Recommended Health Guidelines and Best Practices For Families and Nannies Returning to Work In Response to COVID-19
Asking your nanny to return to work as shelter-in-place orders are lifted isn’t as simple as agreeing on a restart date and proposed schedule. The COVID-19 pandemic will likely bring changes in how care happens and require a higher level of communication between parents and nannies. When it comes to ensuring children are safe and cared for responsibly during COVID-19, there’s much more at stake than before the pandemic began.
At TIFFAN we have compiled a list recommendations and best practices taken from the California Department of Social Services, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and other national organizations with a focus on parents and nannies working together.
This article should be used for informational purposes only and cannot take the place of state or local laws and guidance.
Create a Return to Work Strategy
We recommend parents and nannies schedule a meeting and make decisions together about a return to work strategy to ensure there is consistency, transparency, ongoing communication and best practices to ensure everyone is healthy and safe from the spread of the virus.
Be flexible in the strategy to include those considerations a nanny may need based on her personal and family life. Nannies that are in a high health risk category or living with someone who is or have children at home that need care may have specific requests, such as a reduced work schedule, consideration to not do specific household responsibilities or a temporary delay in returning to work.
GTM Payroll has a list of FAQs with Federal laws about employing a nanny during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Hand in Hand, the Domestic Worker Network has a list of fair practices and procedures that can supplement those below. Inceptive.org has great resources for parents about hiring a nanny, which can supplement those below.
Screening Procedures
To keep everyone safe, consider the following screening procedures to detect early a potentially ill family member or nanny. Parents and nannies should discuss and be in agreement on these.
· Discuss an arrival protocol with your nanny which includes hand washing, temperature checks, and may include leaving shoes outside, a change of clothing or more.
· Ask the nanny to screen themselves prior to coming to your home. If they or anyone in their home has a temperature of 100.4°F/38°C, they should not come to work.
· Nannies should take their temperatures when arriving to work and before beginning care.
· Parents must notify the nanny if children have taken any fever reducing medications in the prior 24 hours.
· It is recommended as a best practice to take children’s temperature each morning, preferably with a no-touch thermometer. The no touch thermometer needs to be wiped with an alcohol wipe after each use.
· If a thermometer requiring a touch-method (under the tongue or arm, forehead, etc.) is used, it should only be used when a fever is suspected, properly cleaned and disinfected after each use.
· Nannies should monitor themselves and children throughout the day for any signs of possible illness.
· With regard to share care arrangements, all families should have a daily wellness check-in and follow the same protocols.
Social and Physical Distancing
Social and physical distancing requires all individuals to keep physical space between themselves to prevent the spread of the disease. For families and nannies, it requires
· Avoiding group activities (playgrounds, play dates etc.)
· Limiting the number of people coming into your home (housecleaners, repair persons, contractors, etc.)
· Maintaining six feet of distance between every individual, as much as possible.
· Alternate with indoor and outdoor play whenever possible.
Practice Healthy Hygiene
• Teach, model, and reinforce healthy habits and social skills.
• Explain to children why it’s not healthy to share drinks or food, particularly when sick. HiMama has guidelines and resources on how to talk to kids about COVID-19.
• Practice frequent hand washing by teaching a popular child-friendly song or counting to 20 (hand washing should last 20 seconds).
• Teach children to use a tissue to wipe their nose and to cough inside their elbow.
• Model and practice hand washing before and after eating, after coughing or sneezing, after playing outside, and after using the bathroom.
Keeping your Home Environment Safe
• Implement procedures to frequently clean all touched surfaces. This includes door handles, light switches, kitchen cabinetry and appliances.
• Have a variety of toys accessible that are easy to clean and sanitize them throughout the day.
• Designate a tub for toys that need to be cleaned and wiped after use.
• With regard to share care arrangements, encourage children to have toys or lovies specific to each location that stay there for the duration of care in that location. All personal items should go home at the end of the duration of care at that location and return sanitized.
• Refer to the CDC for detailed guidance on how to clean and disinfect your home and personal items.
Meal Times
• Practice proper hand washing before and after eating.
• All dishes and utensils should be sanitized after meals following CDC and CDPH COVID-19 food handling guidelines.
• Immediately clean and disinfect tables and highchairs after meals
TIFFAN encourages parents and nannies to work together in managing COVID-19 to ensure everyone stays healthy and safe from the spread of the virus.
Nanny Weekly Chat May 12th 6:30 PM
This week we will continue our discussion on best practices and guidelines for nannying during the pandemic. Whether it's sharing the care of children with parents working from home or communicating together to keep everyone safe from the spread of the virus, TIFFAN's Nanny-Pro team is ready to give support where needed. Register here
Making Plans, Paying Rent and Talking with Employers While Managing COVID-19
A Live Chat for Nannies
Tuesday, April 28th
6:30 - 7:30 PM
The Institute for Families and Nannies is hosting free weekly live chats to discuss all of your questions and concerns about your work and childcare during the pandemic.
This week we're talking about managing stress. There's lots of uncertainty ahead and finding new ways to work with kids under foot, employers working from home while getting income to pay rent has easily frazzled almost every nanny. In this chat we will talk about ways to know what you need now, what decisions you can make for now and how to talk with your employer about it .. while making sure to take care of yourself in the process. Your Nanny Pro team is here to discuss these questions and many others.
Please join us live or email us questions ahead of time to info@tiffan.org. We will read and answer as many as we can during the live chat.
Note: This is a free community event open to anyone, feel free to forward this invitation