Tag Archives: job

Sitter/Nanny

Prep & Etiquette Tips for a Childcare Interview

We know prepping for a childcare interview, or any interview, can be a stressful time. To help ease the nerves, it’s a good idea to do some pre-work to ensure you put yourself in the best possible position to get the job. Here are some interview preparation tips along with etiquette best practices to get you started in the right direction.

Sitter Prep for First Appointment:

1. Check in with the family via email or text as soon as you get the confirmation email to say hello and that you’re looking forward to meeting them.

2. During this exchange, make sure you have the right start/end times confirmed between both of you and the right address.

3. SHOW UP ON TIME! On time is 5 minutes early so that the family does not begin to worry if you’ll be late. Use a GPS device to get directions ahead of time, to know your commute, plan ahead if weather is supposed to be bad, the subways are slow, etc.

4. Make sure to take your shoes off and wash your hands immediately. Discuss with the family if wearing a mask is required in the home and any other Covid protocol that is needed.

5. Rates are set at a market minimum. If you are not comfortable with the market minimum please contact [email protected], as all jobs are processed with these rates. Any sitter that proceeds with a booking confirms they are comfortable with the rates set forth below.

Sitter Checkout Process:

NEW! How To Check Out Video

1. When you get the BFC checkout notification email, click on the blue highlighted link that says “CHECK OUT”.

2. This link takes you to the BFC login page. Login.

3. Go to the upper right hand corner and click on > Sitter Profile > View Profile.

4. You will be on your main calendar page. Scroll to the bottom to see your list of appointments that are ready with checkout links. Be sure to click on the correct appointment you just completed. This will take you to the page where you enter your hours, expenses, etc. 

  • Make sure to double check that the dates are correct for start/end time (i.e., If you work past midnight, make sure the dates are correct as 12:30pm will be the NEXT day).

  • Make sure you add the correct number of children and the times you worked with them. If you cared for a different amount of children for different hours, make sure you break down your checkout. Sometimes the family is okay with you checking out for the total amount of children they have, regardless of exactly when you were with them.

  • Petcare: ONLY click this box if you are specifically asked to care for the family’s pet. This does not mean playing with the pet around the home that naturally lives there, but actual pet care duties such as dog walking, or feeding cats/dogs, etc. Many families ask for these services without remembering the fee exists. If asked to do petcare, please remind the family that there is an additional $20 charge so they are not surprised at checkout.

  • Add Misc. Expenses that were known and preapproved by the family. If the family said they would reimburse you for buying the child snacks or they offer to order you dinner and would like it put on the checkout, add this as an expense. If you have multiple expenses, you can continue to click “add” to create a list of expenses.  If the family said to add a tip, you can also add that amount to your Misc. section. If you worked less than 1 hour, add $5 to Misc. for a short appointment.

  • Add Transportation: Cab/Uber/Lyft/Car Service fare home up to $20 shall be added for appointments that begin before 7 a.m. or end after 9 p.m. Keep a photo of your receipt if the family requests to save it. Occasionally, a family will offer to order you a car service on their private account/credit card, which is also acceptable at which point you would not charge them separately for transportation. 

5. Once done, you will receive an email that lets you know you’ve successfully checked out.

6. Setup PayPal and make sure your account is verified. If your account is verified it will say “Your profile is at 100%.” If your account is not verified that means your account is missing information. You will not be able to receive funds from a vendor (the family) until your profile is 100% complete.

7. The family will pay you via PayPal within 3 business days per our terms. If they are late, they receive a reminder email to complete and all checkouts are typically complete within 48 hours. If a delay persists, you may contact us at [email protected].

Sitter/Nanny

How to Best Approach Giving Your Nanny a Pay Increase

Employees feel better about a pay increase when they know it is due to their hard work and efforts. Your family can practice the following guidelines when giving your nanny a raise:

  1. Tie the raise in a written performance evaluation. Relating a pay increase to a performance evaluation displays your attention and appreciation to the nanny’s hard work. This review also gives both of you the opportunity to sit down and go over performance, give recognition and feedback.
  2. If additional duties or responsibilities are added as part of the review, a pay increase should be associated with the expanded job description. The pay increase acknowledges both the trust in your nanny to handle added duties, and that the added duties deserve a higher wage. Be sure to provide your nanny details of the increase in writing for his/her records.

Questioning what to give for a raise? Typically, $1 to $2 per hour is what we see for the first year. If there is a change in the nanny’s job description (i.e., baby #2, additional duties) be sure to think about what their job description will look like going forward, and propose any changes along with what pay is associated with the changes.

Another example of how to implement a pay increase: on my nanny’s 2-year anniversary we’ll give him/her an extra $XX per week. Then, when baby #2 comes they’ll get another $XX per week, totaling $XX.

If you have any additional questions or need advice on how to best approach compensation increases, reach out and we’ll try our best to help!

Looking to hire a babysitter or nanny in NYC? Bell Family Company provides fully vetted on-demand babysitting, including childcare for when a child is sick, full and part time nannies, baby nurses, temporary care and more! Learn why BFC is the best NY Childcare Agency servicing the tri-state area. BFC is the best in the business! Contact us today to hire a nanny in NYC or to book the best babysitters in NYC!

Sitter/Nanny

Five Key Findings in Recruiting and Retaining Nannies

If you haven’t read it somewhere else before, then read it here first; hiring a nanny through an agency is the route you should always take.

In a recent article posted by GTM Payroll Services, they go on to support the fact that when a person hires a nanny through an agency, rather than an online job site, they’re going to get a better quality nanny. One they’ll keep for longer, and spend less time finding the right match.

Here are five key findings from the article:

1. Families and Nannies Both Want a Good Fit
Employers cited “demonstrated responsibility and trustworthiness” as the top quality they look for when hiring a nanny. Employers were asked to rank 14 qualities on a scale from one to 10 with one being not important and 10 being very important. Responsibility and trustworthiness scored ahead of personality fit, passion for childcare, references, and experience.

2. Good Communication Practices Will Help Retention
Forty-three percent of families hired more than one nanny in the past five years. That means retention can be an issue for families who like and want to keep their nanny. Some of the top reasons reported for why nannies leave the jobs are 1) the family no longer needs the nanny, 2) schedule/number of hours, and 3) bad pay.

3. Hiring through an Agency Can Shorten Hiring Process
Seventy-four percent of employers who hired through an agency cited “time savings/hassle-free process” and “quality of candidates” as the top reasons they chose to work with an agency. Fifty-nine percent of agency users spent less than 20 hours on the hiring process, compared to only 24% of online job site users.

4. Benefits Can Help Attract, Retain Top Candidates
Most nannies receive paid holidays (88%), paid vacations (89%), and paid sick days (76%). This is the starting point for families when offering household employee benefits to a potential hire. To separate themselves from other employers, families may want to consider offering annual bonuses and flexible hours. Only 47% of nannies have schedule flexibility and just 44% get a bonus. Of the nannies that receive an annual bonus, 55% receive at least $750.

5. Paying Legally Expands Number of Candidates
By not legally paying an employee, a family cuts in half the number of available candidates for their position. Forty-six percent of nannies say it’s not likely they would take a job that paid “off the books.”

Read more details about the survey findings from GTM Payroll here.