Q. I’ve found out that an employee is babysitting a child who attends our setting. Do I need to put anything in place to protect my business if anything were to happen when they are caring for this child outside of nursery hours?
Tracey-Ann Waller, nursery manager, Brown Bears Nursery
‘At our nursery we have a no babysitting policy. We put that in place because no matter how much a member of staff or parents believe everything will go well, if something goes wrong, it will end up coming back to the nursery. We would be the point of reference for a family complaint, or be named in the media if something really bad should happen.
‘We have never had a bad experience by following this policy, and we make it clear to staff and parents from the start this is how we operate.
‘Caring for a child in a home is totally different to caring for them in a setting. At nursery the staff have timetables and boundaries. We have all the health and safety checks and risk assessments in place. When children go home, as parents often tell us, they can act differently. In my experience, when I’ve done babysitting, I have felt more wary of how a child might behave. The babysitter has less control in a home environment than a professional setting.
‘I know staff sometimes need a bit of extra money. But we do not want to take the risk of the business getting a bad reputation.’
Jade Spalding, nursery manager, Angels at Play Park Road, All About Children
‘It’s only natural that when a child and parent build a relationship with a key worker, they might want them to babysit. But there are important policies and procedures you need to put in place.
‘At our setting we allow staff to do this and we have a babysitting policy in place. This clearly states that the nursery is not responsible for any private arrangements made between a memberof staff and a family, and that the setting has no control over the conduct of staff outside of their position of employment. The staff member will also not be covered by the setting’s insurance if any health and safety issues arise.
‘We explain this policy to all our staff in their to sign a document that states they have read and understood the policy. This is kept in their file so we can refer to it if anything should arisein the future. If you were to introduce a babysitting policy now, I would recommend you explain it to your whole team.
‘We ask staff to notify us if they are planning on babysitting. Then we approach the family and explain the policy to them, and also ask them to sign it, so that everyone is clear. Our staff know that any babysitting arrangements they make must not interfere with their employment at the setting. For example, the child cannot stay for longer hours until a staff member has finished a shift in order to take them home.
‘Despite this, we do ask staff to report back to us if they have noticed anything in the child’s home that they would consider to be a safeguarding concern.’
Arris Shanahan, area manager (compliance and education), Pumpkin Patch Nurseries
‘We do not organise babysitting through Pumpkin Patch, but if staff choose to make a private arrangement, that is allowed. This is made clear in our terms and conditions, which we share with parents when they join us, and is part of our staff induction process.
‘We are clear with parents that we have no responsibility for such arrangements.
‘Our staff tell us when they plan to do babysitting. We remind them to adhere to our confidentiality policy, which they signed when they joined. We still expect them to be a positive advocate for the company even outside of work hours.
‘They cannot chat about things that happen in the nursery to the parent, for example, or about other children or families we have on our books.
‘Some-times in a home environment, where it is more relaxed, parents might ask questions. We expect the member of staff to be clear that they are unable to discuss nursery business.
‘A few times staff have asked us if they can leave their shift early to take a child home who they are babysitting. We have to be absolutely clear that this is not acceptable. If they are taking on another role, that cannot interfere with their job with us.
‘If something did go wrong while a team member was babysitting, although we cannot accept responsibility forit, we would still want a parent to inform us. If they behaved inappropriately, or a parent had a safeguarding concern, we ask them to inform us.’