Childminders and Nannies – Making Background Checks
Most parents considering a privately-employed nanny or childminders are understandably cautious about entrusting their child or children into the care of someone who might well be a stranger.
What steps can you take where background checks for nannies and childminders are concerned?
The law
In Australia, the laws relating to what you as an individual can do, by way of background checks through official bodies including the police, will vary by State and Territory.
Some engagements of this type may require a formal WWC (Working With Children) certification but to be sure, you should research the matter through the various local authorities in your area.
Child care centres and schools
Firstly, a word on formal childcare centres.
All legitimate expert daycare centre providers will need to have met stringent legal requirements governing the qualifications and backgrounds of the people they employ. Reputable organisations of these types will have no hesitation in explaining the registrations they have and the principles of the checks they and their personnel will have undergone before being employed and registered.
You should always seek expert official advice before using any facility offering any form of child care where their registrations are unclear or where they seem reluctant to discuss them.
Using private childminders and nannies
Your first step should be to check the applicant’s CV (resumé). Specifically, look for their qualifications in childcare and child education. If they are entirely unqualified, that may be an issue to consider.
Ideally, they should have a WWC certification or be willing to undergo one. If they are unwilling to undergo such a check, that might again be another issue for serious reflection.
Finally, look closely at their past employment history and references. If this is their first position involving child care, that in turn might be further cause for consideration as to their suitability.
CVs
Almost everyone tries to make their CV look as appealing as possible and few will prominently highlight problems they might have previously had in their career.
Where children are concerned though, no such misrepresentation, however minor, can be tolerated. It’s therefore important that you extensively check the childminders previous references, notably:
- look at all their previous employers’ addresses. Check the details on any of the many facilities available online and ‘browse’ the address and its environs if you’re unfamiliar with them. Check how long the employers have been or were, resident there;
- take up all references. Don’t settle for hardcopy references but instead, talk to ALL previous employers and where possible, insist upon a visit or at least a video call for the discussion. Seeing someone’s facial expression and body language can be critically important in sensing if all was previously well or whether there were issues;
- look at the chronology of their CV and identify any inexplicable gaps. Ask for a verifiable explanation as to what those gaps relate to.
Remember also to verify the childminders current and past addresses. It is usually possible to see via the Net whether or not they were at the addresses for the dates and durations they claim.
Validating submissions
Modern technology means it is relatively easy for people to create and print false documents of sufficient quality to pass a casual visual inspection. That might apply in areas such as qualifications and past employer references etc.
The importance of validating references has been discussed above but in the case of qualifications, it’s usually possible to check a candidate’s claims through the institutions concerned. That should be done where possible.
Check their driver status
If you plan to ask your nanny or childminders to take your child out or collect them from school using their vehicle, remember to check their driving licence and their insurance. Keep in mind that using their car for such may constitute ‘business use’ and that might invalidate in part or full any personal car insurance they have – unless they upgrade it.
Summary
Some of these checks may seem intensive but typically they will not consume a huge amount of time and they might provide you with more peace of mind.
If the applicant seems impatient or unwilling to cooperate, that again might give grounds for concern.
