>> Mar 15, 2012

Four Essential Health & Safety Issues

Posted in What Health and Safety requirements should I require? | Leave a reply

There are several health and safety issues you want to discuss with your Nanny before she begins caring for your children:

  1. Medical Emergencies
  2. Earthquake and Flood Preparedness
  3. Fire fighting
  4. Police

medical emergencies

Before leaving your child with your Nanny for the first time, be certain you have posted a list of names and contact numbers of people who can be reached in a medical emergency. Don’t put the list in a drawer or on a cluttered bulletin board! Your Nanny may not find it when she needs it.

There are three levels of medical emergencies that can occur with children. Review these with your Nanny and provide her with the important information and paperwork to handle them.

Level I: The Expectable Bumps and Bruises of Daily Life 

Children fall, bump their head or scratch their knees. Nannies should treat the injury and contact the parents when they return home.

  • Nannies should know where to locate the first aid supplies in the home and car.

Level II: Child’s Health Requires Immediate Attention 

Children can injure themselves, suddenly spike a fever or otherwise require immediate medical attention. Nannies should contact the parents immediately and together decide a course of action. This may require an emergency visit to the pediatrician, after-hours clinic or hospital.

  • Nannies should carry an Emergency Medical Treatment Form in their purse, car and know where to locate one in the home. This form contains all the information medical personnel need to begin treatment without waiting for the parents to show up.
  • Nannies should know where the pediatrician’s office, after-hours clinic and hospital emergency room is located. The Nanny’s name should be in the child’s medical record file so she is known to be the child’s caregiver.

Level III: 911 Call 

Nannies should recognize when a 911 call is required and what information to provide when making the call. Nannies should call 911 first and then contact the parents.

  •  Information to give 911 Operator:
  1. Address (House Number, Street, City and Cross Street)
  2. Telephone number (including area code)
  3. Number of people injured
  4. Names of the children injured
  5. Ages of the children injured
  6. Nature of the emergency (burn, broken, can’t breathe, choking, heart stopped)

disaster preparedness

Because San Francisco and the Bay Area are high risk for earthquakes and mud slides review with your Nanny the procedures for handling these disasters. Show her the location of the Emergency Disaster Kit and where you will all meet if it is not safe to be in your home. A disaster kit should be located near the safest exit of your home and an additional kit in the car.

  • Nannies should have contact information for two responsible adults who live out of state and who would be notified of the Nanny and child’s location when a disaster occurs. Cell phones for local calls are not reliable in a disaster.

 

fire safety

Review the location of and how to use the fire extinguishers and smoke detectors in your home. A Nanny should also know the best escape routes from your home in a fire and how to find them if there is thick smoke.

 

police safety

If you have a burglar alarm system in your home, review the procedures to activate/deactivate the alarm, including the code to provide the response unit when an alarm is sounded so they know it is a valid call

 

 

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>> Mar 15, 2012

Legal Issues: Worker’s Compensation

Posted in EMPLOYMENT ISSUES, What are my Legal responsibilities when I hire a Nanny?, What Health and Safety requirements should I require? | Leave a reply

Parents don’t often consider Worker’s Compensation Insurance for their Nanny. They either don’t realize they can be held liable for the cost of an injury if their Nanny gets hurt on the job or they expect she is covered under their homeowner or renter’s insurance policy. Unfortunately, this is not always true.

The U.S. Department of Labor requires compulsory worker’s compensation coverage for Nannies working in 26 states. The extent of compulsory coverage differs by jurisdiction. For example in California anyone who cares for and supervises children and earned $100 or more within the previous 90 days from the date of injury must be covered under Worker’s Compensation.

Parents can obtain Worker’s Compensation coverage for their Nanny by adding a rider to their homeowner or renter’s insurance policy for an average cost of $150 annually. A Nanny does not need documentation to be covered under the policy since the insurance company is private. Equally, a Nanny does not need documentation to sue a family for an on-the-job injury – or to be awarded the claim if the judge determines it is valid.

Please the U.S. Department of Labor web site for information on state Worker’s Compensation laws and the extent of compulsory coverage in these states.

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>> Mar 15, 2012

Legal Issues: Department of Motor Vehicles

Posted in What are my Legal responsibilities when I hire a Nanny?, What Health and Safety requirements should I require? | Leave a reply

The laws governing who is responsible for personal injury or property damages when a Nanny gets into an automobile accident while working for a family are not generally known to parents until an accident occurs.

Under the doctrine of “respondeat superior” (or “a superior must answer”) parents, as employers to their Nanny, can be held vicariously liable for personal injury or property damages incurred in an accident caused by their Nanny for either not providing training to prevent the accident from occurring or not using good judgment in hiring her.

To safeguard against this situation, parents should check the limits of liability on their Nanny’s auto insurance policy to determine if the limits are equal or greater to theirs. This allows some protection against the likelihood the injured party would go to the parent’s insurance company for coverage because their limits are higher. Nannies should also be placed on the parent’s auto insurance policy as a “second driver” to provide coverage should the accident occur while driving the parent’s car.

Who covers the deductible and likely increase in the auto insurance policy premiums after an accident caused by the Nanny? While these decisions are always made on a case-by-case basis, parents should state in the Nanny’s contract that these costs will be borne by the Nanny should she be considered at fault. A parent can always decide otherwise based on the circumstances. What is most important is that the parents and Nanny have an understanding prior to any accident occurring, as to who would be responsible.

Parents should always require that their Nanny use car seats for the children and seat belts for adults, and that she does not drink, eat or talk on the cell phone while driving the children. Both the Nanny’s car and the parent’s car should be kept clean, in safe condition and with the gas tank full. These safety rules should be made explicit before the Nanny begins and be stated in the contract.

Finally, a Nanny should always keep an “Authorization to Drive” form in any car she drives along with other important auto documents. If she is stopped for any reason, she may need to prove to the police officer that she has authorization to transport the children accompanying her in the car.

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