What is the average salary for Nannies today in Orange County?
What is your fee?
What does the fee cover?
What is the difference between a LIVE OUT and LIVE IN nanny?
What is a MOTHER’S HELPER?
Will my nanny do housework?
What if your nanny does not work out or we are not satisfied with the nanny’s performance?
How do you find your nannies and what is your screening process?
Why do other nanny services claim to be able to find me a qualified nanny for $9 per hour?
Is the nanny my own employee or yours?
What should we do about taxes?
What if my question is not here?

What is the average salary for Nannies today in Orange County?
The average hourly salary is between $12 - $15 per hour depending on years of experience and the family needs.

What is your fee?
There is no fee to meet our nannies. We require a Placement fee equal to one month of the nannies salary, which we can accept in installments.

What does the fee cover?
Marketing for your specific needs, personally meeting with the President of the company and doing a detailed interview as well as face to face interview. Background screening, including DMV/MVR History, 7 year county search, sexual child offense, employment guarantee for 100 days, 2 nanny replacements if required, employer and nanny support system and assistance with salary and benefits negotiation.

What is the difference between a LIVE OUT and LIVE IN nanny?
A full-time LIVE OUT nanny will work full-time hours as agreed, 30 hours per week or more. Based on the amount of hours you require, the weekly salary can range from $375 - $600 + per week.

A LIVE IN nanny will live with your family and work a set schedule with one to two days off per week, this type of nanny will require a separate bedroom or living quarters and a salary. Live-in salaries start at $350 per week and upwards of that depending upon the nanny’s experience level, number of children, additional duties and hours expected to work over 50 hours per week.

What is a MOTHER’S HELPER?
A mother’s helper is similar to a nanny, with the exception that she may have less child care experience . She may be suitable for the working mother at home who does not plan to leave the home and prefers in-home care with the children and not as many formal duties. The salary may be $11 per hour again depending on your needs.

Babysitter:
Works short-term “on call”, caring for children as needed, less than 15 hours per week.

Temporary Nanny:
Works for 3 months or less on a set schedule of 20-45 hours per week.

Will my nanny do housework?
The number one priority of a nanny is to take care of your children! You want your nanny to be a stand-in for you when you cannot be there and it is important that your nanny not be distracted with household chores. Most nannies will be happy to assist with light or child-related cleaning.

We recommend that you have the nanny perform any housework during the children’s nap times so that when they are awake, your children will have their nannies full attention.

What if your nanny does not work out or we are not satisfied with the nanny’s performance?
If our client is not fully satisfied with the caregiver referred within 100 days of placement, Little Darlings Nannies, Inc. will refer to the client at least two qualified candidates of equal experience or refund a pro-rated portion of the finder’s fee.

How do you find your nannies and what is your screening process?
We have a variety of marketing tools in place of which bring us high caliber candidates . We have world wide exposure from our web site presence including the major search engines, such as Google and Yahoo, as well as 4 other on line nanny specialty sources.

We are also well represented in the OC Family Magazine of which targets Orange County as well as Independent Yellow Pages for enrolled parents of some exclusive preschools. We have also canvassed the private schools in the area with our post cards and various marketing which often results in referrals from either other nannies or candidates that identify our ads.

Some contact us after hearing about us from a friend or relative who is familiar with our company and occasionally we advertise and recruit nannies directly.

Regardless of how our nannies come to us, our screening process is the same. First the nanny must submit a formal résumé and references. Upon review we will arrange for a phone interview as preliminary screening and a mandatory in-person interview with the President of the company if the candidate has passed the selection criteria.

They will fill out a detailed application which provides us with information regarding the nanny’s work history, availability, and willingness to perform certain duties. During the interview we ask the nanny a series of questions regarding feelings toward discipline, safety issues, different working situations, and we also ask the nanny to describe their own childhood and current relationship with his/her family.

If we feel that the candidate has potential we proceed by contacting all references. When speaking to references we ask questions like “was this nanny punctual and reliable?” “Were there any issues that needed to be resolved during the nanny’s employment with you? What? How was it resolved?” we also ask the parents if the child(ren) looked forward to seeing this nanny. Answers to all questions transcribed and kept on file. We also take 2 copies of ID and a copy of the nanny’s social security card.

Additionally, the nanny must submit to a background investigation. If we are comfortable with the results of the screening, we will accept the nanny for referral.

Why do other nanny services claim to be able to find me a qualified nanny for $ 9 per hour?
While we cannot speak for another services standards regarding candidate selection, we can guarantee that nannies accepted for referral by Little Darlings Nannies have been fully screened and have at least 2-3 years of experience. The nannies as professionals expect to be paid fair market wages for their work. Being a nanny is a serious profession, one which requires a certain level of patience, love, understanding, knowledge and above all experience. In order to find a nanny who possesses these traits as well as an excellent experience level, prospective employers must be willing to provide compensation that is fair. We have seen many instances in which a family hires a nanny based on willingness to accept a below market wage, only to find that the nanny leaves as soon as she finds a position more lucrative. This is unfortunate and is very difficult on the family and children.

Is the nanny my own employee or yours?
The hired nanny is your direct hire employee. We are just the referral service. Pay and benefits will be negotiated and agreed upon between the family and nanny. 

What should we do about taxes?
We do not advise you on accounting or tax guidelines, however if you should wish to research tax or nanny payroll information we recommend GTM Household Employment Experts: gtm.com. They are wonderful about answering questions regarding household employer taxes. Please feel free to contact them if you would like to receive additional information regarding nanny taxes.

What if my question is not here?
If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact our office at 949-412-7007. We are happy to assist you.