Nanny&Me

There are three types of Police Checks:

1) A Certified Criminal Record Check. Certainly less common for caregivers, but can be requested by prospective employers or landlords, or during an adoption process, for example. This type of police check can provide one of two outcomes (one which provides only an approval/rejection status, and a fingerprint version which offers a full summary of criminal offences). This type of check is done by a an accredited third-party service agency, not the police department. 

2) A Vulnerable Sector Check. This is a scan done by the local police department to confirm that an individual has no criminal record, and has not been pardoned for any sexual offences. This type of police check is done for both prospective employees and volunteers whom will be working with vulnerable persons. Some examples of people who must provide a Vulnerable Sector Check include: someone volunteering on the board of an organization supporting persons with disabilities, teachers, caregivers, social workers. Vulnerable persons include children, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities. This type of police check would be the one most commonly sought out by families employing live-out nannies. 

3) A Police Certificate. This type of record check provides confirmation/statement that an individual has no criminal record. This is intended for individuals who are seeking employment or volunteer opportunities with an organization requiring a review of police information, but not requiring a check specific to vulnerable persons. If you are hiring a live-in nanny, then lucky for you, you don't need to worry about police checks because live-in caregivers are required to provide a police certificate for every country they've lived in for more than 6 months since the age of 18 in order to obtain their work permit. I conducted some research to better understand the disrepancy between the requirement of a Vulnerable Sector Check vs. that of a Police Certificate, but because foreign workers obtain the police certificates from their home countries (which do not offer Vulnerable Sector Checks) the requirement is just a standard Police Certificate.  

It's really up to you to decide whether or not a police check is something that you would like from a prospective nanny. If you decide that it is something that is important to you then be upfront with your nanny candidates about this. You can expect that they be caught off guard by your request, but this could be a very natural response if they've never had anyone ask for one. You can simply explain that police checks (specifically Vulnerable Sector Checks) are quite standard and while it may not be as common for a private family employing a nanny to ask for one, they are certainly required in other childcare settings.

I hope this answers all of your police check quandaries, but don't hesitate to comment below if you have a question that wasn't covered.