Standard nanny holiday/year end bonus

[Anonymous]

How much do people in the DC area tend to give?

[Anonymous]

a week's pay

[Anonymous]

I agree that a weeks pay is sort of what most nannies will be looking at. If she’s been with you less than a year, then you can sort of do the right proportion of a week.

Many families do more (I’ve been with my current family for over seven years and they will probably do like a month’s pay, but I think they are an outlier). For a nanny who’s been with you a few years, or a nanny who’s really stellar or who has gone especially above and beyond this year, two weeks pay isn’t over the top.

If you are reading this and thinking that there’s no way you can possibly afford it, then I would do a few things:
1) give your nanny a general heads up that you will be a little more modest than what previous employers may have been able to do
2) as you go through the holidays, try to minimize the extra labor that you are dumping on the nanny. If she spends the time between now and Christmas helping you to cook and clean and entertain a house full of guests, helping you shop for and wrap presents for the kids, and working overtime so that you can go to Christmas parties, not having a substantial bonus is going to sting more. So try to keep extra work off her plate where you can. Not saying you can’t ask her to do anything unusual, but just some thing to be mindful of.
3) whatever size bonus you end up doing, make sure to include a thoughtful note explicitly thanking her for her work this year and listing some of the ways that she makes your lives better as a family. If you can include some artwork or memories from your children, that is even better!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that a weeks pay is sort of what most nannies will be looking at. If she’s been with you less than a year, then you can sort of do the right proportion of a week.

Many families do more (I’ve been with my current family for over seven years and they will probably do like a month’s pay, but I think they are an outlier). For a nanny who’s been with you a few years, or a nanny who’s really stellar or who has gone especially above and beyond this year, two weeks pay isn’t over the top.

If you are reading this and thinking that there’s no way you can possibly afford it, then I would do a few things:
1) give your nanny a general heads up that you will be a little more modest than what previous employers may have been able to do
2) as you go through the holidays, try to minimize the extra labor that you are dumping on the nanny. If she spends the time between now and Christmas helping you to cook and clean and entertain a house full of guests, helping you shop for and wrap presents for the kids, and working overtime so that you can go to Christmas parties, not having a substantial bonus is going to sting more. So try to keep extra work off her plate where you can. Not saying you can’t ask her to do anything unusual, but just some thing to be mindful of.
3) whatever size bonus you end up doing, make sure to include a thoughtful note explicitly thanking her for her work this year and listing some of the ways that she makes your lives better as a family. If you can include some artwork or memories from your children, that is even better!

This might have been the most helpful nanny post on DCUM - thanks! What do you suggest for a nanny who has been with you less than 3 months? I thought I'd give her cash this year since adding a .25 of a week on payroll just seems weird. Does it make sense to just give a little more than a quarter of a week's pay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that a weeks pay is sort of what most nannies will be looking at. If she’s been with you less than a year, then you can sort of do the right proportion of a week.

Many families do more (I’ve been with my current family for over seven years and they will probably do like a month’s pay, but I think they are an outlier). For a nanny who’s been with you a few years, or a nanny who’s really stellar or who has gone especially above and beyond this year, two weeks pay isn’t over the top.

If you are reading this and thinking that there’s no way you can possibly afford it, then I would do a few things:
1) give your nanny a general heads up that you will be a little more modest than what previous employers may have been able to do
2) as you go through the holidays, try to minimize the extra labor that you are dumping on the nanny. If she spends the time between now and Christmas helping you to cook and clean and entertain a house full of guests, helping you shop for and wrap presents for the kids, and working overtime so that you can go to Christmas parties, not having a substantial bonus is going to sting more. So try to keep extra work off her plate where you can. Not saying you can’t ask her to do anything unusual, but just some thing to be mindful of.
3) whatever size bonus you end up doing, make sure to include a thoughtful note explicitly thanking her for her work this year and listing some of the ways that she makes your lives better as a family. If you can include some artwork or memories from your children, that is even better!

This might have been the most helpful nanny post on DCUM - thanks! What do you suggest for a nanny who has been with you less than 3 months? I thought I'd give her cash this year since adding a .25 of a week on payroll just seems weird. Does it make sense to just give a little more than a quarter of a week's pay?

Yes, in that case, just giving whatever the amount is in cash is fine. Many families do bonuses in cash, even if they otherwise pay via payroll. It’s technically against tax laws to give ANY money to an employee without treating it as income but it’s a part of the code that’s very unlikely to end up being noticed unless something goes absolutely haywire in the relationship with the nanny and she is like actively looking to F you over. I have never heard of anyone having repercussions for this and I absolutely know people who generally paid under-the-table otherwise and had big issues down the line. But heads-up that the level of risk is not zero if you are a family of lawyers or security-clearance-havers.

