There are many reasons why it is crucial to both the hiring family and nannies that a nanny agreement be put into place upfront. Having a contract allows both the nanny and the hiring family to establish expectations, boundaries, and compensation right from the get-go, alleviating surprises or disappointment down the road for all involved parties.

The perfect match between families and candidates can be found by both parties being honest, transparent, and upfront about their requirements. To better understand what it is that they seek, families should write a list of the things that they value the most in a candidate, along with a detailed description of the job on offer. Nannies need to consider what their new role will look like to them. For example, if they are looking for a set schedule, they must avoid applying to jobs that require lots of flexibility. Consider past experiences, advantages and disadvantages, and things to avoid in future opportunities. Parties should always be open to negotiation while knowing their deal-breakers!

The Platinum Nanny “Confidentiality and Nanny Agreement”, has been designed to cover all the industry standards and legalities for Monaco and France. We support our clients by assisting in negotiations, managing the offer and agreement process, contract amendments and running the contract through our quick and efficient digital signing platform. Here are just some of the many things that should be covered by your employment agreement:

1. TYPE OF CONTRACT

What kind of contract is being offered? Is it an interim, temporary, or permanent role and will it be declared in Monaco, France or elsewhere? Platinum Nanny works with an administration partner who can take care of the payroll process for you.

Our Platinum Candidates are professionals and expect to be legally employed by the family. It is becoming less and less common for families to pay their nannies “cash”. Not following the legal process can result in serious tax and legal consequences for families, and withholds vital protections for your nanny, including health insurance, pension contributions, unemployment and worker’s compensation benefits. Additionally, uncontracted nannies are unable to verify their professional income and often struggle when applying for rental housing, mortgages, student, and other loans which can lead to them becoming unhappy in their role quickly, leaving families forced to replace staff which can be unsettling to children and the family as a whole.

2. HOURS OF SERVICE

Will there be a set hours of service each week or will the hours and days be flexible or rotate based on the needs of the family? For travel nannies will the schedule change during trips? This section also plans for sick day coverage, how additional hours and days will be handled.

3. PAY

This section covers guaranteed hours, expected weekly hours, overtime, annual income, hourly rates, and any bonuses. Will there be additional pay for babysitting or when travelling? Where a nanny does not accompany the family on holiday, will the family require her to work during guaranteed hours at the home to catch up on child-related tasks while they are away? Expenses whilst on duty can also be covered here as can car/mileage, if the nanny is expected to drive the children to school in her own car.

4. ANNUAL LEAVE

France uses an annual leave accrual system to work out an employee’s holiday entitlement. You can read more about how this works in Platinum Nanny’s article: https://platinumnanny.com/holiday-accrual-in-france-how-does-it-work/ This section is where families and nannies can agree their requirements pertaining to any holidays to be worked or not. It is also the section where the process for requesting time off for doctors’ appointments and how far in advance holidays need to be booked.

5. DUTIES + RESPONSIBILITIES

This section is critical to ensure the hiring family and employee are on the same page. The more detail, the better. For example, light housekeeping to one party might not be the same as the expectations of “light housekeeping” in another person’s mind. Make sure that specific expectations are outlined in your nanny agreement. Bullet points are great. In this portion of your agreement, you can also consider future considerations such as how the agreement will change on arrival of a new baby for example.

6. BENEFITS

Benefits can include use of the family’s car, wellbeing days, health club memberships, personal days, private health insurance, professional development, training courses like the Platinum Nanny Pediatric First Aid Courses for example, educational reimbursement, bonuses and any other benefits that the family may be offering.

7. CONFIDENTIALITY

Most of our Platinum Nanny families require anyone working in their home to agree to a form of confidentiality agreement or non-disclosure agreement. Platinum Nanny have clauses that we add to our agreements or where required we can arrange a separate more comprehensive NDA for our clients.

8. HOUSE RULES

When working as a nanny in someone else’s home it is important that there is a clear understanding of the house rules and how you will be required to uphold them. Examples include use of electronics, movie watching, use of the internet, any areas that are out of bounds, consumption of processed foods and confectionary, playdates, and sleepovers.

9. AUTHORIZATION TO TREAT

Allergies, diabetes, EpiPen’s. Common sense is a must for nannies. First Aid training is essential. Do they know how to administer an EpiPen? CPR? In order to act fast in an emergency it is important to clarify any important actions and authorizations your employee has. Accidents can happen, a broken wrist, a sprain. It is important that this section clearly spells out any steps that your employee must take where one of the charges becomes ill or is injured. Do they have the authorisation to take them to the hospital and if so, is there a specific hospital or pediatrician that needs to be on the top of the list? Who should they call and when?

10. ANNUAL REVIEW

Will performance be reviewed quarterly, bi-annually, annually? Will there be any incremental pay increases? Will an increase awarded in one year create any entitlement in relation to subsequent years?

Although these are some of the most critical sections to include in any nanny agreement there are many other important clauses that might be relevant to an individual family’s needs. A Platinum Nanny “Confidentiality and Nanny Agreement” is tailored to each family’s needs and can help families find their Platinum Nanny, and Platinum Candidates their dream family.

Platinum Nanny Corporate Feature - Platinum Care for Families

For more information contact:
Holly Grattan MBA(HR), AMAC
Owner & Director
+33 (0)7 60 03 83 55

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