Job Description of a Professional Nanny

Full-time nannies offer an ideal solution for homes in which both parents work full-time. How much such homes pay for a full-time nanny depends on a number of factors, such as:

Where you live
The amount of training and experience the nanny has
Whether the nanny is live-in or live-out

The role of a full-time nanny in caring for a child or children will largely depend on the responsibilities the nanny and the family agree upon. And as the family’s needs change and the child grows, that role can change over time.

Responsibilities

Fundamentally, a full-time nanny will be responsible for taking care of a child in the absence of parents during agreed upon work hours. These duties include care such as:

Feeding
Bathing
Changing diapers
Maintaining a routine
Putting the child down for naps
Ensuring the well-being and health of your child

Some childcare providers also provide extra services which not all nannies will be able to give your child, such as:

Driving a child to and from school or other classes
Teaching the child another language
Running errands
Taking care of household chores

Working Hours

As with most jobs, professional nannies should work about 40 hours per week on average. If working in a full-time nanny position, a professional nanny will expect to be paid for 40 hours of work per week. Any work beyond those hours should be considered overtime and remunerated as such.

The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) states that full-time, live-out nannies (nannies that live outside the home of the family for which she nannies) should be paid time and a half for all hours worked over the agreed 40 hours. Therefore, if you are a live-out full-time nanny that is asked to work more than 40 hours per week, you are entitled to overtime. If a nanny is salaried for 40 hours per week, she will need to determine what her hourly salary and calculate one and half times this amount. It is important that the nanny and her employer have discussed overtime and that it is part of the contract before beginning a full-time nanny position.

Full-time live-in nannies are also required to be paid overtime, but the Federal FLSA states that such nannies should be compensated for every hour of work that goes over the agreed amount. Live-in nannies are not by law entitled to time and a half.

Doing a Good Job

When your full-time nanny is doing her job well, the child or children in her care will look forward to spending some time with her. A full-time nanny should:

Be prompt and reliable
- Arrive to work on time and working the agreed days
Keep the family informed of events during their absence
Make an effort to keep parents abreast of the child’s general well-being
Ensure that both child and home are clean and well-looked after
- The child should generally be in good spirits, having clean diapers, and clean clothing
- The household should be well-ordered, showing that the nanny is picking up after the child

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