So should we just lie to prospective nannies?

[Anonymous]

We hired a nanny to work for us through the end of the year until our baby goes to daycare at our office.

Nanny worked for us for a few weeks and just decided to quit for another family. We had a contract with all terms spelled out - $30/hour, 45 hours/week, all federal holidays + 4 floating leave days to use by end of year. We had a really good relationship with nanny, didn’t ask her to do anything unrelated to the nanny. If we came home from work early, we would let her leave early and still pay for her full hours.

Wtf do we do? I’m just tempted to lie to prospective nannies and dump them at the end of the year. Will they all leave us in a bind?

Spouse just returned to work and we have no back-up care. We both have demanding jobs.

[Anonymous]

Edit - “….unrelated to the baby.”

[Anonymous]

$30/hr isn’t that great of a deal for a short term contract.

Offer $30/hr plus a fat bonus if they get you to the finish line.

[Anonymous]

Yes, fat bonus will do the trick. You’re paying long-term pay for a short-term contract. No good nanny will take that. January is a terrible time to look for a nanny job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$30/hr isn’t that great of a deal for a short term contract.

Offer $30/hr plus a fat bonus if they get you to the finish line.

What is a “fat bonus”? Give me a number.

I’m tempted to just dangle this as a long term gig and dump them with two weeks notice.

[Anonymous]

Why did your nanny quit ?

Did she feel that she had been lied to ?

For more money & longer term job security ?

Personality/relationship issues between nanny & your family ?

[Anonymous]

No, you be honest. That’s a terrible thing to do and you may need help in the future.

[Anonymous]

Why don’t you just offer a lump sum including the bonus?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$30/hr isn’t that great of a deal for a short term contract.

Offer $30/hr plus a fat bonus if they get you to the finish line.

This. Assuming you’re decent people, 1K should do it. Put it in writing for her, signed by each parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why did your nanny quit ?

Did she feel that she had been lied to ?

For more money & longer term job security ?

Personality/relationship issues between nanny & your family ?

We have not lied about anything. We’ve treated nanny like a professional, we have not micromanaged, and have been very appreciative. She’s done a great job at getting our baby on a schedule.

No personality issues between us and the nanny. I think this is purely a long term play on the part of the nanny. We all agreed to the contract dates, we were very honest about our kid entering daycare. She was totally fine with it and understood our situation.

The crappy part is that we had stopped talking to all other prospective Nannies and took our ad down on Care.com.

[Anonymous]

A fat bonus is at least a month’s salary. She needs time to land on her feet.


Another alternative is to allow her to stay in as a house manager for up to three months, but she can quit without notice. That will give her more time to find a good situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A fat bonus is at least a month’s salary. She needs time to land on her feet.


Another alternative is to allow her to stay in as a house manager for up to three months, but she can quit without notice. That will give her more time to find a good situation.

*After the child is in daycare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$30/hr isn’t that great of a deal for a short term contract.

Offer $30/hr plus a fat bonus if they get you to the finish line.

What is a “fat bonus”? Give me a number.

I’m tempted to just dangle this as a long term gig and dump them with two weeks notice.

Nannies are pretty good about sniffing that out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$30/hr isn’t that great of a deal for a short term contract.

Offer $30/hr plus a fat bonus if they get you to the finish line.

What is a “fat bonus”? Give me a number.

I’m tempted to just dangle this as a long term gig and dump them with two weeks notice.

It's fine to do this, no "fat bonus" needed. Anything could happen regarding the childcare situation between now and the end of the year. You just never know.

[Anonymous]

The other benefit of the house manager offer is that you get something for that extra money. A bonus just leaves with her. Up to you if it’s worth the extra cash to have a few months of increased sanity. I know I would have appreciated a clean house, folded laundry, raked leaves, etc., in those early days.