SwingSitters

Community Standards

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These standards apply to everyone who uses SwingSitters, parents and sitters alike. They are part of the Terms of Service. Sitters also follow the fuller code of conduct in the Sitter Agreement.

1. This is childcare, and only childcare

  • Sitters look after children. They are never guests and never part of a parent's social plans.
  • Zero tolerance. No sexual advance, invitation, comment or exposure toward a sitter, by a parent or by anyone in the home, at any time. One report is enough for us to act, and the consequence is permanent removal from SwingSitters.
  • The same applies in the other direction: sitters do not make advances toward parents or anyone in the home.
  • Messages stay on the subject of the booking. No sexual content, no invitations, no soliciting of any kind.

2. Care happens at home

  • Care takes place only in a family home, or a hotel room registered to the parent.
  • Never at a venue, club, party or event, and never in a room attached to one.
  • No more than four children per sitter, or two if any child is under 12 months, including on shared sits.
  • Overnight bookings are only for sitters aged 21 or older, with a proper place for the sitter to sleep.

3. Children come first

  • Anyone can and should call 911 in an emergency and report suspected abuse or neglect of a child to the authorities. Confidentiality never stands in the way of that, and we never penalise a report made in good faith.
  • A report should concern a child's safety or welfare. A parent's lawful, consensual adult relationships are not a child-welfare concern.
  • Parents: keep pools, firearms, medication and other hazards locked or secured, and say so truthfully.
  • Sitters: no alcohol, cannabis or other intoxicating substances before or during a booking; no visitors; no physical punishment, ever.
  • At the end of a booking, children are handed only to an authorised adult who is able to care for them. Otherwise the sitter stays and the emergency contact is called.

4. Be honest

  • Parents: give a complete, truthful brief every time. A real return time, a phone you will answer, an emergency contact who is not out with you, accurate ages, allergies and medical needs, and everyone who will be in the home.
  • Sitters: a truthful profile, real references, a current certificate, and prompt notice of anything that would change your screening.
  • Reviews are honest, based on a real booking, and about the childcare.

5. Privacy runs both ways

  • Sitters do not ask where parents are going, and keep everything they learn about a family confidential.
  • Parents do not share a sitter's phone number, photo or personal details, and do not contact a sitter about anything other than childcare.
  • Nobody reveals, hints at or speculates about another person's private life, in a review, a message or anywhere else. Outing someone, or threatening to, means permanent removal.
  • Parents must disclose any camera or recording device in the brief. Cameras are never allowed in a bathroom or in the room where an overnight sitter sleeps. Covert recording of a sitter is prohibited.
  • Sitters take no photos, video or audio in the home and post nothing about a booking.
  • Use contact details and addresses only for the booking they were given for.

6. Respect, and no judgment

  • Treat each other courteously, including when plans change or something goes wrong.
  • No harassment, threats, intimidation or abusive language.
  • No discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, colour, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital or relationship status, family structure, or any other characteristic protected by law.
  • Families and adults arrange their lives in many ways. On SwingSitters nobody is asked to explain theirs.

7. Fair dealing

  • Parents: come home when you said, or say so early and expect to pay overtime. Do not ask a sitter to do work outside childcare.
  • Sitters: arrive on time, check in and out accurately, and cancel as early as you can if you must.
  • Bookings arranged through SwingSitters are booked and paid through SwingSitters.
  • Do not offer a sitter a lift home if you have been drinking. The ride-home stipend is there for late finishes.

8. Reporting and enforcement

  • Emergency: call 911 first.
  • Incident: file one from the booking. It pauses the payout and alerts our team, and a person reviews it and hears from both sides.
  • Messages: any message in a booking thread can be reported.
  • Anything else: support@swingsitters.com.

A report of sexual conduct, or of a concern about a child's safety, pauses the account of the person reported as soon as it is filed, while a person on our team reviews it. What is written in a report is read only by our team and is never shown to the other person. Either party can block the other from future bookings at any time, and the other person is not told.

We keep a record of strikes, for example for not arriving, for cancelling a confirmed booking at short notice, or for a breach found after an incident. Three strikes within 180 days leads to a review of the account by a person.

Depending on what happened, we may issue a warning, withhold or refund a payment, suspend an account while we look into it, or remove someone permanently. Breaches of sections 1 and 3, and outing or threatening to out another person, lead to permanent removal. We may report conduct to the authorities where the law requires it or where someone's safety is at risk. Making a report you know to be false is itself a breach of these standards.