What Parents Should Know About Nanny Background Checks

How to Run a Proper Background Check on Your Nanny

Deciding to hire a nanny is a significant decision for any parent. It means handing off a portion of your child-care responsibilities to another person. While some parents avoid using nannies, for others, hiring a caregiver is vital to returning to work after the birth of a child. Conducting a thorough nanny background check can help you vet child-care job applicants and keep your kids safe.

What is a background check for a nanny?

A nanny background check differs from background checks for other employment. It is often more in-depth, noting the candidate’s personal history and professional experience. Nannies have extreme responsibility, so establishing trust is non-negotiable. A background check for nannies should always include sex offender and child abuse registries.

Why should you run a background check on a nanny?

Nanny background checks help you make informed hiring decisions about the people you entrust your children’s lives to. Depending on the child’s age, the person you hire could spend a few hours to entire days with your kids. It’s vital to make sure that the person you give this responsibility to is qualified, trustworthy, safe, and fully capable of fulfilling the role. A comprehensive background check is the best way to establish peace of mind before leaving your child in someone else’s care.

How to run a background check on a nanny

If you plan to use a nanny agency, there is a good chance it has already conducted child-care background checks on its staff. But how do you run a background check on a nanny you found independently? Many background check companies can help you screen them online. One such example is BeenVerified.

BeenVerified allows private citizens to run comprehensive background checks for personal reasons. These checks are not the same as pre-employment background checks and do not need to adhere to the same federal, state, and local laws.

In formal employment situations, running a background check on someone without their permission is illegal. Nanny background checks fall within the realm of personal background checks; however, it is still preferable to ask for their consent first.

Once you’ve done a primary screening through BeenVerified or another nanny background check service, it’s time to get professional references from the nanny’s previous employer. Parents are within their rights to vet nannies this way, even when hiring caregivers from agencies that run their own background checks.

How long does it take to run a background check on a nanny?

The turnaround time for a nanny background check varies depending on the service provider you use and the type of background check you do. At backgroundchecks.com, we partner with BeenVerified to offer personal background checks that process in minutes. These checks search criminal records, address histories, and social media records. However, you may wish to conduct some of your own checks to supplement a BeenVerified search, which can make the process take longer.

Calling references to verify a nanny’s character, trustworthiness, and professional qualifications can extend the nanny background check process by a few weeks. The turnaround time will depend on how many individuals you call, how quickly you contact them, and how long those conversations last.

Which information should a nanny background check include?

To conduct a thorough background history search of a prospective nanny, you will want to assess their background from multiple angles. A detailed candidate history check—including the checks that we provide via our BeenVerified partnership—should provide the following information:

Identity Confirmation

Most public record information is filed based on a person’s name, which means that a criminal offender or sexual predator can hide from detection by adopting an alias. However, there are search tools that can use a person’s Social Security Number to verify their identity. A Social Security Number check can find names or aliases associated with that SSN, including maiden names, pre-name change names, and assumed identities.

Criminal Records

Criminal records are top-of-mind for many parents when vetting nannies. A history of violence, drug crimes, reckless behavior, theft, embezzlement, or other convictions may pose safety risks to your children and family. A national criminal background check can reveal this information.

Driving Records

Nannies may be responsible for fetching kids from school, driving them to sports practice and managing other portions of a family’s transportation schedule. As such, it can be appropriate to incorporate a driving record search into the vetting process.

Reference Check

Nobody knows a nanny’s work style, rapport with kids, and personality traits better than a parent who has trusted them with childcare. Most parents will ask prospective nannies to provide several references who can speak on their behalf.

Sex Offender Registry

Searches of offender registries can identify predators. These checks are an essential part of the background screening process for nannies.

Child Abuse and Neglect Records

Similar to sex offender checks, child abuse and neglect registries provide a record of individuals who have been convicted of mistreating children.

Drug Test

Drug use can put children at risk by exposing them to dangerous drugs directly or by leaving them in the care of someone under the influence. A nanny who uses drugs regularly may have impaired alertness, response times, judgment, and motor functions. Because of these risks, drug testing may be a part of the nanny background check process.

Social Security Number Information

A Social Security Number check can help identify aliases, past names, or alternate identities for candidates, improving the accuracy of name-based background checks. SSN information can also provide address histories, which can help guide geography-based checks, including criminal record searches, driving record checks, and court records searches.

Other types of searches may also be worth running, such as civil court records checks. Court records can reveal child custody battles, child support disputes, lawsuits, and other issues that could speak to a candidate’s ability to perform key childcare functions.

Questions you cannot legally ask a potential nanny

Choosing a nanny isn’t regulated in the same way as hiring an employee. If you are a business owner, you must abide by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and other employment laws. Nanny agencies hiring individuals to take on nannying jobs must follow these regulations.

However, as a parent hiring someone to care for your children, you are not obliged to follow the same guidance as these employers. For instance, EEOC guidance says employers should not reject a candidate for a criminal conviction irrelevant to the job. However, as a parent hiring a nanny, you are within your liberty to trust your instincts. If anything about a person makes you uncomfortable about trusting them with your kids, you can choose not to hire them on those grounds.

However, there are still questions that parents shouldn’t ask. Personal and private information should remain off-limits, including questions about marital status, sexual orientation, health and disability, religion, race, and nationality. These details have no place in standard job interviews because they can lead to bias or discrimination, and the same holds for families hiring nannies.

Other tips for hiring the perfect nanny

• Define the role: Childcare jobs look different depending on the needs of the parents, family, and child. For instance, one family might only need a caregiver for a few days per week, while another is looking for someone who can work every day. Other variables, such as a child with special needs, can also affect what you need from a nanny. Take the time to write down precisely what you need, including time commitment, responsibilities, and skills.
• Map out the interview: Nanny background checks are a crucial part of the vetting process, but they aren’t the only part. You can learn much about someone just by sitting with them for an interview. Get to know the person better before conducting a background check: based on your job description, map out the specific questions you want to ask during your interview.
• Trust your instincts: The right caregiver isn’t just one who can pass a pre-employment investigation and say the right things in the interview; it’s someone who feels like the right choice. A nanny will often become a part of the family, so finding someone who works well with you and your kids is necessary. Taking the time and care to find the ideal choice will lead to peace of mind.