Nanny Agency JobsIf your replacement has not arrived for a ROTA changeover, promptly contact the parent or designated team lead to arrange backup coverage. State who is currently caring for the children and that the handover has not happened. An expected arrival time does not transfer responsibility.
Keep the children supervised while you seek a safe handover to a designated, authorized adult. That immediate priority does not settle how long you can work, what a changed shift means for pay or who must replace your travel booking. Those questions need their own explicit decisions.
Report the missing handover
Use the household's agreed contact route as soon as the delay affects the changeover. Include the planned handover time, the latest confirmed information and any immediate constraint on coverage. Say “I have not heard from the incoming nanny” if that is what you know; do not turn silence into a conclusion about their whereabouts or intentions.
Contacting the colleague may help establish an arrival estimate, but the parent or authorized lead needs to make the coverage decision. Avoid spending the whole interval trying to reach the replacement while the person responsible for arranging backup remains unaware.
An original message could read: “Our handover was scheduled for noon. The replacement has not arrived, and I am still caring for the children. Please confirm who will take over and when. My planned departure is affected; I need you to arrange the backup now.” Adapt the timing and constraints to the actual situation.
Keep a coverage status record
Use this short original NAJ record to distinguish an idea from an actual transfer. It is for the disrupted changeover, not a replacement for the full care handover.
| Status | Useful entry |
|---|---|
| Current care | Who is with the children now and where they are. |
| Decision requested | Parent or authorized lead contacted, time and the backup needed. |
| Proposed relief | Named adult, who authorized the arrangement and whether that adult has accepted. |
| Arrival pending | Latest confirmed estimate, remaining uncertainty and next contact. |
| Handover completed | Actual time and person who took responsibility after the relevant briefing. |
A message saying “someone is coming” leaves both the person's identity and their acceptance unresolved. Ask for those details. Do not hand the children to an unfamiliar or unauthorized person merely because they say they were sent to help.
Make your limits visible while requesting relief
Explain any fatigue, illness or other circumstance affecting your ability to continue safe care. Use the backup contact if the first contact does not respond. If there is an immediate safety emergency, follow the emergency procedure and seek appropriate urgent help; do not wait for a routine scheduling reply.
Do not leave a child unattended because the scheduled shift has ended. Equally, do not treat the delay as an agreement to provide indefinite cover. Keep asking the responsible adult for a concrete relief arrangement and make any limits explicit. This guide cannot decide employment obligations, compensation or the appropriate legal response to a particular dispute.
If you can consider a defined extension, state exactly what you can offer and obtain confirmation. Record actual work times through the normal process, without guessing how payroll will classify them. For wider changes to the rotation, use the schedule-change guide.
Finish with an actual transfer
Fictional example: Lee's replacement reports a delay with no reliable arrival time. Lee contacts the parent, who arranges for an already authorized backup caregiver to take over. Lee confirms the person and arrangement, gives the relevant current briefing when the caregiver arrives, and records the completed handover. The late colleague's eventual arrival is a separate transition.
After coverage is settled, address changed travel, expenses and work terms with the appropriate employer contact. Use the flight-disruption guide if travel caused the problem. Later, ask the household to improve the specific backup gap this event exposed. The ROTA handover guide covers that standing arrangement.
Sources
US Nanny Association: Code of Conduct supports active supervision, authorized care and professional role boundaries. INA: Recommended Practices for Nanny Employers, pages 3–4, supports written schedules and agreed changes. Checked October 30, 2026. Association guidance does not determine a legal duty to extend a shift. The record and scenario are original NAJ tools.