Dear NYC area Nanny employers,
I recently had an incident whereby I required to search my nanny's quarters. I choose not to go in the specifics of that now, however in her possessions, I did discover some disturbing paperwork, best titles anti employer propoganda. I think we should all beware that such nannies exist and operate under the acronym "BNG". I do not know what that stands for. I saw a piece of paper suggesting that nanny's should safeguard their economic status by photographing contents of employer's homes, including desks, computer searches and bedside drawers. This document was crudely written. I am not saying that all nannies are in to this, but you know how word travels in nanny circles. I think employers should safeguard themselves against such domestic terrorism. I was hesitant to take too many documents as she might notice, but I did grab this one:
<---Click on document to view full sized.
38 comments:
I am going to guess that you are not happy with your nanny for some reason, which is likely why you were searching her room. (And you might want to contact a housing lawyer to see what laws you broke by doing that, and how much crap nanny can cause you when she finds out. Just saying.)
I am also going to extrapolate that a nanny whose behavior might cause an employer to search her room may be the sort of nanny who is nanny-cammed. Why? Because many times parents choose to nanny-cam instead of doing their due diligence (i.e., careful screening, thorough reference checking, etc.) when hiring.
So, if you have a nanny you distrust, it's not exactly shocking to hear that your nanny has items in her room that unnerve you. I think calling this document "domestic terrorism" is a bit much, but that's just me.
So, OP, let the nanny go. Naturally, any other parents who distrust their nannies may be very excited to hear that there may be mischief afoot, and I am sure they will occupy themselves with "anti-terrorism measures", although that seems like a mighty big waste of time.
Maybe instead of worrying about whether your/their belongings are being photographed and taking extreme precautions, you/they could spend that time either WITH your children, or appropriately screening your next nanny candidates?
And now I may try briefly to puzzle out what "BNG" means....
Bring Nanny Goodies?
Buy Nice Gum?
Baby Name Game?
Brand New Gangster?
Brand Name Girl?
Boys Not Girls?
Breakers Not Gone?
Big Nanny Gang, Bayside Nanny Gangsters, Bad Not Good.....................
What is making nanny so paranoid that she needs to search for a nanny cam?
Taking pictures of employers private things can mean she intends to blackmail if need be. Get rid of her now!
I don't get it. was the paper like, a plan for a bomb? the nanny is a terrorist?
This post scared me. I think it's in code.
You do realize going into your nanny's room without her permission when no emergency existed, searching through her things and stealing from her-even if it's only a photograph or instruction sheet, could quite possibly be against the law in your area.
That said the first thing that ran through my mind is she's possibly setting the house up for a future robbery?
The second thing I thought of is she might be writing a mystery novel and is doing research. As an amateur writer/filmmaker myself I possess all sorts of information that have most people thinking I'm a freak at best a serial killer at worst. But that's what you get when you stick your nose where it shouldn't be. My favorite incident was a nosy houseguest, sneaking through my home and going through my things when I was out,coming across pictures of a "beheading" I had done special effects for a very low budget horror film and made up a murder scene then captured each stage of the kill/dismemberment in photos. Hr reaction or should I say, her attempt to not act differently after what she had discovered was priceless!
Lastly, I considered she plans to protect herself in case she gets screwed over by you. Perhaps that's been done in the past and she thinks having pictures of legal documents and sex toys might be good blackmail material in case you let her go without severance.
Either way maybe you should start looking for a new nanny. Although if you are the type of person who invades your nanny's privacy, and steals from them, they might have good reason to want to try to protect themselves. If you don't like her let her go but stop snooping through her stuff!
good points, unome.
I think that in all seriousness, a nanny looking at articles on where a nannycam is located is not all that strange. I have been a nanny in the past and have wondered where nannycams may be, and have searched for them. I don't have much against nannycams, (outside of the fact that it means you don't trust the person you hire to care for your kids and probably did not do your homework on them in the first place) but I do have a problem with people having nannycams without the nanny's permission.I think a parent should tell the nanny if they are being taped. otherwise it's just creepy and wrong.
snooping in your nanny's room? bad. wrong. unethical.
yes, OP, you should get rid of this nanny and then bring your child to a childcare center. Then you will not have to worry about any of these issues. Plus, there will always be other people around and documentation about what goes on daily.
