How we check every helper.

💼 Why we ask past employers

A CV tells you what someone says about themselves. A past employer tells you what it was like to have them in their home: whether they turned up, how they were with the children, and whether they'd have them back.

So every work reference comes from someone who paid for the work:

• a household they worked for
• a creche, school or aftercare they worked at
• a parent whose child was in their care at a creche

Friends, family and character references don't count. Neither does work outside the home, like a job at a cafe.

📝 What a past employer tells us

Each past employer fills in a short form. It takes about three minutes, and they tell us:

• when the helper worked for them, and what the work was
• how they did on the basics, like being on time, honest, speaking up and being safe with children
• what stood out, and what they're like to work with
• a few lines in their own words, for households to read
• and the question that matters most: would they hire them again?

They can also tell us something just between us. That part never shows on the profile, and it helps us decide.

🔍 How we check a reference

We read every reference ourselves before it shows on a profile. We look for anything that doesn't add up, and if something doesn't, we ask questions before it goes live. We keep each past employer's details privately, so we know the reference is real.

We never change a past employer's words. What you read is what they wrote.

✅ Who gets listed

Not everyone gets in. Before households can see a helper, they need:

• At least one past employer who'd hire them again. Confirmed and checked by us.
• Recent work. Work that ended in the last two years, or is still going.

Helpers are only listed for the kind of help a past employer has confirmed. A sitter needs a reference from someone who paid them to house-sit or pet-sit. An au pair also needs a driver's licence we've seen.

Calendars count too. Helpers confirm their calendars regularly, and a calendar that hasn't been confirmed in the last two weeks can't be booked. So the days you see are days they're really free.

🔖 What you see on a profile

Every part of a profile says where its information came from:

• Employer confirmed means a past employer told us the dates and the work, and whether they'd hire them again.
• Seen by us means we've seen the certificate for that qualification.
• Trainer confirmed means the organisation that ran the course confirmed it.
• "From Nomsa" (or whatever their name is) means the helper told us this themselves. That's normal, not a warning sign. It just hasn't been checked.

Our free read How to choose the right nanny walks through a whole profile, part by part.

🔒 Why you don't see their names

On a profile, a past employer shows as "A household in Onrus" or "A creche in Hermanus". You won't see their name or phone number, and that's on purpose.

• People say more in private. A past employer who knows their name won't be on it can be open about what it was really like.
• It keeps them safe. Past employers are households like yours. They shouldn't get calls from strangers for doing someone a kindness.
• It's the part we've done for you. Phoning around references takes days, and people don't always pick up. We've already checked them, so you can read what past employers said and get on with booking.

If something on a profile matters to you and hasn't been checked, ask the helper about it when you meet.

⚠️ What we don't check yet

We'd rather you know exactly what's been checked than assume. We don't do:

• police clearance or Child Protection Register checks
• ID checks
• work permit checks, or whether someone is allowed to work in South Africa
• driving record checks

Our guide Before day one helps you plan that first meeting.

← More free reads and guides