How to Verify a Nanny, Driver or House Help Before Hiring Them

How to Verify a Nanny, Driver or House Help Before Hiring Them

Hiring someone to work in your home is different from hiring for most other roles. A nanny may spend hours with your children. A driver may know your daily movements. A house help may have regular access to rooms, belongings and other people in the household.

References and recommendations can help you decide whether someone seems suitable for the job, but they don't establish the person's identity. Someone may come recommended by a friend, relative or agent and still need to have their identity checked independently. Identity verification doesn't replace interviews, references or background screening. It serves a more specific purpose: helping establish that the person you're considering is actually connected to the identity they've provided.

This guide looks at where identity verification fits when hiring domestic staff, what other checks can and cannot tell you, and how to verify someone before the working relationship begins.

Hiring Through a Recommendation? Verify Independently

Domestic hiring often runs on personal networks.

A friend may recommend a nanny who previously worked for another family. An agent may introduce a house help. A relative may know a driver looking for a new position.

Those introductions are useful, but they shouldn't be expected to do more than they actually can. A recommendation can tell you how someone performed in a previous role or why another person trusts them. It doesn't independently confirm the identity of the person you're now considering.

This matters even more when the recommendation has passed through several people. You may trust the person who made the introduction without knowing what, if any, identity checks were completed before the worker reached you. Treat the recommendation as one part of the hiring decision and verify identity separately.

Know What Each Check Actually Tells You

“Verification” can mean several things when hiring domestic staff. Understanding the difference helps you avoid expecting one check to answer questions it wasn't designed to answer.

These checks can complement one another, but they aren't interchangeable.

A positive reference doesn't verify someone's identity. Identity verification doesn't tell you whether they were good at their previous job. And for someone being hired as a driver, establishing identity doesn't replace checking the driving credentials required for the role.

Verify Identity Before Relying on the Rest

Suppose someone applies to work as a nanny and provides the contact details of a previous employer.

You call. The reference is excellent. They confirm that the nanny worked with their family and speak highly of the experience.

That's useful information. But you still want confidence that the employment history you're hearing about belongs to the person you're considering.

The same principle applies to other information provided during hiring. References, employment history and supporting documents become more useful when you've established whose information you're actually reviewing.

This is particularly relevant when the worker was introduced through an agent or another intermediary. Rather than assuming identity has already been checked somewhere earlier in the process, you can verify it as part of your own hiring decision.

Complete the Right Checks Before Work Begins

Different domestic roles involve different kinds of access.

• A nanny may be responsible for children and spend significant time in the home.
• A driver may be given access to a family vehicle and information about regular journeys or schedules.
• A house help may work throughout the home and have access to personal spaces and belongings.

That doesn't mean identity verification needs to happen before you've even spoken to the person. You can interview them, discuss the role and decide whether you want to continue. But once you're seriously considering hiring them, the checks you've decided are necessary should be completed before the responsibilities and access associated with the role begin.

For a driver, that may include both identity verification and the relevant driving credentials. For another domestic role, references or additional screening may also form part of the decision. The important distinction is that each check has its own purpose.

If Something Doesn't Add Up, Resolve It First

Imagine the name given during the initial conversation doesn't match the identity information presented later.

That doesn't automatically mean the person has been dishonest. There may be an error or another explanation that needs clarification.

But a recommendation isn't a reason to ignore the difference either. Ask about the discrepancy and review the information before proceeding. If a verification couldn't be completed, understand what prevented it before deciding whether another attempt makes sense.

The same principle applies to other inconsistencies you encounter during hiring: clarify first, then decide how to proceed based on the information available to you.

Be Deliberate About Where Identity Documents Go

Informal hiring can easily lead to informal handling of personal information. An ID is sent through WhatsApp. Someone saves it to their phone. It gets forwarded to another family member or back to the agent who introduced the worker. Soon, copies of the document exist in several places even though nobody intentionally designed the process that way.

You can still use WhatsApp or your usual channels to arrange interviews, speak with the worker and discuss the role. Identity verification can happen separately rather than requiring documents to move back and forth through those conversations. That keeps the focus on verifying the person rather than simply collecting another photograph of their ID.

Verify Domestic Staff With CheckIn

Once you've decided to move forward with a prospective nanny, driver, house help or other domestic worker, CheckIn can be used to complete the identity-verification part of the process.

Instead of asking the person to send their identity documents through your personal chats, you send them a CheckIn verification link. They complete the required checks from their phone, and you review the result before they begin work.

The rest of the hiring decision remains yours. You can interview the person, speak with previous employers and conduct any other checks you consider appropriate for the role.

CheckIn helps you establish something more specific before that relationship begins: the identity of the person you're hiring.
Verify domestic staff with CheckIn