I don't think a person who thinks it's ok to snoop in their nanny's room should have a nanny.
Holy shit.
Why have someone LIVE IN YOUR HOUSE that you don't trust?
Why LIVE IN SOMEONE'S HOUSE that you don't trust?
I don't understand the relationships between live-in nannies who hate their jobs and employers who are suspicious of their live-in nannies.
Let me reiterate:
Don't live in someone's house THAT YOU DON'T TRUST. Don't let someone that YOU DON'T TRUST live in your house!
Be careful doing that since some cams are battery-operated.
I think if you can't trust your nanny, you should replace her. I just wonder how you treated her, as she feels in a defensive position.
Nannies are assisting in raising your children. You should treat your nanny as well as you treat your children.
She not a housekeeper, washing your underwear and chasing dust bunnies. There is such a HUGE difference. Your nanny is helping to make you child what s/he will be as an adult. Your trust and affection for her should be just a start.
Ok – First off the OP didn’t tell us why she searched the room but I’m assuming that she had cause. The paper that she found was disturbing to say the least. It seems to be instructing the Nanny to send photos of the homeowners electronic equipment to the author of the paper. This is under the pretense that they will help the Nanny determine if there is surveillance equipment in the house; but who knows if that is true. They also instruct the Nanny to photograph legal documents. I can’t think of any reason to do this except for blackmail or identity theft. Lastly, turning off all the circuit breakers in a house is not a good idea. Some systems may need to be manually restarted when power is restored.
The OP seems a little strange, but the document is very alarming. I would confront the Nanny and deal with any repercussions that come from searching a room in my own home.
So...you are upset that your nanny suspected you were snooping on her. And you found out she suspected this by snooping on her. I'd say you have a problem. Good luck finding a new nanny.
Only Dad,
Why do you assume OP had just cause to search a nanny's private quarters?
I would not assume that at all.
And this document does not prove that the nanny in question did any of these things. People research the internet on all kinds of things: and many many things pop up. I think OP would have a hard time proving that the nanny has done anything but researched this topic.
Many documents and things found in a private room are "alarming" when taken out of context. And this piece of text was certainly taken out of context.
also:
anon, you wrote: "this doesn't appear to be 'instructions for protecting a nanny' as much it appears someone is collecting information for criminal purposes."
the title of the doc is "is your boss using a nanny cam: find out."
I think that pretty much sums it up. I personally think this is very interesting. If I were a nanny, I might very well try the circuit breaker thing. although I would not print up a hard copy, as we can see how many people think they have "just cause" to search their nanny's rooms.
That's a fabulous idea to turn off the circuit breaker, and take pictures of your employer's personal items, legal documents, etc. You never know when you'll be needing to blackmail your boss...so having all of those ducks in a row now is a super idea. Just be careful that you don't do it too often, or your employer may suspect that something's amiss.
I was thinking the same thing. I'm definitely printing out those instructions so I can try it, too. I just wonder where I should mail the pictures so they can help me spot those nanny cams.
I don't know. Maybe you can google it and find out who published the leaflet...then, you'll know where to send the photos. I guess they must know what every nanny cam device looks like.
It says that leaflet us from a page 7...maybe there's a bigger book filled iwth more good ideas for snooping on your boss. I'll have to see what I can find out.
Anonymous said...
i'd be interested in seeing some of the other paperwork. this doesn't appear to be 'instructions for protecting a nanny' as much it appears someone is collecting information for criminal purposes.
what's alarming is the point about saying 'what's what'. it indicates to me that the nanny is only a part of the organization. if they're that organized, they also probably have a system set up for making bogus references to get placed.
