Hiring a Childcare Provider during COVID
April 12, 2021 11:09 AM Subscribe
I'm a single parent to a 8 month old. Currently I WFH but will be eventually returning to work some days a week, for a few hours everyday. I would like to hire an in-home childcare provider and need some advice.
Putting baby in daycare still seems very scary to me right now but I want to give myself and my mother (who lives with me and helps out a lot with childcare) some time away from baby to do the things we need to do. I was thinking about hiring someone to come in to take care of baby for a few hours, a few days a week. Given we're still in a pandemic and located in a state with some of the highest number of COVID cases, can I request that the childcare provider be fully vaccinated? Can I request they wear a mask at all times while near baby? Any other sort of precautions I should be looking into/requesting?
[Grandma and I are fully vaccinated; baby is drinking breastmilk; dad not in the picture]
Putting baby in daycare still seems very scary to me right now but I want to give myself and my mother (who lives with me and helps out a lot with childcare) some time away from baby to do the things we need to do. I was thinking about hiring someone to come in to take care of baby for a few hours, a few days a week. Given we're still in a pandemic and located in a state with some of the highest number of COVID cases, can I request that the childcare provider be fully vaccinated? Can I request they wear a mask at all times while near baby? Any other sort of precautions I should be looking into/requesting?
[Grandma and I are fully vaccinated; baby is drinking breastmilk; dad not in the picture]
You can absolutely require proof of full vaccination. You can also require they wear a mask full time with the baby but I personally believe that is a large ask of a vaccinated person in an intimate role like this.
posted by phunniemee at 11:33 AM on April 12, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 11:33 AM on April 12, 2021 [4 favorites]
You can ask whatever you want - whether or not they'll be able/willing to meet your requests is part of the hiring process.
Like you, I wasn't yet comfortable with daycare.
We found a nanny to provide 2 days a week in home care while my spouse and I WFH full-time. We had an open and transparent conversation during the interview process about our lifestyles, views, and risk factors. She was not vaccinated when she started because private childcare personnel were not yet eligible where we live; she has since gotten her first dose. Also at that point I was vaccinated and breastfeeding comfortable that my baby was getting protective antibodies from me. She was willing to wear a mask but we didn't want to do that because of our views on her literally not seeing a human face all day. For context, we live in a city with a relatively high amount of transmission, but other than her and my husband, everyone else we both contacted was vaccinated.
posted by DoubleLune at 11:41 AM on April 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Like you, I wasn't yet comfortable with daycare.
We found a nanny to provide 2 days a week in home care while my spouse and I WFH full-time. We had an open and transparent conversation during the interview process about our lifestyles, views, and risk factors. She was not vaccinated when she started because private childcare personnel were not yet eligible where we live; she has since gotten her first dose. Also at that point I was vaccinated and breastfeeding comfortable that my baby was getting protective antibodies from me. She was willing to wear a mask but we didn't want to do that because of our views on her literally not seeing a human face all day. For context, we live in a city with a relatively high amount of transmission, but other than her and my husband, everyone else we both contacted was vaccinated.
posted by DoubleLune at 11:41 AM on April 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
If by "can I ask" you mean "can I legally ask" then in general the answer depends on which state (and country) you're in.
But almost certainly the answer is yes. There's nothing special about Covid vaccines. You can insist they get the flu shot and Tdap boosters too.
You might find care.com's FAQ about this useful:
But almost certainly the answer is yes. There's nothing special about Covid vaccines. You can insist they get the flu shot and Tdap boosters too.
You might find care.com's FAQ about this useful:
Yes, families hiring an in-home caregiver, like a nanny or babysitter, can legally ask them to be vaccinated before or during their employment, says Dorit Reiss, a professor at University of California Hastings College of the Law who specializes in vaccination laws and policies. As independent employers with a small number of employees, no law prevents families from preferring vaccinated caregivers or asking them to get annual flu vaccines.posted by caek at 11:42 AM on April 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
From what I've seen friends and coworkers dealing with this past year, there's all kinds of things you can ask, assume, and attempt to require but actually getting compliance or the truth are not assured.
