Free Nanny Contract Template

Nanny Contract: Everything that you need to know

Parents want nothing but the best child care for their growing kids and finding the right nanny is like finding gold. Nannies make the parents’ life easy and stress-free. A nanny contract (also known as a nanny agreement) protects not only the employer but also the nanny as an employee. Let us now deep dive into the fundamentals of hiring a nanny or being one. 

The definition of a nanny

Working parents always have their hands full as they constantly juggle between work and parenting responsibilities. Nannies, in these cases, come as a blessing.

Nannies or caregivers are professional childcare providers who understand the needs and wants of the children. They educate, guide, nurture, and provide comfort to the kids.

However, every family’s expectations from a nanny are different and personal. A vague understanding of duties can later lead to legal disputes between them. A nanny contract removes all ambiguities and establishes the right expectations between the parent and the nanny.

Which are the different types of nannies?

Depending on their needs, parents can opt for different types of nanny services as listed below:

• Live-in nanny: A live-in nanny resides in the family home and is provided with accommodation.

• Live-out nanny: A live-out nanny doesn’t live in the family home but commutes daily to the home for child care.

• Part-time nanny: A part-time nanny, also known as an after-school nanny or a summer nanny, takes care of the children after school or when the school is closed during summer break. A part-time nanny is hired for a longer time, sometimes up to a month.

• Shared nanny: Depending on the needs, sometimes a nanny is shared between two or more families to look after all their children at the same time.

• Co-nanny: This involves two or more nannies working for the same family and looking after the children on alternate days or at the same time.

Importance of Nanny Contracts

A nanny contract, at its core, is like an employment contract. Like any employment agreement, it is legally binding and sets out the scope and expectations of both employer (parent) and the employee (nanny). It outlines the nanny’s job descriptions, start date, roles and duties, salary and benefits, work schedule, etc.

Since the nanny agreement defines the working relationship between the nanny and the employer to function better and is signed by both parties, it is also a valid contract. It safeguards the rights of both parties and acts as proof of the agreed duties.

What should a Nanny Agreement include?

A detailed, comprehensive nanny contract helps in establishing a good relationship between the nanny and the parents. Here are some important terms that should be included in a nanny contract:

Roles and Responsibilities

The responsibilities of a nanny can vary greatly from household to household. Therefore, it is important to discuss the responsibilities in advance and write them down in the contract.

The duties of a nanny may generally include the following:

• Prepare and feed meals to the children

• Change the diapers of babies

• Bathe and dress children

• Organize playdates and outings

• Take children to the park

• Drive children to schools

• Assist the kids with homework

Sometimes, a nanny also performs certain housekeeping duties like cleaning up and doing laundry. Parents can add it as a part of the nanny’s job responsibilities in the same contract, or prepare a separate housekeeping contract if that aligns with the nanny’s job role better.

Compensation

The contract should clearly state the nanny’s per-hour or weekly rate, overtime rate, and how and when they will receive your salary. It should also mention whether the employer is withholding taxes or the nanny is responsible for it.

Benefits

This section should detail any benefits the nanny will be receiving from the family. Benefits are generally negotiable unless they are already specified by state law. Benefits may include paid time off or vacation days, holidays, sick days (or sick leaves), health insurance, transportation costs, or any other benefits the family is willing to offer.

Work Schedule

It is important to specify the days and hours that the parents need the nanny to work. Also, specify the applicable terms if the nanny is required to work outside the schedule.

House Rules

Most families have certain house rules, so it’s important to state them in this section. By doing this, the nanny and the parents have a clear understanding of them. Here are some of the common house rules:

• Are there any rooms where children cannot enter?

• Do they have any screen time restrictions?

• Is there any policy on visitors and playdates?

Emergency Procedures

It is always good to spell out the family’s emergency procedures and provide the nanny with emergency contact information like phone number, etc. It enables the nannies to take the right actions in situations such as:

• Who should the nanny contact if the child falls sick?

