Hiring a Cleaner / Nanny Privately

• 

  Ti-au on 20/10/2020 - 09:58

  +3

  a couple of issues.

  Usually a nanny does not doing cleaning, or very light cleaning (i.e. vacuuming one room 0r washing up).

  You are only paying 4 hours. Almost no 'professional' Nannies will work this at base rate (plus you forgot 30mins travel time back and forth (so 1hour unpaid).

  My advice is don't try and combine both roles. Get a cleaner.

  to be salty - I never saw this work out. Are you paying to someone to look after your kid? Or be a cleaner? They are two different skills entirely.
  Do you want someone to play with your kid, feed them, read them stories, make sure they don't stick a fork into a power point, etc
  0r clean a stove and vacuum a whole house?
  its kind of demeaning to nanny to expect dual roles tbh.

  • 

    brad1-8tsi on 20/10/2020 - 10:03

    Pretty much my thoughts.

    Also the "I could just put my kid in daycare another day, I'm trying to avoid that, as he is still adjusting." What's is it adjusting to? Most kids aren't thrilled about daycare at the start.

    • 

      morse on 20/10/2020 - 10:11

      yeah, he's getting better - but we've built from one day to three, and that's where I'd like to keep it at the minute so not to over fatigue him. My work is actually fine with me not having childcare for my other 1/2 day per week at home as I can spread the hours out when it fits in, but I figured someone might like the work (since people are advertising to do it) and it might give me some solid time one day a week to get a bit more done and some light cleaning around the house, given he has a two hour nap at the time I've set aside to do some work.

      • 

        brad1-8tsi on 20/10/2020 - 10:25

        +1

        Apologies. I wrongly assumed the child wasn't going at all. 3 days is a fair trot and it would be confusing if you were shipping them out and you were at home.

        Please note that I'm not saying don't get help. When i was married we had cleaners for 25 years as cleaning was one of the few things we had arguments over (and it chewed into the small amount of leisure time we had).

        BTW: Don't be afraid to sack them if they aren't what you want. Also, be specific about what your expectations are. they are no different to an employee at work.

  • 

    morse on 20/10/2020 - 10:06

    +1

    Interesting - I actually got the idea from someone who was advertising themselves this way and there's a bunch more I've seen advertising the same, so I'm guessing it's not demeaning if they are advertising that they wish to to both.

    But you may be right, these people may not be the best at either. A friend who has recently was hiring professional nannies through agencies (and paying a lot) said they were terrible - lots of incidents, so much so she's put her kid in childcare.

• 

  brad1-8tsi on 20/10/2020 - 10:01

  +2

  Yes, they are a sole trader / contractor. You need to see their insurance. Also ask quite specifically what happens if they damage your property (it happens).

  A lot of the home insurance policies have "household worker" insurance" included (try NRMA or GIO).

  4 hours for both nanny and cleaner seems very optimistic on your part.

  We've had a few cleaners. The ones we got through word of mouth were a lot better than the randoms we got from classifieds. The variations in hourly rate are enormous - at the time anywhere from $25/hr to $60/hr.

  Also, a lot of the cleaners quote on a $per room basis. The first clean might take 2 hours and after that it takes 1-1.5hrs.

  • 

    morse on 20/10/2020 - 10:19

    Thanks, helpful tips.

    When you say 4hours is optimistic, do you mean that most people would only want to work if they were given more than 4hrs? (I figure they'd be working elsewhere at other times or just wanting to do a little work).

    I wouldn't expect them to clean the whole house in that time, just get one or two jobs done whilst he's asleep (generally two hours), e.g. hang the washing do a bit of vacuuming.

    • 

      brad1-8tsi on 20/10/2020 - 10:30

      4hrs - unless your place is really small or the amount of cleaning you want is minor then 4 hrs to amuse/feed/put child to bed and clean seems low.

      You won't know until you try a few. Maybe a local, retired person that wants some extra cash will fill the bill.

      Also, maybe not work on an hourly rate but pay for a list of tasks with a minimum time period but no maximum. That would suit somebody that moves a bit slow.

• 

  ky02 on 20/10/2020 - 10:32

  Kind of sounds like you need a babysitter, not really a nanny. I've got a reliable one who is just a uni student doing early education. She's not here to teach them anything just play with them. My kid is super excited when she knows when she is going to be around.

