What’s involved in moving to another with our nanny.

[Anonymous]

I had a nanny with a teenage child like yours and definitely recommend this setup. The nanny and her daughter will make new friends, as ours did. I would just be conscious of job creep and making sure her hours stay the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a really great nanny of 1.5 years. She is currently live-out and has a 12 yr old daughter (single mom). Because of covid, we have gotten very close and very attached to both our nanny and her child. When we first learned we’d be moving, we asked her to come with us. My son is so attached to her and I’m pregnant with my second baby. We’re moving to a town with great public schools - better than where we are now - and nanny wants that for her daughter.

We’ve just closed on a house that has a separate pool house set as a full apartment. Our nanny and her daughter are both excited to move with us and love the pics of the guest house.

So our nanny goes from a live out to a live in. She’ll be rent and utilities free. We already agreed on her salary (going from $26 to $20) with an increase of $2 more an hour when the new baby comes. Of course the same contribution to her healthcare coverage. We’ll pay all moving and relocating costs.

Is there anything we’re overlooking? Anything regarding homeowners insurance? Any foreseeable problem we may not have thought of?

Contract, covering her guests, damage, etc
she needs renter's insurance
I'd suggest having her buy food for herself and her daughter, even though board is covered for most live-in nannies.
Car? and insurance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are the boundaries as to what nanny can and can’t do in your house? Can she use your pool? Can she have people over in her pool house?

Yes and yes. The way the house is situated the pool is closer to her house than the main house and gated from our (main house) side. The laundry room in the main house and of course she can use it whenever. The rest is pretty much what we have now: she arrives at 8 and leaves at 5, Monday thru Friday.

This can easily lead to problems. Who gets final say when the 12 year old has some friends over to use the pool and you wanted to use the pool with your kids? I know you don't think this will be a problem, but it can quickly cause issues. Btdt as a live in nanny

Thanks. We’ll work it out ahead of time with a schedule if needed. Luckily neither DH nor I are big pool or sunbathing people.

That might change in 2-3 years are your kids are ready for the water

[Anonymous]

You may want to look into what the law would be in your new state regarding her rights to stay in the pool house if/when you end the relationship. It might take you a loooooong time to get her out if the relationship goes bad. A smarter way to structure it would be to pay her a higher wage and then have her pay you rent. That way, if you no longer need her services she at least needs to pay you rent for the pool house or get a new place. If not, The contract should at least specify that she’s obligated to vacate the premises within X days of termination of employment, unless otherwise agreed to in writing, and set up something like liquidated damages equal to fair market rent if she fails to do so.

Also, just because your hourly rate is so high, I’ll note that, depending on state and jurisdiction, you likely need to pay her time and a half for hours over 40 (for California the trigger may be lower), which would include hours that she is “on call” while on your property (eg “can you hang out on Saturday in case I need to go into work that day”).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You may want to look into what the law would be in your new state regarding her rights to stay in the pool house if/when you end the relationship. It might take you a loooooong time to get her out if the relationship goes bad. A smarter way to structure it would be to pay her a higher wage and then have her pay you rent. That way, if you no longer need her services she at least needs to pay you rent for the pool house or get a new place. If not, The contract should at least specify that she’s obligated to vacate the premises within X days of termination of employment, unless otherwise agreed to in writing, and set up something like liquidated damages equal to fair market rent if she fails to do so.

Also, just because your hourly rate is so high, I’ll note that, depending on state and jurisdiction, you likely need to pay her time and a half for hours over 40 (for California the trigger may be lower), which would include hours that she is “on call” while on your property (eg “can you hang out on Saturday in case I need to go into work that day”).

Actually it’s the exact opposite right now. You can throw out a guest but there’s a moratorium on evictions which isn’t going to end soon.

And I would caution OP not to use the nanny as stand-by. That could really sour the relationship. OP must be aware that off work is off ALL work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thats a huge pay cut.

PP from earlier who thinks it’s not enough of a pay cut for being rentfree and not even paying for electricity or cable!!

You are delusional. She still has a daughter she has to pay for. You want her to make $15/hr? My best friend pays their live in nanny $23/hr and she gets a whole “aupair suite”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was an Adam Sandler movie that was not bad! I liked it.

Spanglish. With Tea Leoni.

[Anonymous]

Too messy for my taste. I like to keep personal and professional separate. So many ways this could go south.

[Anonymous]

If you already know the nanny and her kid this well and want them to move and are willing to throw so much money at this, I am really thinking sharing the pool with 12yo and a friend or two won't be a problem at all.

You all just need to set clear boundaries, make sure everyone understands them, and stick to them. If it's clear from Day 1 that nanny's hours are X-Y, quiet hours are 8pm-8am, pool use is weekends 10-6 or with permission via text, and you use this door/park here/etc... and we use this door/park there, you should be ok.

[Anonymous]

Check the local laws about live-in nannies. In most, the live-in part is considered a convenience to the employer and the nanny should not take a paycut or pay rent for living in the home.

What happens if she wants to quit? Do you have a contract which ties her housing to the job? What about when you want to end childcare? Does she have the option of switch to pay rent to stay? Do you want that?

Lots of details to work through but the locale Household employee laws would be the best thing to check before agreeing to anything.

Here's a part of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in VA--
https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/79b-flsa-live-in-domestic-workers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You may want to look into what the law would be in your new state regarding her rights to stay in the pool house if/when you end the relationship. It might take you a loooooong time to get her out if the relationship goes bad. A smarter way to structure it would be to pay her a higher wage and then have her pay you rent. That way, if you no longer need her services she at least needs to pay you rent for the pool house or get a new place. If not, The contract should at least specify that she’s obligated to vacate the premises within X days of termination of employment, unless otherwise agreed to in writing, and set up something like liquidated damages equal to fair market rent if she fails to do so.

Also, just because your hourly rate is so high, I’ll note that, depending on state and jurisdiction, you likely need to pay her time and a half for hours over 40 (for California the trigger may be lower), which would include hours that she is “on call” while on your property (eg “can you hang out on Saturday in case I need to go into work that day”).

Very few states require time and a half for live-ins. MD starts after 44 hours, not sure about the others.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks everyone. I appreciate the advice and will definitely implement a good deal of it.

And, for the record, our nanny and her daughter are White and American and are from Lake Forest, IL. At first I thought the incorrect Spanglish references were funny but now I don’t. The stereotyping of nannies is insulting. Her daughter will do great in a new school.