Is There a Minimum Length of Employment When You Hire?

What "commitment" means in a placement, what is expected of each side, and why the aim is years, not a contract clause.

Families often ask whether there is a required minimum length of employment when they hire through us, a set term they or the professional must commit to. It is a sensible question, and the answer is less about a rigid contractual minimum than about the kind of relationship a placement is meant to be.

We place for the long term by intention. Our entire approach, recruiting to genuine fit, vetting rigorously, accepting fewer than 1 in 10 applicants, is built to produce placements that endure, and ours stay an average of more than five years. So while the specifics of any commitment are set out in the work agreement between you and the professional, the spirit of every placement is longevity. We are not in the business of short-term staffing; we are in the business of finding someone who becomes a lasting part of your household.

In practice, the expectations on both sides are addressed in the work agreement rather than imposed as a blanket rule. A full-time placement typically contemplates an ongoing, indefinite employment relationship, not a fixed short term, and both family and professional enter it intending it to last. The agreement defines the terms, including any notice each side will give if the relationship does end, which is the more meaningful protection than a forced minimum term: it ensures an orderly transition rather than locking unwilling people together.

It is worth understanding what our guarantee adds here, because it speaks to commitment from our side. We stand behind full-time placements for a full year: if a placement does not work out for performance-based reasons within that year, we conduct a replacement search at no additional placement fee. That is our commitment to the placement's success, and it is why we have every incentive to match for genuine, lasting fit rather than simply filling a role.

For roles that are inherently temporary or seasonal, a newborn care specialist engaged for the early months, a seasonal hire for a summer or ski season, a travel nanny for a defined trip, the arrangement is, of course, structured for that defined period, and the expectations are set accordingly. The point is that the length suits the nature of the role.

So there is no arbitrary minimum we impose on you. What there is, instead, is a shared intention that the placement last, a work agreement that sets out the terms and notice clearly, and a guarantee that aligns our interests with a lasting result. The goal is never to bind anyone to a number, but to make a match good enough that both sides want it to continue for years. It is the standard we hold at Nannies + more…® on every search.