If you wanted to do a physical gift along with the bonus (which a lot of people feel compelled to do but it’s not a requirement), consider getting something that symbolizes one of her strengths. For example, I always cook for my families and I also love to be outside with my kids, so I have been given fun kitchen gadgets or like waterproof gloves as a gift, along with a note about how much they appreciate that particular aspect of my work. Nannying is an emotional job so most nannies really value and appreciate being told that their work is seen and appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that a weeks pay is sort of what most nannies will be looking at. If she’s been with you less than a year, then you can sort of do the right proportion of a week.

Many families do more (I’ve been with my current family for over seven years and they will probably do like a month’s pay, but I think they are an outlier). For a nanny who’s been with you a few years, or a nanny who’s really stellar or who has gone especially above and beyond this year, two weeks pay isn’t over the top.

If you are reading this and thinking that there’s no way you can possibly afford it, then I would do a few things:
1) give your nanny a general heads up that you will be a little more modest than what previous employers may have been able to do
2) as you go through the holidays, try to minimize the extra labor that you are dumping on the nanny. If she spends the time between now and Christmas helping you to cook and clean and entertain a house full of guests, helping you shop for and wrap presents for the kids, and working overtime so that you can go to Christmas parties, not having a substantial bonus is going to sting more. So try to keep extra work off her plate where you can. Not saying you can’t ask her to do anything unusual, but just some thing to be mindful of.
3) whatever size bonus you end up doing, make sure to include a thoughtful note explicitly thanking her for her work this year and listing some of the ways that she makes your lives better as a family. If you can include some artwork or memories from your children, that is even better!

This might have been the most helpful nanny post on DCUM - thanks! What do you suggest for a nanny who has been with you less than 3 months? I thought I'd give her cash this year since adding a .25 of a week on payroll just seems weird. Does it make sense to just give a little more than a quarter of a week's pay?

I've been a nanny for 15 years. All of my jobs have been on payroll and all of my bonuses have bene given via cash in a holiday card. For less than 3 months, I'd recommend $250 in a cash and a small gift. Some awesome things I've gotten in the past:

-Half Priced Books gift card (I LOVE to read)
-UGG slippers to keep at their house
-A Barefoot Dreams cardigan that is heavenly (this is a good one because the sizing is like XS/S, M/L, XL/XXL so it's fairly easy to guess)
-A cooking class gift card for my now-DH and I
-A nice water bottle
-An add on to their family gym membership that I could use any time
-One family offered my DH and I a weekend at their vacation cabin
-Another gifted us plane miles (the dad traveled every week so they had millions but it was awesome for us!)

[Anonymous]

OP here - this is helpful - anyone else want to weigh in before we make our final decision?

(FWIW, we're debating between 1 and 2 weeks pay).

[Anonymous]

A weeks pay as a bonus (cash) for a Nanny it’s the norm in addition to Nordstrom gift card or Starbucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - this is helpful - anyone else want to weigh in before we make our final decision?

(FWIW, we're debating between 1 and 2 weeks pay).

How long has she been with you? I think one weeks pay for the first year and then two for subsequent years. Also- one of my favorite tips is to give it on Dec 1 so they can use it for the holiday season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - this is helpful - anyone else want to weigh in before we make our final decision?

(FWIW, we're debating between 1 and 2 weeks pay).

How long has she been with you? I think one weeks pay for the first year and then two for subsequent years. Also- one of my favorite tips is to give it on Dec 1 so they can use it for the holiday season.

One week is standard if your nanny has worked for you all year. If you are sure you can afford more this year and going forward, then be more generous but never decrease a bonus. That causes morale problems.

[Anonymous]

We always did a weeks pay, gross and in cash.

[Anonymous]

Would you still do a week pay if you gave your nanny a lot of extra days off?

We have given our nanny an extra week of paid time off throughout the year. I'm having a hard time justifying an additional week's pay bonus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you still do a week pay if you gave your nanny a lot of extra days off?

We have given our nanny an extra week of paid time off throughout the year. I'm having a hard time justifying an additional week's pay bonus.

So if she has asked for additional time off and you agreed and then paid her instead of having her take unpaid days off, then sure, it’s fine to reduce the bonus (if you eliminate it altogether that’s going to sting).

But I have heard parents talk about “giving her unpaid time off” by which they mean paying their nanny during, e.g, the family’s own vacation or during an extended time off for COVID or other contagious illness when the parents didn’t want her to work. So make sure that it is actually true vacation time and not just days that she took off to accommodate you.

If my employer told me that because they went to the Bahamas for a week in June and paid me to water the houseplants, that they now won’t be doing a bonus because of all my extra PTO, I would be job hunting by January.

[Anonymous]

We always have a week’s gross pay in cash and a physical gift at least $50-$75.

[Anonymous]

My first time with a nanny so want to make sure I understand and don’t upset her expectations. Nanny started in May and we thought we’d give a bonus and a raise in May next year. If we give a week’s pay for Christmas what (if anything) is expected in May? Are we also supposed to give her a raise in December or do we wait for May? Thank you.