Host: What is the next step after the trial period?

Jaclyn Gobuluk: The next step after the trial period would be to complete a contract nanny family agreement. In the contract you are going to have specifics. The start date of the employment and for how long the employment will last. Usually, it is up to a year sometimes, families put in a two-year contract but majority do a one-year contract. You also want to put down the time that the nanny is required to work, Monday to Friday whether it's 8 a.

m. to 6 p.

m. but you want to put those hours down as a guideline for the nanny and what her schedule is going to be.

You also want to put down there the nanny s pay that is gross and net and you also want to take out what taxes you are going to take withhold. There are several taxes you are not required to withhold and there is taxes that you are. So, you want to put that down in writing as well.

Along with that, you want to detail what the benefits are that the nanny is going to be provided. So, two-weeks paid vacation put down one-week paid family s choice, one-week paid nanny s choice. You also want to add in there that there is five or less or more times where it is paid time off for a sick leave. Those are some of the benefits that you would want to put down.

You also want to add what federal holidays you are considering for the paid time off. Usually, there are seven. There are seven, eight, six whatever you consider a federal holiday you want to put that down as paid time off. Within that you want to put down your children s names and ages and when she will be caring for those children. If the child that is in school you will put that also down. If there is a child that s home all day, you will want to put that down.

If there is any driving required, you want to put down if the nanny will be driving the children around and the nanny will need to be reimbursed for milage. There is a government standard rate that you can find via web search and that s the rate you are going to want to pay your nanny for driving your children around. It s usually per milage.

You also want to put on the contract overtime pay. That can be huge area of just complication after the nanny stops working for your family. If you did not put that in writing what overtime pay was, you could be slapped with a law suit. So, in the contract you want to be sure that above and beyond the amount of hours that she has worked you want to put down how much you are going to pay her per hour over the standard workweek. Some families pay time and a half, some parents pay the exact rate per hour that they are making on a salary basis. It is really up to you but you want to be very clear on overtime pay on the contract.

You will also want to put termination on there. How many weeks in advance the family requires for the nanny to give them termination? Some families say that four weeks is the allowance for termination, some families say two weeks. It is really up to you but you want to put down the termination guideline and also sign it.

One more important tip for the contract would be to narrow down in one year what you are going to be doing with the nanny. Will you be increasing her benefits or pay? Something you must consider as most nannies will be interested in getting a pay raise at the end of each year. So, things that you might want to consider in adding to the contract.