If you're a parent and want to get advice about how COVID-19 affects you, click here.

As we learn to live safely with coronavirus (COVID-19), there are actions we can all take to help reduce the risk of catching COVID-19 and passing it on to others. These actions will also help to reduce the spread of other respiratory infections, such as flu, which can spread easily and may cause serious illness in some people.

While no situation is risk free, there are actions we can take to protect ourselves and others around us. Following this guidance will help you stay safe and protect others by controlling the spread.

You should minimise close contact with members of the household that you aren’t caring for as much as possible.

Other recommendations to work safely include:

It is optional to wear a face covering while working as a nanny, but is it not required by law. The other measures mentioned above are the best ways to manage risk, and you should not rely upon wearing a face covering only.

Please note that face coverings should not be used by children under the age of two, or those who may find it difficult to manage them correctly, for example primary age children unassisted, or those with respiratory conditions. If you are considering wearing a face covering at work, we recommend you read the detailed guidance attached in this article.

It’s important to communicate clearly and regularly with your family, to align on expectations about what you must do to manage risk and also what measures the family are taking. If either of you have concerns, it’s important to raise these early.

If you are meeting a family in their home, you should take particular care to maintain excellent hygiene:
· Regularly wash hands, especially on arrival.
· Regularly clean touched surfaces, for example door handles, and try to keep internal doors open where possible to minimise contact.
· Maintain good ventilation, for example keep windows and doors open, or be outside where possible.
· Disinfect surfaces when a guest uses shared facilities, like bathrooms.

You should also be prepared to to discuss the following points with families:

- Adherence in recent weeks and in future to latest social distancing, self-isolation and household-isolation advice.
- The work situation in both households e.g. working from home, working in a healthcare setting, commuting by public transport.
- How you will get to work.
- Any symptoms of COVID-19 in either household in the last 14 days.

To help us with your search and to increase your chances of finding a role, we strongly recommend keeping your availability up to date and responding quickly to families if they message you. 

To update your availability, login to your dashboard, click the icon in the top right and select 'Your Availability'. You can also pause your search at any time.

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Schools may have different pick-up procedures e.g. staggered timings. Families will be able to share the specific guidelines for their child(ren)’s school.

Children may have fewer after school activities than normal e.g. clubs, but this will mean plenty of time to do some fun activities together at home!

Many more parents will be working from home than before, and so may be in the home whilst you are nannying.

Although it may be really helpful to have the support of parents on hand, it might not always be straightforward too.

Having the parents at home while you are working can often change the dynamic of your role and your relationship with the children. These types of roles require particularly good communication with the parents to make sure you're all on the same page.

This video by our Relationship Support Specialist Alex shares the things it's most important to discuss before you get started.

• If you can’t go to work because the family’s household are sick, the family may continue to pay for your usual working hours.

Nannies are no longer entitled to Statutory Sick Pay for self-isolation, unless you are unwell and are unable to work. To ensure we are charging the family the correct amount, please report this period of leave on your timesheet.

If you are not eligible for statutory sick pay, the family may agree to continue paying your usual working hours, although they are not obliged to. We strongly recommend you discuss this with your family as early as possible.

• If you should go to work but decide not to, you will need to take this as unpaid leave.

We understand this might be an awkward conversation to have with your family, especially at this difficult time. So we've put some tips together that you can find here.