Oct 16, 2009 3:12:00 PM
I never said I would collect personal information about my employers were I a nanny. I said that I would try the circuit breaker trick to see if I could find nanny cams.
would I ever steal from someone? no. would I want to know if I were being filmed without my knowledge? yes.
just to be clear.
minutemuggle, the picture is only 1 page. a lot of nannies wanting to get this inf would download it from the web ... that page was custom made. i also suspect is was made outside of the us.
my advice to this person is to contact the appropriate authorities--not the cops, but the district attorney's office.
First of all this could very well be a scam TARGETING nannies (and their employers) to get pictures of the interiors of houses. I wonder if while submitting the information to the website you have to fill in one of those forms where you enter your address. Or perhaps that is why they want you to photograph legal documents, the address would be found on those as well. Could prelude robbery.....or worse. Just imagine they would know the interior of the house, the address and that there is a young woman (stereotypically) home there with children for most of the day.
Also: To O.D.H,
"I would confront the Nanny and deal with any repercussions that come from searching a room in my own home."
Just because you own the home does not give you the right to search a room that is being lent out as per an agreement. You cannot rent out a room (or apartment or home) that you own and expect to be able to search it whenever you see fit just because you own it. They are your tenant, not your guest. That is just despicable.
So is labeling this terrorism, OP, you are stupid.
You can do ANYTHING you want inside of your home. If the nanny is a tennant and has a RENTAL agreement, she may have some protection. I had a wonderful nanny candidate years back who demanded such a document. There was no way I was going to open the door for some domestic to squat on my property. Once you let someone in as an actual renter, you have no rights. It will take you six months to get rid of them. Do not do it. Embrace your role as homeowner and employer. The power is yours. Don't let a bunch of militant nannies scare you stupid.
Brooklyn Nanny Group
Helaine,
you are such a bitch all the time! geez! you should be banned from having...well...anything. Like, just banned. period.
I have seen this document before, but cannot for the life of me remember where! I've been trying everything I can to think of the site, but can't remember. I believe there was (not sure if it is still around) a website that would highlight funny/silly/grossly misspelled documents and letters that people received. I recall seeing this document on that website along with a letter from a nanny to her employer threatening to quit over various issues. I don't think it was a site specifically about childcare, but rather a variety of topics.
I think many of the letters posted were PDFs (as this appears to be) which is why the text won't show up on a google search. I strongly suspect that this has been around for years and is just printed from that or a similar site. I doubt it represents anything more sinister than an annoyed nanny.
agreed, nyc mom!
My opinion, for what it's worth, it does seem that the purpose of these documents are malicious however, we don't know why the nanny in question had possesion of the documents. It also seems that the OP doesn't feel confident enough in the validity of the reason that she searched her nanny's room in the first place, otherwise she would have shared that. I'm actually wondering if this is the same employer who posted last month about finding a vibrator in her nanny's room. The nanny's room is her PRIVATE space. PERIOD.
Interestinly enough, a google search on "BNG" + "nanny" found an entry from this very site back in 2008.
http://isawyournanny.blogspot.com/2008/09/head-honcho-takes-advantage-of-ex-nanny.html
connor said...
sell their secrets. blackmail them. hopefully you protected yourself by taking photographs of their personal effects. an organization in nyc called the BNG represents nannies who are shat on like this and helps them get revenge. warning: you cant play fair with cheaters.
Not very much info but it's a start.
Brooklyn Nanny Gangsters? Badass Nanny Guerrillas?
If this isn't something posted on the net as a joke, and the nanny takes it seriously it is troubling, but so is an employer sneaking into a nanny's room, snooping through her personal papers, and stealing her property.
I see no evidence here that the nanny has done anything wrong. Having such information does not mean she acted on it in any way.
It does seem to indicate, however, a definite lack of trust between nanny and employer, that nanny would even want to research these possibilities, and that OP would search her room. I could totally see myself in the nanny's position, and that is why I would never want to be a live-in nanny. I can handle being filmed with or w/o my knowledge at my workplace, but not in my own home.
