Have Questions About Tandem?
We have the answers you are looking for. Here are the most commonly asked questions from families looking to hire a child care provider through Tandem.
As a family, do I need to sign up for a debit card in order to use Tandem services?
No, Tandem debit cards are only for providers. The cards allow them to receive 100% of their earnings and make the payment process easier for you (the parent). Paying your sitter, nanny, or tutor is fast and easy. After you’ve signed up for Tandem, you can connect a bank account or credit card. We will send you a notification to pay your sitter after each scheduled job ends (on the payment schedule you choose). You can edit the times of the job or the total pay. You also have the option to add a tip or a reimbursement if a sitter spent their money on something related to the job.
Do your babysitters and nannies help with schooling as well?
Yes, while specifying your needs you can indicate that you’d like a tutor or educator. More times than not, providers can help with school related and unrelated tasks. Requesting a tutor or educator specifically ensures that the person has interest and experience in these domains.
How do I request a child care provider that works with children with special needs?
Booking a child care provider that has experience with special needs children is simple. Login to your account at www.sitticonnect.com and fill out a sitter request form. Fill out a one time or recurring form based on your needs, and we’ll promptly send your request to sitters who fit your preferences. Be sure to include that you are looking for someone with special needs experience in your preferences. On the applicants profiles, you can see if their experience aligns with your needs.
How do I know that the babysitter or nanny I book will be reliable and show up?
How is Tandem different from other babysitting and nannying services like care.com or sittercity.com?
How can I trust who is taking care of my child?
We encourage our families to form connections with our babysitters, nannies, and tutors- we hope you want to use them next time! You can select the name of a past child care provider when you fill out a request form. The request will be sent to your preferred providers first. Tandem uses Evident to background check our babysitters, nannies, and tutors. Child care providers are checked through a national criminal search, their current county of residence, sex offender registry, and domestic and global terrorist watchlists. All child care providers are scanned for any offenses within the last 7 years. The check will identify an offense in any jurisdiction a sitter has a record in. If a babysitter, nanny, or tutor is on our platform, that means that their background check came back completely clean, with no identified offenses. Child care providers can choose to request a copy of their background check and share it with families by using this form- https://www.evidentid.com/support/individual/.
Can I get a babysitter or nanny if I stay at home?
Many parents hire child care help while they are working from home, or if they do not work, and are just at home getting stuff done. Get a babysitter for a few hours and go get coffee, meet your spouse or some friends for lunch, enjoy your favorite hobby. See first hand how hiring a Tandem sitter helped one local mom working from home be able to focus and relieve some stress.
“When I first started staying home with my kids I had the “I can do it all” mindset and while I can a lot, I can’t do it all and do it all well. I’ve accepted that sometimes I need to ask for help. Once I got past my initial “I can do it all” mindset I started LOVING the freedom that hiring a babysitter through Tandem would bring. I was able to get work done, attend a therapy session, or run errands while the kids were happy! My cup was full because I wasn’t as stressed and the kids were happy and my to-do list was shorter.” Read the full blog here.
How do you vet and background check your babysitters, nannies, and tutors?
Tandem uses Evident to run a basic background check on all of our babysitters, nannies, and tutors. Additionally, all providers submit a reference when they sign up. Their reference must verify their reliability before they can apply to jobs on the platform. Providers can also choose to strengthen their reputation by completing additional safety checks. Request that your provider get a MVR report, an identity verification, or a standard background check.
Should I hire a child care provider to come into my home during COVID-19?
It is of utmost priority to Tandem to ensure that Tandem families and sitters feel comfortable and confident using our service, knowing that we have encouraged and required COVID-19 preventive measures. We hope Tandem can make this incredibly apprehensive time a little less stressful. In order to continue to facilitate the connection between families and child care providers during this time, we are requiring that all users follow our COVID-19 protocol. We strive to keep all Tandem families and providers as safe and at-ease as possible during this overwhelming time.
