bonds with their nannies, as my own has. However, I have learned over the years that none of us is a perfect interviewer, and our intuition alone is not enough validation to hire a caregiver who will have sole charge of our children. Insist on childcare references and then check them! Pay for a thorough pre-employment background check, including the DMV records if the nanny will be driving. Cost is not an issue here - most families can thoroughly investigate their nanny for $100 - $200 - about one or two day’s salary!

4nannies.com has an exhaustive Background Checking FAQ at https://www.4nannies.com/background/index.cfm as well as an easy online ordering process. Please - investigate before you leave a caregiver with your children!