Hiring a Nanny in North Atlanta? Settle These Details Before the First Day

A family had chosen a nanny and agreed on a start date for the following week. Days before she was due to begin, the candidate accepted another job. The parents were suddenly looking for care all over again.

Serra Deville, founder and owner of Dream Nannies, described the case in written answers to North Atlanta Star. Her agency found a replacement, she said, but the start date still slipped. For parents arranging work around a new caregiver, even a short gap can be difficult to cover.

A backup plan is one part of hiring a nanny. The hourly rate, the work expected and what happens when a schedule changes also need to be settled before the first day.

What families should budget beyond the hourly rate

In Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Roswell and Milton, full-time and part-time nannies generally earn about $28 to $35 an hour or more, Deville said. That is her estimate of the markets she serves, rather than a regionwide wage survey.

At those rates, 40 hours of care would mean $1,120 to $1,400 a week in wages alone. Experience, education, the number and ages of the children, driving duties and household-management responsibilities can all affect the rate. So can the predictability of the schedule, she said.

Deville advises families to budget for employer payroll taxes, guaranteed hours, paid time off, holidays and mileage as well. The terms of those benefits and reimbursements should be discussed alongside pay, so both sides understand the full arrangement.

Hiring through an agency does not automatically make the agency the employer. Under IRS household-employment rules, a worker is generally a household employee when the family controls both the work and how it is performed. The arrangement can be different when an agency itself controls those things. Families should establish who handles payroll, tax reporting and employment records before work begins.

Put the job in writing

Skipping a written work agreement is the biggest hiring mistake Deville sees.

“Before day one, families and nannies should agree in writing on hours and overtime, duties, guaranteed pay, time off, sick days, how schedule changes are handled, and when they’ll check in,” she said.

That discussion should reach beyond a normal week. What happens when the family travels? What if a parent needs to work late, or the nanny is ill? Which tasks belong to the job, and which would require a separate conversation about hours and pay?

Deville said extra household duties can change the role and its cost. In another placement she described, a family wanted someone to handle laundry, dishes, table setting and seasonal decorations, rather than a conventional cleaning visit. They defined the work before looking for a match. That was a housekeeping role, but it illustrates why a detailed description matters when a family wants help beyond childcare.

Check experience, references and training

Deville recommends speaking directly with references, arranging a proper background screening and looking for experience with children of the same ages as those in the family. Current CPR and first-aid certification also belong on that checklist, she said.

The attraction of a nanny, in her view, is the continuity of having one caregiver who learns the children’s routines and works in their home. Families with irregular hours or several children may find that arrangement particularly useful. Those needs still have to fit the caregiver’s agreed schedule and responsibilities.

Dream Nannies, formally Georgia’s Dream Nannies, Inc., has been placing nannies since 2003, the company said. Deville supplied the two family examples without names or identifying details.

Have a plan if the arrangement falls through

The family whose nanny canceled had already reached the point of counting on her arrival. Deville’s agency restarted the search, but the parents still had an immediate gap to solve.

“Even a hire that feels certain can fall through, so it helps to have a backup plan, and someone to call,” she said.

Before the start date, parents can identify who could cover an unexpected gap and discuss what help, if any, their placement agency offers if a hire does not work out. The same planning is useful after a nanny starts: care needs do not disappear when a caregiver becomes unavailable.