The placement readiness checklist

Stage one: family intake and requirement scoping

• Write the schedule down to the hour, not the adjectiveFull time is not a schedule. Capture start and end times per day, guaranteed hours, overtime expectations, travel weeks, and how school holidays are covered. A written schedule prevents most of the disputes that surface in month two.
• Separate the non-negotiables from the preferencesAsk the family to name three requirements that would end the match if unmet, such as driving the children, swimming supervision, or a second language. Everything else becomes a preference you can trade against experience.
• Set the compensation range in gross termsAgree a gross hourly or annual figure, guaranteed hours, overtime rate, paid time off, and any benefits or mileage. Families who think in net pay will underestimate the cost by a wide margin, so convert early and put it in writing.
• Explain household employee status before you sourceWalk the family through why an in-home nanny is almost always a household employee rather than a contractor, and what that means for withholding and year-end forms. Do it at intake, never after an offer, when it reads as a surprise cost.
• Sign the fee, deposit, and guarantee termsYour agency agreement should state the fee basis, what the deposit covers, when it is credited, the guarantee window in days, its conditions, and the remedy. Do not open a search on a verbal fee understanding.
• Record the household details a candidate will ask aboutPets, cameras in the home, other staff, a parent working from home, sleeping arrangements for live-in roles, and the family's expectations around housekeeping. These decide fit more often than pay does.

Stage two: candidate screening and references

• Verify identity and work authorization documentsSee original documents yourself and note what you saw and when. This is your own agency screening record and stays separate from the Form I-9 the family completes as the employer.
• Complete at least two former employer reference calls by phoneWritten references and text messages are not enough. Speak to the parents who employed the candidate, verify dates and duties first, then move to behavioral and situational questions that cannot be answered with yes or no.
• Run the background report in the correct orderGive the standalone written disclosure, obtain signed authorization, then order the report through the consumer reporting agency. If anything in the report might cost the candidate the placement, follow the pre-adverse and adverse action steps before the family is told.
• Check the motor vehicle record when the role drives childrenPull the driving record for any role with a school run or activity driving, and confirm license status, insurance, and whether the family or the nanny provides the car and car seats.
• Confirm credentials rather than accepting the resume claimVerify infant CPR and first aid dates, newborn care or postpartum training, special needs experience, and any early childhood coursework. Note expiration dates so you can prompt renewal later.
• Write a candidate summary the family can actually readOne page: availability, experience relevant to these children, what references specifically praised, any gap you probed and how it was explained, and the honest fit risk. Families make faster decisions on shorter, franker summaries.

Stage three: offer, contract, and start paperwork

• Run a paid trial day with a written planAgree the hours, the pay, who is home, and what the day should cover. A trial day where a parent hovers all afternoon tells you nothing, so build in an hour where the nanny is alone with the children if the role requires it.
• Put the offer into a written work agreementThe agreement between the family and the nanny should carry schedule, gross pay and overtime, guaranteed hours, paid time off, sick leave, duties, confidentiality, use of a vehicle, and notice terms on both sides.
• Confirm Form I-9 timing with the familyThe employee section is completed by the first day of work and the employer section within three business days of the start. The family is the employer here, so send the instruction in writing and note the date it was done.
• Collect the tax and withholding formsForm W-4 for federal withholding plus the state equivalent where one exists, and any new hire reporting your state requires. Point the family at a household payroll service or their accountant rather than improvising.
• Confirm the payroll method before the first dayKnow who is running payroll, how often, and the first pay date. Placements sour fast when the first check is late or arrives as an untaxed lump sum the nanny did not expect.
• Start the guarantee clock on a recorded dateLog the first paid day of work in the placement record, because that date, not the offer date, drives every guarantee calculation and every follow-up call in stage four.

Stage four: the first ninety days

• Call both sides separately on day threeTwo short calls, family and nanny, asking what surprised them. Almost every early breakdown is visible this week, and almost none of it is raised without prompting.
• Check in again at two weeks on the schedule specificsAsk about actual hours worked against guaranteed hours, overtime, and how communication is happening. Drift between the agreed schedule and the real one is the most common early complaint.
• Hold a written thirty day reviewA short structured review with both sides, covering what is working, one thing each would change, and any duty that has quietly expanded. Put the outcome in the placement file.
• Close out the guarantee window deliberatelyBefore the window ends, confirm in writing that both sides consider the placement settled, and ask for the referral and the review while goodwill is at its highest.
• Log a failure reason when a placement ends earlyRecord the real cause in one line: compensation, schedule drift, communication, duties, or fit with the children. Six of these entries will tell you exactly which intake question you are not asking.