The online world provides seemingly endless opportunities for those who dream of working for themselves. As a nanny, why work with a nanny agency like mine when you can cut out the ‘middle man’? All you need to do is put an ad on a nanny job listing service website, at little or no cost, and find your own work. Get paid cash and you won’t even need to pay taxes. Easy … yes?
Well, actually, no.
The recent experiences of a family friend of ours demonstrated all too well the risks associated with taking this ‘solo’ approach. Her story shows how cutting corners and bypassing ‘the system’ works both ways. If potential employees can cut corners, so too can potential employers, and that can lead to some very dubious, if not downright scary, situations.
Our friend – I’ll call her Claire – is a university student who was out of work and was very keen to find a job. She decided to place an ad on the ‘Gumtree’ website, a sort of modern Trading Post on which you can advertise, for free, anything from a used lawn mower to your own labor.
Claire’s ‘Work wanted’ ad began “I’m a 20-year-old female looking for cleaning, babysitting or waitressing work…” In order to maximize her chances of a response, Claire included her mobile phone number in her ad, something the website recommends.
In the week or so after placing the ad, Claire received four responses.
The first was from someone who sent her a message giving her the opportunity to “be my girl”, for which she would be paid $2000 per week plus free accommodation.
The second was an offer to be a ‘masseuse’. When Claire replied that she was not qualified to do this, the employer told her that she would be trained and that she would quickly get “regular clients”. Claire asked them for their company name but they had none, nor a website or any other form of proof that they really existed.
The third offer was a little more promising, though only just. It was a text message offering bar work at $15 per hour. After Claire established that the work would involve essentially running a cocktail bar on her own – practically managing the bar – and questioned the pay rate, she was offered “$20 an hour if you wear revealing clothing”.
The fourth offer was the most dubious of all. I won’t go into the details, suffice to say it involved ‘working’ in front of a camera for a fairly substantial fee.
Eventually Claire did get a genuine offer of cleaning work but as she drove to the house of the client – oddly enough within the grounds of a converted prison – these previous experiences made her very wary. It worked out, but so easily might not have.
This is the sort of world that ‘going it alone’ potentially takes you into, and it applies as much to in-home child care as to the sort of work Claire was looking for.
Nannies need to be careful about who they work for and who they work with. They need to protect themselves against low pay (most cash employers pay less than the award rate), against maltreatment (there is nowhere to turn when working on your own) and against the tax department (cash-in-hand arrangements are illegal for both employer and employee). These are all the things a reputable, accredited nanny agency helps you with – plus things like legal pay, unemployment insurance, workers compensation insurance in case you are injured at work, holiday and sick leave, and ongoing training.
Claire has learnt her lesson. In future she will be dealing with agencies and employers who play by the rules. In her view, any potential benefit of flying solo is just not worth the risks.
Have you used an online nanny listing service to find a job? What steps do you take to protect yourself from online predators?
Have you seen the International Nanny Association’s Nanny Employer Handbook?
Available to members and the general public, this handbook offers expert tips on:
- Identifying a Quality Nanny Agency
- Interviewing Candidates
- Negotiating Salary and Vacation Time
- Writing A Work Agreement
- Identifying and Managing Problems
- Employer Tax Obligations
- Sample job applications, performance review forms, home emergency templates and more
Publication of the Nanny Employer Handbook supports the International Nanny Association’s educational mission. If you too support excellence in in-home child care, we invite you to support the International Nanny Association.
A special thank you to INA member Louise Dunham for contributing this article.
Louise is the Managing Director of Placement Solutions, a nanny referral service in Melbourne Australia.
Louise also serves on the INA Board of Directors and chairs the Ethics Committee. She is the only international member to serve on the INA Board.