Final note: I find it dispicable when employers have live-in nannies and then act as if it is not the nanny's home as well.
"I am not saying that all nannies are in to this, but you know how word travels in nanny circles. "
And you just helped it spread even quicker!
Seriously, if you don't trust your nanny why is she still caring for your children?
And I agree with some above posters, you probably didn't have a legal and valid reason to search her room or else you would have said what it is.
I always expected that my first nanny employers might have a nanny cam, because otherwise I had no idea how they could know that I was doing
"such a good job." It led me to be a bit paranoid...and would occasionally scan the house for where a cam could possibly be. I never figured it out, but I doubt they did! I think it is something that all nannies wonder at one point or another. I don't see a problem with nanny camming, as long as the nanny knows. At my current job, where I work with a 9 mo old, I really doubt they have a cam...but I am constantly finding that I hope that they do not because they would probably be getting a bunch of shots of my butt crack etc. as I walk the baby around the house holding on to his hands (no hands to pull up the pants! haha). I would definitely never do anything to find one though, other than the casual glancing around for possibilites. As long as I am doing my job well, it only benefits me to have them know it (except, of course, for the possibly slightly embarrassing things that may be caught on tape, ie. adjusting clothing, being outlandishly silly playing with the baby etc.)
Anyway, I don't think anything about this situation is very good. That document is fishy... the nanny doesn't seem very bright (if she would actually take that seriously!) and the OP sounds like an untrusting and excessive employer.
It looks like a snailmail Nigerian 419 Scam.
May I ask OP if your nanny is...one of the duller crayons in the box?
Another thing to consider. If there are cameras in the home, wouldn't they show the nanny searching for the circuit breakers and then plunging the house into darkness when she flipped the switches?
Kinda of tough to explain that one.
I am with Only Dad.
The OP may have had a good "reason" to go into the room, she may have not had one. Either way the OP is asking about the paper and it does look like a an illegal method of gathering intelligence on a household. Also as he stated; turning the power off can cause certain systems to have to be rebooted or restarted.
I am guessing here: The timer on your alarm system. The pass code to the alarm system etc... It may set off the alarm and become a nuisance, until it is turned off by the home owner and then needs to be reset by the alarm company.
All either break into someone's home or if the information was uploaded to a website, get access to their documents. Which can also have pass codes as well as financial records and passwords in them.
This is NOT an innocent piece of paper if it is for real. To someone who brings in a relative unknown and is supposed to treat them like family, this would be a HUGE breach of trust. Not that the OP did not breach the Nannies trust by entering their room.
Wow, I'm a nanny and please just let me reassure you and other employers reading this comment that I've never heard of anything like this. I would never dream of going through through an employer's personal items, let alone photographing them or potentially destroying anything. Bad idea.
um, wow. That is a little scary. I guess it is just telling the nanny how to find the camera, I wonder what other documents she has?
To those who think a person has the right to search a nanny's room because it's their house: Incorrect.
This is totally illegal.
I've looked into the legal issues of live-in nannies pretty extensively, and gone to conferences and workshops.
A live-in nanny is legally considered a renter. That's right. Because her room is part of her salary, she is legally considered a renter - it is counted as being paid for.
Legally, an employer cannot enter a nanny's room without at least 24 hours notice, or an emergency (such as a fire). An employer cannot EVER search a nanny's room (which is not the same as entering, obviously).
Just so we're clear. This search was illegal, and if the nanny finds out this OP can absolutely be prosecuted.
As a live-in nanny I had reason to believe my employer was entering my room and rifling through my drawers (I have yet to have an employer complain about me, and I've never been fired - he was just nosy). So I bought a nanny cam for my room (yes - totally legal since it was considered my legal residence as long as I was paying for it with my work). It turned out he WAS going into my room, looking through my DVDs, etc. I never pressed charges or even confronted him, because I didn't want the hassle, and I figured it was pretty innocuous so I wasn't that concerned.
But if this nanny has taken the same precautions against illegal entry that I took, this OP could be in legal trouble.
she's still taking care of your kids?
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