Do We Have To Pay Her?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We hired a nanny two weeks and fired her this week after she had missed four days for two incidents ( family emergency and sick). We had worked 3 days for us and she didn’t get paid for one of those days. She is asking for the money but I don’t feel we should pay. I don’t feel like we owe her any money. We had canceled her first day because my job pushed back my start date but we paid her it as a “ bonus” day even though she we didn’t have guaranteed hours. We paid her more for bonus day than what we owe her. My husband thinks we should just pay her because she keeps emailing us asking for the money. Should we pay her or not pay her?

Do you have a trust fund? You creep.

[Anonymous]

I understand if you chose not to pay her when she wasn't available as you had her for a temporary basis and didn't discuss guaranteed pay, but your work being pushed back and you paying her has nothing to do with the 3 days' pay she is owed.
I'm a former nanny and this would absolutely have pissed me off.

As far as you letting her go for being off so much in a short amount of time, completely understandable.

[Anonymous]

Pay her

[Anonymous]

Are you asking about paying for the day she worked (yes you should pay her) or is she asking to be paid for the days she missed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You had better pay up or nanny needs to report you to the authorities. Good luck, you nasty criminal.

Karma.

[Anonymous]

Yikes.

This reminds me of when I held a big event at a local business. We had a tight budget, so had negotiated a VERY small discount well ahead of time. When the final bill came, I noticed a clear accidental overcharge on their part. I wouldn't have even mentioned it (it was small, though notably larger than our discount!) except it was just such a clear, open-and-shut case of error on their part. I figured it would be quickly corrected, no harm, no foul.

They dug their heels in, admitting it was their error but saying, whatever, they had already given us a discount.

???

What did one have to do with the other?

When you schedule someone to work for a certain period and then cancel on them, you owe them the money, ethically, if not always legally. Because they could not schedule other work for that time. I ran into this as a contractor when I was younger. Everyone paid-- as they should, because it was often the case that I had turned down other work because they had scheduled my time first.

Obviously this nanny was a poor fit, and it wasn't working out. In fact, she arguably left you up a creek, and that sucks*.

But you still have to pay for the work she did. The fact that you also paid her for work she didn't do-- as you should have, because work was cancelled through no fault of hers!-- has nothing to do with this.

You can't retroactively decide because you've decided she's lazy/irresponsible/a scammer/whatever that you should stiff her on money you had freely given her and/or agreed to give her in the past.


*Though you'd think grace might be warranted during COVID-- not to keep her employed, but to not think so negatively about her that you'd consider not paying her for work completed.

[Anonymous]

Of course you have to pay her for the time she worked. Good lord.

[Anonymous]

I’m pretty sure if the total paid in a year is less than $2k, then you don’t have to do anything with taxes. But you should double check to confirm.

[Anonymous]

Are you asking if she should get paid for the 6 of the 10 days she worked? Yes.

Are you asking if she should get paid for the 4 days she missed for XYZ? What does your contract you have with her say?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you asking if she should get paid for the 6 of the 10 days she worked? Yes.

Are you asking if she should get paid for the 4 days she missed for XYZ? What does your contract you have with her say?

Crooks who pay “the help” cash usually avoid a contract.

[Anonymous]

There is no such thing as a “cash position”. There are positions worthy worker does not work enough hours to be paid enough to meet thresholds for tax and reporting requirements, but that is completely different. If by cash position you mean that you are paying her in cash so that you do not need to pay employer side taxes and so that she does not need to pay taxes, and hands you can pay her a lower overall rate and save money, then that is not an actual position, it just makes you a law breaker and someone who takes advantage of others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely pay for the day worked.Any bonus payments should not factor in to paying for time worked.

This.

+1 Please pay the nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m pretty sure if the total paid in a year is less than $2k, then you don’t have to do anything with taxes. But you should double check to confirm.

It's $600.

[Anonymous]

Don't penny pinch over childcare. This is someone who is in charge of your children when you are not there; you want her to be happy in her work. Just pay her for that day and move on. If you do not pay her, then her feelings about it will fester and she will quit on you when you least expect it.

Don't be penny-wise and pound foolish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't penny pinch over childcare. This is someone who is in charge of your children when you are not there; you want her to be happy in her work. Just pay her for that day and move on. If you do not pay her, then her feelings about it will fester and she will quit on you when you least expect it.

Don't be penny-wise and pound foolish.

I agree with your sentiment but you obviously didn't read the OP very closely.