Being a nanny is a lot of hard work. There’s around-the-clock childcare on certain days, and some nannies actually live full-time in households. One nanny in Maine is telling her story after she says a family caused her an “incredibly traumatizing time” in her life. Their actions would make any nanny question if the job is worth it. You choose to dedicate your life caring for children and receive the world’s worst treatment from the adults in charge. This nanny is speaking up so she can warn nannies that they might miss some red flags like she did, and she wants them to stay aware. In doing so, they might avoid years of unexpected drama.
Allison (@allizsin) shared a TikTok video explaining how she nannied for a family several years ago, and they charged criminal and civil charges against her. She said she found a full-time nanny position with a 6-month-old child, a working mom, and an unemployed dad. She had two interviews with them before she was hired. However, she was instructed by the family not to tell the nanny agency they used that they had decided to hire her. She said this was the first red flag that she missed. This is so that they wouldn’t have to pay the nanny finder’s fee within the agency, saving them money. Along the way, there were many other red flags as well.
At the one-year mark of working with the family, they announced they were having a second son. Because of this, they would be moving to Georgia. Allison got a new nannying job but kept in touch. She mentioned to the family over the summer that she had free time during the summer months. They flew Allison down to their home in Georgia for six weeks so that she could nanny their two boys. However, they told her they would be paying her a flat rate for those six weeks, which Allison said should have been a red flag. This means that Allison may not get paid for every hour that she works. They explained that they would get her a rental car and she would have a credit card she could use.
Allison arrived and everything fell apart on her. She said they expected her to work 15-hour days and she never had a day off in six weeks. One time, she attempted to take a solo mall trip. The mother texted her after 45 minutes, telling her to come back. Her reason? She couldn’t get her own child to sleep and needed Allison’s help. Allison added that her entire time there left her, “mentally, emotionally exhausted.”
When it got closer to the time that Allison would head back home to Maine, the family started dropping hints that they wanted her to stay longer. She said, “I was not having that” and was excited to return home and get out of this nightmare. The family was upset about it but she went back home to Maine and continued to nanny for the other family. However, that wasn’t the last time she heard from the family. They called her and told her that she wasn’t permitted to use the credit card they promised her during her six-week stay. They told her she had an “outrageous” balance and they would be taking her to court.
Allison dealt with months and months of turmoil caused by this family. She was forced into a criminal lawsuit, which then led to a civil lawsuit. She eventually hired her own attorney. The attorney said they would help her get the charges dismissed and sue the family for fraud, malicious prosecution, and interfering for business relations. The last charge was added because the family actually contacted her other nanny position and got her fired. It seemingly never ended with these pieces of work.
Commenters couldn’t believe that such a horrific thing happened to this nanny. One person stated, “Oof, yeah a flat rate is super illegal. Nannies should be paid for every hour worked. Hope you got a bunch of money out of the settlement.” Another person suggested, “Sounds like they were spending money they didn’t have and tried to sue you to get the money they needed.” This ridiculous tale solidifies the fact that I will never be a nanny. But for those who are, hopefully they notice these red flags and demand better treatment.