• What should the nanny do if he/she sustains an injury?

Vehicle Usage

This section talks about all the details regarding the use and safety of vehicles such as:

• Who is responsible for transporting the children?

• Should the nanny use the family’s vehicle to transport them or their own?

• Whether the employer will provide reimbursement for gas and maintenance if the nanny uses their vehicle?

• Do the children require car seats?

• What happens if an accident occurs while the nanny is driving?

Electronic Usage

Some parents allow the nanny to use phones when the children are napping, while others allow it only for emergencies. Bring clarity on when the nanny can use phones or computers during working hours.

Confidentiality and Social Media Policy

This confidentiality clause prevents the nanny from sharing any private information about the family with any third party or on social media.

Termination

The contract should include a provision that explains what happens if both parties decide to part ways. Both parties are required to give prior written notice (at least two weeks’ notice) to the other party if they plan to terminate the relationship.

Including the right legal elements in the contract will make this contract valid and safeguard your rights and your working relationship.

Use Revv’s Nanny Contract Template to expedite nanny hiring

As a nanny, while entering into employment with a family, it is important to sign a written contract. However, creating nanny contracts from the ground up is a tedious and time-consuming task. During the process, there are chances of missing out on important details and making the contract inaccurate.

But don’t worry! Revv’s nanny contract template is the best starting point!

Revv’s contract template to hire a nanny has all the necessary details required to protect your rights and can be customized easily to suit your needs. It also comes with an eSignature that enables the parties involved to accept and sign the contract faster.

If you want to draft the contract template on your own, here are some quick tips to help you with the contract process.

Check out Revv’s advanced document automation features that help to enrich your contract templates!

Rich Editor

You can customize your nanny agreement to suit your needs with Revv's user-friendly Rich Editor. Drag and drop functionality makes it simple to add various blocks, such as text, tables, eSignature tags, etc., to the document.

Form Fields

Repeated details like the parent's name, nanny's name, parent's address, phone number, and so on will be included in a lengthy contract. You don't have to waste time writing such things over and over. It is possible to convert these repeating fields into fillable placeholders called form fields. With this, you have to fill the repeating field only once and the other fields will be automatically filled.

Approval Workflows

You can get your nanny agreement approved by a lawyer by sending it to them using Revv’s approval workflows. In Revv, you can assign a workflow to a clause and whenever a modification is made to that clause, the contract will be automatically sent to the approvers.

Payments

You can also collect an advance fee from your employer right from within the contract. How? Revv allows you to integrate your Stripe account and initiate the payment process from the contract directly.

eSignatures

To gather signatures and complete the nanny agreement, use Revv's legally-valid, secure, and safe eSignature service. Additionally, Revv generates an Evidence Summary that serves as a legally admissible audit trail of the entire signature process.

Notifications

You can keep track of the status of your contract with Revv's automated email notifications. Every time a contract is delivered for review, acceptance, or eSignatures, Revv automatically creates and sends notification emails to both the sender and the recipient. For example, the recipient receives an email notification to complete an action. Once the document-related action is completed by the recipient, the sender is notified via email.

It’s time to unwind and ensure your child is under the right care! Sign up with Revv for free and use the nanny contract to draft the perfect nanny agreement document in minutes.

Frequently asked questions

What should a nanny contract include?

The family or the nanny may want the following components in their nanny contract or nanny agreement - Responsibilities, Start date, Salary compensation and other benefits like health insurance, dental care, Work address, Paid time off and other holidays. Also include - Work schedules like the number of hours should the nanny work, or how many days a week they need to work, Emergency procedures, and the Provision for the use of household items.

What are the rights of a nanny?

A nanny contract outlines the nanny’s safety in their work environment. Usually, these are some of their employment rights - Safe working conditions, Annual wage the nanny will be paid, Compensation for overtime hours, Payroll deductions for tax, social security, and medicare, Payment of medical bills and lost wages due to a work-related injury, Reimbursement of money spent during work hours, and Preserve the signed work agreement.