During the matching process, both families should agree some important principles for the share. Doing this upfront makes the share much more durable and happier for everyone.
The bits in bold are for you to edit, and the bits in italics are our suggestions, which you can delete.
DRAFT TEMPLATE
Principles of our Nanny Share
- The basics: We’ll share our nanny for [x] days per week, from [time] to [time]. The Nanny will look after our children, [Names], from [location details]. [Add details of drop-offs and pickups if any.]
- Equipment: We will need an extra [Cot? Highchair? Buggy? Carseat?] and this will be provided by [which family]. [Our suggestion: equipment which will stay at one family's house is provided by that family. Equipment that travels, like a double buggy, is split 50/50 unless one family wants to own it]. [If any driving required, specify who is responsible for providing the car and insurance.]
- Expenses: We will pay expenses relating to our own children, expecting that these will be roughly [X] per week.
- Communication: To make sure our communication is good, we will keep in touch [how] and aim to check in at least [how often]. [Our suggestion: check in at least fortnightly for the first 3-6 months of the share.]
- Sickness: If one of the children gets sick, [add policy.] [Our suggestion: add 'they will still get looked after, even if contagious. If parents really don’t want their ‘well child’ spending time with a ‘sick child’, it’s their responsibility to look after their own ‘well child’ for the day. If the nanny gets sick, if possible one of the parents will cover. If that’s not possible, we’ll use a service like Sitters.co.uk to get cover.]
- Holiday: The nanny gets [add details of holiday.] Our suggestion: for full time nannies, 20 days of annual leave plus 8 public holidays. She’ll be taking holiday on [add any dates already agreed]. In addition to that, we agree that [details of how you will agree holidays.] [Our suggestion: for full time shares, nanny nominates 10 annual leave days, and each family nominates 5 annual leave days. For shares where less than 50% of the hours per week will be shared, the family using the nanny the most agrees the nanny’s holiday days with her. The family using the nanny the least can propose holiday dates for the nanny but is not guaranteed them. The nanny always gives at least 4 (preferably 8) weeks’ notice of holidays to both families.]
- Changes: If we want to change our hours, we agree that [details]. Our suggestion:
- Increases can be immediate if the nanny and other family both agree
- Decreases can be made after giving the following notice: Under 10 hours/week: 1 week’s notice, More than 10 hours/week: 8 weeks’ notice.
- Ending the share: We will give [X] weeks notice within the first [Y] weeks of the share and [Z] weeks notice thereafter. [Our suggestion: 4 weeks notice in the first 3 months and 8 weeks notice after the first 3 months.] However, we would like this share to last for at least [time period e.g. 1 year]