Original Article | Written on Children’s Day – How to Choose a Reliable Nanny?

I. Preface

After reaching the age of thirty, we all get married and have children, fulfilling the mission inscribed by the Creator in our genes. At this stage, what we talk about is no longer poetry or distant dreams, but rather how to raise children properly—where to find a good maternity center, which early education institutions are reliable, which kindergartens offer good value for money… And how to find a reliable nanny?

Recently, while chatting with a friend who has just become a parent, this friend asked me how to choose a reliable nanny. As someone who has hired nannies before, I can offer some advice.

For parents, it might be a good idea to have the child’s grandmother or grandma act as the nanny. However, due to various reasons, not all families are suitable for this approach. Especially when the grandmother acts as the nanny, the breastfeeding period may coincide with menopause, leading to conflicts between the mother and grandmother. For the father of the child, who is caught between his wife and mother, this situation is extremely difficult to handle. When both the mother and wife fall into the river, which one should be rescued first?

Another alternative is to hire a third party as the nanny. If the candidate is introduced by a friend, it’s easy to learn about their past behavior through that connection. But the number of such connections is limited. Most of the time, we use nanny agencies to find nannies. In this case, there is a serious information asymmetry between the nanny and the employer. It’s difficult to trust a stranger completely just based on a brief encounter.

As for how to evaluate people, some people prefer astrology, zodiac signs, or other strange methods. But these methods are difficult for ordinary people to master. They might even lead to problems like osteoporosis.

I’m not a magician, but a lawyer. From a legal perspective, I’d like to discuss how to conduct due diligence when hiring a nanny.

II. How to Conduct Due Diligence on Nannies

When acquiring a company, the buyer often needs to conduct thorough due diligence on the target company. This is because there is a lot of information asymmetry, and it’s difficult for the buyer to understand the company’s debts and other risks. Similar to due diligence in equity acquisitions, due diligence on nannies is to understand them better and avoid information asymmetry.

Due diligence means using all possible and legal methods to verify the information about the nanny. It’s important to note that we should not rely on a single piece of evidence. Instead, we should use cross-verification to ensure that the evidence is reliable.

Here are some key aspects and methods for due diligence on nannies, for your reference.

(1) Identity Information

When hiring a nanny, we need to check the nanny’s ID card. We can ask the nanny to show the ID card and compare it with her own. We should also save a photo or copy of the ID card.

Of course, with the development of society, there are more ways to fake ID cards. We can’t rely on just looking at the ID card to ensure its authenticity. I suggest using the “Yue Province Affairs” app or “Wei Police Certification” app to verify the ID card. These apps have face recognition, which is very reliable.

(2) Credit Status

We need to check the nanny’s credit status because if the nanny has debts or is on a list of defaults, they might try to get money quickly. In the case of the杭州 poison nanny incident, the nanny had debts due to gambling and wanted to get money from the employer.

To check the nanny’s credit status, we can check through websites like “Judgment Document Network”, “People’s Court Announcement Network”, and “Execution Information Network”. We can also ask the nanny to provide a personal credit report through the “Credit China” website. We can also ask the nanny to provide a certificate of no criminal record. This can be obtained from the nanny’s local police station. The nanny might not want to do this, but the employer can ask for it.

If the nanny has many debts or criminal records, it’s better to be cautious.

(3) Work Experience

We need to check the nanny’s work experience to see if they are qualified for the job. We want to avoid people who pretend to be nannies but are actually human traffickers or have bad records.

Can we use nanny agencies to confirm the nanny’s work experience? I suggest not trusting everything. We need to use other methods to verify it. I have a friend who hired a nanny for his child. The agency recommended a nanny who claimed to have experience with infants, but it turned out that she only had experience with elderly people.

To verify the nanny’s work experience, we can check through employment contracts, social security or pension records, and payment records.

In reality, nannies usually don’t want to cooperate with background checks. I suggest asking the nanny to disclose their work experience and the employer’s name and phone number during the interview. Then, we can decide how to conduct the background check based on the nanny’s response.

(4) Health Status

Nannies need to be healthy to take care of children. If the nanny has diseases like Helicobacter pylori or hepatitis B, they’re not suitable as nannies.

To check the nanny’s health status, we can arrange a medical check-up at a reputable hospital. We should include common infectious diseases in the check-up. After the check-up, we should check the report for authenticity. Most hospitals allow you to view the report through a mobile app. We can ask the nanny to show the report during the check-up.

(5) Language Skills

Children between 1-3 years old develop their language skills quickly. They learn language through interaction with others. The nanny’s language skills are important. I have a friend who hired a nanny from India for his daughter. His daughter learned English with a “curry” accent.

To develop children’s language skills, we need to check the nanny’s language skills during the interview. We can observe their language skills during the interview.

III. Conclusion

As the saying goes, it takes ten years to grow a tree, but a hundred years to train a person. From pregnancy to birth, and from speaking to walking, children grow and develop new skills. Parents have a greater responsibility in raising children.

However, even though it’s difficult, we still enjoy it. It’s because parents love their children so much that they’re willing to give everything for them. So, even if it costs more, parents still want to hire a reliable nanny.

Of course, having money doesn’t guarantee a reliable nanny. Parents need to carefully choose. New parents might not be able to find problems just through an interview. The candidate’s experience as a nanny is often more important than the employer’s experience. I hope this article can help parents choose a reliable nanny.

Finally, I hope all children have a happy holiday!

Author’s Bio

Zhang Jing, Lawyer

Lawyer Zhang Jing is a senior partner at Longan Guangzhou. She has a degree in law from Sun Yat-sen University. She specializes in equity structure design, corporate mergers and acquisitions, private equity, equity incentives, cross-border investment, and technology transfer. She is skilled in designing transaction prices and equity structures based on different transaction contexts. She drafts clear and logical legal documents, which are well received by clients. Lawyer Zhang has provided professional legal services for companies like Midea Group, Star Lake Real Estate, Yuzhou Real Estate, Jingye Mingbang Real Estate Group, BoXiLe Education Group, Foshan JinKong, Yingfeng Holdings, and Foxconn. She is a new talent in foreign-related law in Guangdong Province, a member of the Guangdong Lawyers Association’s Equity Investment and Private Equity Committee, and has legal qualifications in China. She is also a member of the Democratic Construction Party.