It is highly recommended that parents initiate a nanny contract (otherwise known as a nanny work agreement) with the nanny upon a conditional job offer. The nanny contract should cover basic issues such as: the days and hours the nanny will be working, the number of children the nanny will be caring for, all responsibilities related to the children as well as other duties, whether or not there are housekeeping, laundry or cooking duties, pay, how the taxes will be paid, start date,whether the nanny will be driving the children and where to, if the nanny will be given gas allowance, if there are extra hours-what will the pay be, if it is a live-in position-what will the accommodations be, and whether or not there will be travel or overnights needed and how often. The more thorough you make the nanny contract, the better the expectations for both parties can be managed.

You will need to figure out exactly what you want to offer the nanny before you meet with her. Most nannies expect all the main holidays off, 4-6 sick days per year, 1-2 weeks paid vacation, severance pay if you let her go for circumstances beyond her control and 2 weeks notice no matter what.

Make sure you both sign it and make it conditional on whether the background check comes back clear or not (you may want to do the background check before you complete the nanny contract). You will also want to include how often the nanny will have a performance review and/or raise. In addition, many families include a confidentiality clause stating that the nanny will not disclose any personal information about the family. Once the nanny contract is completed, your nanny is officially hired!

Click Here for NannyCare.com’s free customizable nanny contract.