I'm pretty sure there's generally established legal footing about other vaccines for childcare work, it shouldn't be a liability to ask for proof of COVID vaccine. But any additional ongoing behavior asks are going to be difficult to enforce and may lead you to a false sense of security. I would say post a job description asking for someone vaccinated and past the waiting period, and then in the interview have a dialogue about what your and their personal and family's boundaries and risk vectors are since both sides of this equation should be comfortable with the other.
I think if these are smaller timeblocks of childcare, the ask to wear a mask is maybe feasible to do and hope for compliance. If you intend to do that, I would suggest that you and your mom also wear masks during any direct in-person interaction with the sitter since you are a risk vector yourself. Your biggest concern here is COVID variants, but honestly with most of us just beginning to emerge from our caves after a year we may also see big waves of stuff like strep and flu, colds, and MRSA (keep washing those hands, folks) if people completely drop mask-wearing and hand-washing. If your sitter has multiple childcare gigs I would make the mask a higher priority, as well.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:53 AM on April 12, 2021 [7 favorites]
I'm pretty sure there's generally established legal footing about other vaccines for childcare work, it shouldn't be a liability to ask for proof of COVID vaccine. But any additional ongoing behavior asks are going to be difficult to enforce and may lead you to a false sense of security. I would say post a job description asking for someone vaccinated and past the waiting period, and then in the interview have a dialogue about what your and their personal and family's boundaries and risk vectors are since both sides of this equation should be comfortable with the other.
I think if these are smaller timeblocks of childcare, the ask to wear a mask is maybe feasible to do and hope for compliance. If you intend to do that, I would suggest that you and your mom also wear masks during any direct in-person interaction with the sitter since you are a risk vector yourself. Your biggest concern here is COVID variants, but honestly with most of us just beginning to emerge from our caves after a year we may also see big waves of stuff like strep and flu, colds, and MRSA (keep washing those hands, folks) if people completely drop mask-wearing and hand-washing. If your sitter has multiple childcare gigs I would make the mask a higher priority, as well.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:53 AM on April 12, 2021 [7 favorites]
I think it's reasonable to ask for both vaccination proof as well as the caregiver properly wearing a mask at all times (variants are still an issue). Given that you'll not be hiring this person full time, you have to assume that they are also caring for other families and children and so their potential exposure will be higher than if they were just working with your family.
posted by quince at 12:02 PM on April 12, 2021
posted by quince at 12:02 PM on April 12, 2021
I babysit, and I wear a mask the whole time. The parents I babysit for are doctors- one an infectious disease dr, and they remind me to always wash my own hands and the toddler's each time we come home. I also have covid tests every two weeks for my other job- which I think is a good thing in general, but I also think it is something you could ask that the babysitter do as well. The thing that is well established about Covid is that fresh air, and air exchanges are important in terms of not getting it (in addition to masking and hand washing) at 8 months old, I think it is totally ok to ask the babysitter to have the baby outside as much as possible- walks around the neighborhood, or time in the yard if you have one.
posted by momochan at 7:26 PM on April 12, 2021
posted by momochan at 7:26 PM on April 12, 2021
I did some COVID childcare work, and I do think a test or vaccine and a mask is a pretty reasonable ask. When I was only working with one family full time we were in a bubble together and didn't use masks, but the adults were getting tested semi-regularly (this was before the vaccine) and the kids were in a small learning pod.
As a childcare provider, I also want to say: I did have multiple people in the early months of COVID ask me to be exclusive to their family but also only work 2 or 3 hours a day, which is... not reasonable, unless it pays $50 an hour, so please don't be that person. If it's just a part-time gig they'll need to work with some other families and manage their risks a little more than if they were a full-time exclusive provider.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 4:08 PM on April 13, 2021
As a childcare provider, I also want to say: I did have multiple people in the early months of COVID ask me to be exclusive to their family but also only work 2 or 3 hours a day, which is... not reasonable, unless it pays $50 an hour, so please don't be that person. If it's just a part-time gig they'll need to work with some other families and manage their risks a little more than if they were a full-time exclusive provider.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 4:08 PM on April 13, 2021
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posted by bbqturtle at 11:32 AM on April 12, 2021