A nanny contract is an employment agreement for a family hiring a nanny as a regular, ongoing caregiver — not a casual babysitter paid by the visit. It sets out an agreed salary and pay schedule, paid vacation and sick leave, the household employer's payroll tax obligations, the work schedule, and how much notice either side must give to end the arrangement. Download the ready-to-fill template below, or read the full clause checklist first — including what makes this different from a babysitting agreement.
A complete, ready-to-fill PDF — 10 clauses, blanks for every detail, and a signature block for both parties. Free, no email, no account. Read it and adapt it before you use it; the cover page explains what it can and cannot do for you.
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This document is a general-purpose template provided for information only. It is not legal advice, it does not create a lawyer–client relationship, and nobody has reviewed it against your situation.
Laws differ by country, state and province, and they change. A clause that is standard in one place can be unenforceable — or illegal — in another. Terms that are ordinary between two businesses can be void in a consumer or employment context.
Read every clause before you use it, fill in every blank, and delete anything that does not apply. For anything high-value, unusual, or that you could not afford to lose a dispute over, have a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction review it before it is signed.
This kind of document is regulated differently almost everywhere. Many places require specific notices, disclosures or statutory wording, and some make clauses like these unenforceable outright. Treat this template as a starting point to take to a local lawyer, not as a document to sign as-is.
Employer and nanny names, start date
Full legal name and address of the household employer and the nanny, and the date employment actually begins.
Children's details and duties
The names and ages of the children in the nanny's care, the core duties (feeding, school runs, homework, activities), and any household duties directly tied to the children.
Work schedule
Regular hours and days, expected weekly total, and how additional hours — evenings, weekends, travel with the family — are handled and paid.
Salary and pay schedule
An agreed salary or hourly wage, how and how often it's paid, and the overtime rate for hours beyond the regular schedule — not a casual per-visit rate.
Paid vacation and sick leave
How many paid vacation and sick days the nanny earns per year, how vacation is scheduled, and what happens to unused leave at year end.
Health and emergency information
Emergency contacts, the children's doctor, medications and allergies, and written authorization for the nanny to seek emergency medical care when the parents can't be reached.
Payroll taxes and withholding
A nanny is an employee, not an independent contractor — the household employer is responsible for payroll tax withholding, contributions and registration, which vary sharply by jurisdiction (see below).
Confidentiality
The nanny's duty to keep the family's private information, routines and the children's medical or behavioral details confidential — including on social media.
Termination notice
How much written notice either side must give to end the arrangement, what counts as cause for immediate termination, and what's paid out (final wages, accrued leave, notice pay) when it ends.
Governing law
Which jurisdiction's law applies, though mandatory local employment protections still apply regardless of what this clause says.
Signatures and date
Both parties sign and date the agreement. Until this happens, nothing in the document is binding.
Hiring a nanny makes the family a household employer in most jurisdictions, which usually comes with real obligations: withholding income tax and social security/insurance contributions from wages, matching or paying an employer share, registering with a tax or labor authority, and issuing wage statements or year-end tax forms. What exactly is required, at what earnings threshold, and how it is filed differs by country, and by state or province within a country.
Minimum notice periods, required paid leave, and severance on termination are set the same way — by the nanny's actual place of work, not by anything a template can decide. Some places treat domestic workers under a separate, sometimes more protective, set of labor rules than other employees.
Treat this template as a starting point that covers the ground common to nanny employment everywhere. Before the nanny's start date, confirm the specific payroll registration, withholding and minimum leave or notice requirements for your location — ideally with a qualified accountant, payroll service, or local employment lawyer.
Fill in the template above and send it to the nanny for signature with a free Evenseal account — 3 documents a month, no card required. They sign online and never need an account, and the finished file comes back sealed with an audit certificate showing who signed, when, and from where.
Not legal advice — payroll tax withholding, mandatory leave and notice requirements for domestic employees vary by country, state and province; confirm yours with a qualified professional before relying on this template alone.