  I'd personally just hire them separately and get the cleaning job done properly. Someone doing a little but of either isn't going to be doing a good job of either and I don't think the value for money is there. If it really were possible then wouldn't you be doing one or the other while your working ?

  Not sure how big your house is, but I've got professional cleaner who works as a pair and they spend at least 3 hours here. They are fast and efficient and do a much better job than I could in that amount of time but they don't get through the whole house in a session and we rotate certain rooms weekly. An hour or two half heartly isn't going to be that much help to you I would say.

  • 

    morse on 20/10/2020 - 10:47

    Thanks, interesting thoughts. You might be right that just getting a professional cleaner (and probably buying a robot vac/mop too) and some babysitting could be the way to go. It would be nice to come home to a professionally and thoroughly cleaned home (which would be destroyed in 5mins by dog and 1yo).

    I'm curious to see if the joint role could work, as it would give me a solid block of time at home with hands free and knock a couple of jobs off my list. Even just getting the dishes in dishwasher is a challenge some days, particularly when I want to make sure I keep up with my work.

    • 

      ky02 on 20/10/2020 - 12:14

      Fair call, might just have to give them a trial and see how it goes.

      Personally for me it's just systems. I'm WFH full time at the moment. I can't really sit at the desk and work for the entire day so I take quick breaks every 30minutes/hour and i'll throw in a load of washing, take out the bins , etc, etc as a screen/desk break.I always load dirty dishes straight into the dishwasher and run it after lunch. Dinner time while waiting for something, kids are distracted eating, so unload the dishwasher etc etc for example (i know it's not just the dishwasher).

      Robot vacs are OK, I have one but it scares my kid so I don't use it during the day. I've got hardwood floors (and a shedding dog) so I've got a commercial floor duster (like they use in the shopping centres, a pole with a large dust mop on it), and I run that over the floor in about 60 seconds on a break or when i'm on the phone over the main level to keep it tidy. When the cleaners are here they'll do a proper vac and floor mop.

  • 

    pharkurnell on 20/10/2020 - 11:23

    What sort of cost your cleaners?

    • 

      ky02 on 20/10/2020 - 12:14

      35$/hr

      • 

        brendanm on 20/10/2020 - 14:43

        For both of them?

• 

  pharkurnell on 20/10/2020 - 11:04

  Whilst I could just put my kid in daycare another day, I'm trying to avoid that, as he is still adjusting

  Adjusting to…?

  Personally after watching the difference in a friends kid and ours - daycare is a definitive advantage.

  Every kid is different, but we/they have noticed that their sons social skills are non existent.

  The cost is the killer, but would that be much different than a cleaner/nanny etc
  YMMV

  • 

    morse on 20/10/2020 - 11:20

    Oh, sorry maybe post wasn’t clear enough. Bub is in childcare 3 days which we’ve gradually built up to. He’s 1 and still struggling with separation anxiety and the long days, but getting better. I just don’t want to increase him to 4 days just yet. I work 3.5days, so this is just some extra help when I work from home.

• 

  Seraphin7 on 20/10/2020 - 13:03

  The situation you are describing is a tough one … been there, done that.

  Unfortunately, it is difficult to get someone to commit to a four hour block over anything like a "long term" basis. These individuals are usually fitting it around something else … when the something else changes, you can often be at the bottom of the food chain from their perspective. That's not universal, but is more common than not.

  The "professional nannies" who are more reliable on a ongoing basis are typically locking in at least one full day as that's effectively their sole source of income. Many nannies will have two or three families on the go to make up their week, but usually deal in whole days.

  As others have mentioned, the combined nanny/cleaner/housekeeper just doesn't happen. There's a whole conversation there, but basically they don't exist. Most nannies are happy to "tidy up" around the children, perhaps chuck on a load of washing, but you simply won't get "housework" out of them.

  • 

    morse on 20/10/2020 - 17:13

    Ahh… sounds tricky. From a few of the comments it sounds sounds like I’m being too optimistic to find the perfect person for our needs. I still might try and see if I can arrange it, but I may just end up with a cleaner and fitting my work in around childcare.