First time traveling with nanny -- how to pay?

[Anonymous]

We pay our nanny $20/hr for 40 hours a week. We don't pay overtime but we very rarely ask her to babysit at night or stay late. When we do, we pay the same rate.

We want her to travel with us for a family wedding. I've never traveled with a nanny before. How do we pay her for this? Realistically we will only need her Friday afternoon and evening, all day Saturday and Saturday night, and Sunday morning. But she'll of course physically be there with us the whole time, regardless of when she's "on" vs "off." How should we pay her? How do you factor in sleeping time, travel time (whether she travels with us or takes a later flight), etc.?

For reference, we live in NWDC, in case it's helpful to know for going rates.

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

"Realistically we will only need her Friday afternoon and evening, all day Saturday and Saturday night, and Sunday morning."

Only need her Friday afternoon-Sunday morning?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Realistically we will only need her Friday afternoon and evening, all day Saturday and Saturday night, and Sunday morning."

Only need her Friday afternoon-Sunday morning?

Correct. We may fly there Wednesday for example, and fly home Monday morning, so we will only need her for the time when we're at wedding-related events.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We pay our nanny $20/hr for 40 hours a week. We don't pay overtime but we very rarely ask her to babysit at night or stay late. When we do, we pay the same rate.

We want her to travel with us for a family wedding. I've never traveled with a nanny before. How do we pay her for this? Realistically we will only need her Friday afternoon and evening, all day Saturday and Saturday night, and Sunday morning. But she'll of course physically be there with us the whole time, regardless of when she's "on" vs "off." How should we pay her? How do you factor in sleeping time, travel time (whether she travels with us or takes a later flight), etc.?

For reference, we live in NWDC, in case it's helpful to know for going rates.

Thanks so much!

You need to pay overtime when she works over 40. That's first, so my advice might fall on deaf ears but....

You will need to pay her for all hours, including sleeping time since it's not as if she can leave. This weekend is not her time, and she will be working so she needs to be paid for the entire time. Yes, it will be expensive. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Realistically we will only need her Friday afternoon and evening, all day Saturday and Saturday night, and Sunday morning."

Only need her Friday afternoon-Sunday morning?

Correct. We may fly there Wednesday for example, and fly home Monday morning, so we will only need her for the time when we're at wedding-related events.

And I’m sure you’ll expect her to work Monday when you return so you can rest 😒 I have nothing nice to say to you OP besides the fact that I hope your nanny finds another family and moves on from you.

[Anonymous]

You need to pay overtime. It’s against the Fair Labor Standards Act to not pay a nanny overtime.

[Anonymous]

We have done this several times with our nanny. First and foremost, we make sure she wants to go and it isn't a burden on her. She's young and single, so she enjoys coming on vacation with us.

We determine in advance how many hours she will work per day and pay her for those hours. And the hours she is not working she is not expected to be with us (unless she wants to voluntarily join us for an activity or dinner). We also pay for all travel expenses (plane tix, hotel room for her alone, cabs, etc) and all food while she is with us. It usually ends up with overtime. We never pay under the normal set number of hours if she is traveling with us, even if she works less. We also end up buying her some souvenirs and sometimes giving a small bonus to show our appreciation.

I think you need to talk to your nanny, though, and gauge if she is expecting to be paid only for hours worked as opposed to all hours on the trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have done this several times with our nanny. First and foremost, we make sure she wants to go and it isn't a burden on her. She's young and single, so she enjoys coming on vacation with us.

We determine in advance how many hours she will work per day and pay her for those hours. And the hours she is not working she is not expected to be with us (unless she wants to voluntarily join us for an activity or dinner). We also pay for all travel expenses (plane tix, hotel room for her alone, cabs, etc) and all food while she is with us. It usually ends up with overtime. We never pay under the normal set number of hours if she is traveling with us, even if she works less. We also end up buying her some souvenirs and sometimes giving a small bonus to show our appreciation.

I think you need to talk to your nanny, though, and gauge if she is expecting to be paid only for hours worked as opposed to all hours on the trip.

OH and you need to pay overtime if she is over 40 hours. You are breaking the law otherwise, and morally, a jerk employer.

[Anonymous]

Why aren’t you paying overtime?

You do not need to pay her for the time she’s sleeping as long as it’s her time and you don’t expect her to get up with your child in the middle of the night. If you do, then yes that should be paid as well.

[Anonymous]

We have a nanny who travels with us often. What we would do if we needed a nanny beginning Friday afternoon but we were going Wednesday would be to fly the nanny out Friday morning. We pay for flight times plus two hours. Then we'd pay for their hotel room and three meals each day. Then we'd pay their hourly rate for the hours they worked, paying time and a half for any hours over 8 in one day or over 40 in one week. Then we pay a "travel bonus" that is always at least $250. Depending on how long we're traveling it can be up to $1,000. (We generally figure $100 per day loosely.)

[Anonymous]

I used to pay $250/day flat rate for 2 kids. I heard that was going rate for overnights a few years ago in Spring Valley. Also please get her her own room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have done this several times with our nanny. First and foremost, we make sure she wants to go and it isn't a burden on her. She's young and single, so she enjoys coming on vacation with us.

We determine in advance how many hours she will work per day and pay her for those hours. And the hours she is not working she is not expected to be with us (unless she wants to voluntarily join us for an activity or dinner). We also pay for all travel expenses (plane tix, hotel room for her alone, cabs, etc) and all food while she is with us. It usually ends up with overtime. We never pay under the normal set number of hours if she is traveling with us, even if she works less. We also end up buying her some souvenirs and sometimes giving a small bonus to show our appreciation.

I think you need to talk to your nanny, though, and gauge if she is expecting to be paid only for hours worked as opposed to all hours on the trip.

I would follow this example and plan out the trip details. Figure out everything you plan to pay for: travel, hotel, food, x number of hours. Figure out what free time the nanny would have and then present it to your nanny and see if she is interested in going with you. Remember that even if she isn't "working" she isn't at her home and able to do what she might have had planned for that time. When I travel for work I get paid my regular salary, all travel expenses, a per diem for for and if I travel over the weekends then I get to take comp time for those days when I return.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a nanny who travels with us often. What we would do if we needed a nanny beginning Friday afternoon but we were going Wednesday would be to fly the nanny out Friday morning. We pay for flight times plus two hours. Then we'd pay for their hotel room and three meals each day. Then we'd pay their hourly rate for the hours they worked, paying time and a half for any hours over 8 in one day or over 40 in one week. Then we pay a "travel bonus" that is always at least $250. Depending on how long we're traveling it can be up to $1,000. (We generally figure $100 per day loosely.)

This feels right to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Realistically we will only need her Friday afternoon and evening, all day Saturday and Saturday night, and Sunday morning."

Only need her Friday afternoon-Sunday morning?

Correct. We may fly there Wednesday for example, and fly home Monday morning, so we will only need her for the time when we're at wedding-related events.

You need to pay her for every hour she’s with you. Sorry. Can’t you just hire a sitter there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to pay $250/day flat rate for 2 kids. I heard that was going rate for overnights a few years ago in Spring Valley. Also please get her her own room.

You are really taking advantage.