Nanny Agency JobsBefore accepting a booking involving household illness, ask what has been disclosed, which provider policy applies and who will resolve a change. “The child is a little unwell” does not tell you what the family is asking you to do or whether the agency has reviewed the situation. Get those practical answers before confirming that you can attend.
This guide concerns booking decisions and communication. It does not define when a child is well enough for care. Use the worksheet to identify unanswered questions, rather than turning a booking message into a diagnosis or a promise that you can handle an unfamiliar care request.
Start with the information behind the request
Ask the booking contact to explain the known situation and the proposed duties. Separate what the parent has reported from what the agency has confirmed. If you receive conflicting messages, send the discrepancy to the person coordinating the booking instead of choosing the more convenient version.
Useful opening questions include: “Has the household reported illness information relevant to this booking?”, “Has anything changed since the request was created?” and “What care is being requested beyond the original brief?” Describe your own availability and experience accurately. You can identify a question that needs resolving without supplying a medical opinion.
Keep information within the agreed booking channel. The goal is a useful briefing for the people arranging care, not a detailed household history circulating among other candidates.
Check this provider's policy and contact route
Ask for the current policy link and a named contact or support channel. Read it before accepting, including how to report new information and who records a cancellation or revised booking. Save the link with the booking reference so you can find it during a journey.
For example, Canadian provider Nannies on Call distinguishes a family cancelling, a nanny agreeing to proceed, and a nanny declining after learning of illness. Its instructions include a support contact. That is one provider's policy, not a rule for every agency or booking.
Ask your own provider which procedure applies to the situation described. Keep the decision about attending separate from questions about cancellation processing and any financial outcome. Request clarification of those terms rather than assuming that two different cancellation circumstances receive the same treatment.
Complete a booking clarification worksheet
This is an original NAJ planning worksheet. Record an answer, the person confirming it and anything still unresolved for each line.
- Current information: What has the household disclosed, and when was it last checked?
- Requested work: What would I be asked to do, and which request needs further explanation before I decide?
- Policy: Which provider policy covers this booking, and where can I read it?
- Update route: Who tells me if the situation changes before departure or while I am travelling?
- Decision contact: Who can resolve a question when the usual office contact is unavailable?
- Arrival: Which responsible adult will meet me, and when would responsibility for the children transfer?
- Changed booking: Who confirms whether it proceeds, changes or is cancelled, and where is that recorded?
- Outstanding terms: Which cancellation or payment question still needs a written answer from the provider?
A completed worksheet can still lead to a request for more information. Do not label a booking “confirmed” simply because the date and address are available. Record your actual response separately from the provider's acknowledgement.
Use a changed-information plan
Agree on the contact route before the journey. If an update arrives en route, tell the booking contact which information is new and ask for the next step. Keep the message factual: the earlier brief, the new information and the decision that remains unresolved.
If you discover a different situation on arrival, discuss it with the responsible adult and contact the provider before treating the original brief as settled. If care has already been handed over to you, a booking disagreement does not itself transfer responsibility back. Arrange an explicit handover to a responsible adult; do not leave a child unattended while administrative questions are being resolved.
For a later booking, ask that provider what information it needs about a possible change to your availability. Do not identify another family's child or forward their private messages. Keep each provider's instructions and each booking's confirmation separate.
Try a concise clarification message
Fictional example: Priya receives a request and asks for clarification of the household’s update. Before departure, the parent sends information that differs from the agency brief. Priya writes:
“Thank you for the update. The booking brief I received did not include this change. Before I confirm attendance, please clarify the requested care and the procedure for this booking. Who should I contact now, and who will confirm the outcome in the booking record?”
Priya records the answer and her own decision, then checks that the provider has acknowledged it. This example illustrates communication, not a medical assessment or a cancellation entitlement. For the broader arrangements around temporary coverage, use NAJ's backup nanny booking questions.
Sources
Nannies on Call: nanny-facing illness policy, reviewed 27 October 2026. Provider-specific policy example; the worksheet and fictional message are original NAJ editorial guidance.