Nannies

If you’re interested in securing a nanny to look after your children while you work, you basically have two options. You can hire a nanny privately or go through a nanny agency. Here’s a look at the two options and how they’re different.

Going Private

If you decide to hire a nanny privately, you’ll have to perform the search on your own. Check with friends and neighbors to see if they know of anyone who is interested in performing nanny duties. Make the decision up front as to whether you’re interested in a live in nanny or someone who simply comes to your home each day. Will you provide transportation? Will you provide paid sick days and vacation days?

Hiring a nanny privately typically offers one major advantage – cost. You can normally hire a nanny privately for far less than you would pay an agency. However, when you hire a nanny privately, you’re responsible for all the legwork and paperwork. You’ll need to sort out how you’ll handle taxes and social security withholding and how you’ll find backup when the nanny is sick or takes vacation.

Using An Agency

If you select an agency, the agency performs all the legwork and paperwork for you. They’ll find several prospective nannies for you to interview. They typically perform background checks for nannies in their employment and will provide you a replacement nanny if your regular nanny gets sick or takes vacation.

The nanny will technically work for the agency – not for you. The agency will handle taxes and social security and may also provide benefits for the nanny like paid vacation, insurance and sick days. There may be rules that the nanny is required to follow – even if it’s not a requirement of yours. If you choose an agency, be certain to find out all the rules and requirements their nannies must follow.

Using an agency is convenient and takes the work away from you. However, all this convenience adds up to a much higher cost. In fact, you can expect to pay two to three times the hourly wage to an agency that you might pay to a nanny privately.