Nanny blacklist seeks to root out bad, unqualified caregivers

The first names have been added to a nanny blacklist created by an alliance of 30 housekeeping service agencies in Shanghai to better regulate the market and deter unsuitable caregivers.

Agencies in the alliance will refuse to consider nannies placed on the list, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the city.

One of the blacklisted nannies presented a fake health certificate, while two others repeatedly failed to show up for interviews or scheduled jobs, said Xia Jun, president of the Shanghai Changning District Homemaking Service Association and an alliance founder.

"The 30 agencies in the alliance have roughly 1,000 nannies in Shanghai and nearly 10,000 all over the country, including some doing service for foreign families. Any nanny that is found by any of the agencies to encroach on the seven taboos will be blacklisted, and their information will be shared by the people in charge of the 30 agencies in a chat group on WeChat," Xia said.

In addition to nonattendance at job interviews and fabricating qualifications or resumes, the prohibited behaviors or "taboos" include refusing to pay a brokerage fee to the agency, borrowing money from employers, asking for more pay in the middle of a contract or leaving the job if a pay hike is not granted, Xia said.

"Some nannies exaggerated their experience or how many years they had worked and others borrowed money from their employer and didn't repay it. That's why we want to deter such people, and those with bad credit records, from the industry, thereby protecting the interest of our clients with our utmost efforts."

Nannies are in great demand in big cities. More than 20 percent of Shanghai families are using or plan to use nannies for at least a few hours every day, according to a poll conducted by the Family Development Research Center of Fudan University. The results of the poll, which surveyed nearly 2,300 households, were published in December.

"As aging quickly gathers pace and more couples plan to have another child, the nanny market will expand more rapidly," said Hu Zhan, an associate professor at the university's School of Social Development and Public Policy.