Nanny Canada

Dear Sir/ Madam,

We most recently applied to sponsor a new nanny and I understand that it is now a requirement that sponsor families pay for this.
I am very happy to know that the nannies will now be covered in the event of an emergency! This is great news!

We are lucky, because most of our nannies stay with us a fairly long time and we take great pride in treating them fairly and with respect. We work really hard at having good relationships with our nannies, because that is the way we are and we want everyone to be happy at work and at home. The majority of our nannies have told us how much they learn from us, how much they know we care about them, and they know it is better to work at a good relationship for the long term, rather than not working at it and quitting and restarting jobs over and over again. All relationships take work, communication and understanding on both sides of the equation.

Previously a nanny we sponsored worked with us for a week and then quit.
Over the 8 years that we have hired nannies, I have come to learn that many of them already have family here which is great! However, we have also learned that many of the nannies who do have family here, are given advice that they just need to agree to the contract terms like the minimum wage standard to get sponsored and once they get here, they can just quit and find another family who is willing to pay them double that amount. They also agree to be flexible with their schedule, but then when they arrive here they refuse to work anything but Mon – Fri 9 – 5. As you know, by hiring 2 nannies at a time, we go out of our way to be fair and make sure we don’t ask too much of any one nanny. We follow all the rules of law and do the right thing. But our work does require flexibility. It does not seem fair to the sponsor family when the nannies sign a contract and agree to the terms, and yet has the intention to quit before they even get here and before they even give the family a chance.

Thus, when we have someone come to work for a few weeks, who does not even give us a chance, does not get to know us and just ups and quits after a week, we have to wonder about their motives. I am happy to pay for their flights and medical if they are willing to give us a chance, get to know us and work with us. When we have to pay out this additional money to them, it would seem to me, that there should be compensation to us for this expense if they turn around and quit as soon as they arrive.

My other concern is that if a nanny does that to us, and we have paid for their flight and temporary medical insurance, they should have to reimburse us for that cost. I am happy to pay for these things, as I pointed it out to our agency and your office that these girls were not being covered for temporary medical insurance, but it seems the scale has tipped outside what is fair if a nanny doesn’t have any intention to stay once they get here anyway.

Perhaps it could be regulated that if a nanny quits the sponsor family within a certain period of time after arriving in Canada, they have to reimburse that sponsor employer for the flight and temporary health care and the new employer who takes over their sponsorship has to pay them for those benefits?

Warm regards,

Diane

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Live-in caregivers are covered by the Employment Standards Act and Regulation.  These provisions include overtime pay, statutory holidays and holiday pay, annual vacations and vacation pay, and minimum wage.

As of May 1, 2011, minimum wage increased to $8.75 per hour. There are two scheduled increases as follows:

• November 1, 2011 – $9.50 per hour ;
• May 1, 2012 – $10.25 per hour.

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