Why are nannies treated like both hourly and salaried employees?

[Anonymous]

LOL at the delusional nanny who thinks she is less replaceable than an ER physician. Nannies are unskilled labor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL at the delusional nanny who thinks she is less replaceable than an ER physician. Nannies are unskilled labor.

I don’t know what comment you’re “lol” ing about but do you really think there is no skill involved in being a nanny? No talent? Truly anyone - male, female, young, old - can do it? Do you think college degrees in Early Childhood education are ridiculous and worthless?

I’m honestly asking. You post here a lot with such contempt for nannies that I’m curious as to the extent.

[Anonymous]

I haven't read all of the responses but here goes-I don't have an HR department to go to if my employer acts creepy. I don't have health insurance guaranteed and if I get sick I could very well lose my job and truly have no legal recourse. I work for small pockets I get that. But to complain about nannies getting a paid day off for whatever is very tone deaf these days. If as an employer you truly feel you are being taken advantage of you can fire your nanny at will and there really is very little they can do about it. I don't even know if nanny contracts are enforceable because I don't any nanny who has the resources to sue an employer unless the employer is famous .

Once again, as a nanny employer if you feel your needs arent' being met sit down and talk with your child's caregiver. We understand that your needs have changed and we are trying to do our best our jobs have changed as well.

[Anonymous]

PS how many employers posting here would take a job that involves being paid only when you are needed and that is at the employer's discretion? If you get paid 4 digits a year maybe. If you get paid 2 digits a year no can do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the record we pay our nanny very well and do all these things. I just get frustrated when at times (like the huge snow storm where nanny can’t make it in and then refuses to come in again the next day despite being offered safe transportation here) that I’m always supposed to pay her no matter what but also supposed to pay for every minute over our schedule on a given day.

Hourly employees generally have the benefit of overtime pay and being paid for every minute worked. The drawback is they don’t get a lot of paid vacation, generally don’t get paid for time they don’t work, and can be subject to schedule changes.

Salaried employees get the benefit of paid vacation and paid holidays. They get paid whether or not they’re able to show up and do their job. The drawback is they don’t get paid extra for every minute they work over their regular schedule in a given day.

My husbands job is one and mine is the other. It feels like nannies get both. And yes I’m partially just frustrated at the moment that dh wasn’t able to do his job and therefore wasn’t paid bc our nanny wouldn’t come in with provided transportation or stay overnight to prevent this problem (she doesn’t have kids or pets) but we still have to pay her. I in no way think nannies should be poorly paid or paid off the books or nickled and dimed, but I also don’t think they have some special status that elevates things above literally all over workers at regular companies.

I agree they can’t have it both ways. In theory, you should not pay her for today and tomorrow if she refused to come in. In real life, it’s hard to do this when you worry the nanny will most likely get resentful of the docked pay. The parents prepaid a distance learning pod supervisor for the week. She didn’t show up today citing snow. But I doubt the pod parents will dock her the $420 for today.

The thing is you’re kind of creating an incentive not to work. If they know they’ll be paid for the snow day regardless, then suddenly they feel “scared” to drive. Ever since we started paying for snow days, our nanny suddenly can’t come to work any time that it happens to be snowing. Before we started covering the snow days, she somehow figured out how to get to work for them because she wanted to be paid.

Your problem is that you’ve made it entirely up to her whether she comes or not. Use the OPM status. If she’s still “too scared”, then she takes unscheduled leave. You committing to paying her regular hours whenever she chooses not to come to work seems like your mistake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL at the delusional nanny who thinks she is less replaceable than an ER physician. Nannies are unskilled labor.

I don’t know what comment you’re “lol” ing about but do you really think there is no skill involved in being a nanny? No talent? Truly anyone - male, female, young, old - can do it? Do you think college degrees in Early Childhood education are ridiculous and worthless?

I’m honestly asking. You post here a lot with such contempt for nannies that I’m curious as to the extent.

+1. I’m curious, too. So much contempt for nannies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the record we pay our nanny very well and do all these things. I just get frustrated when at times (like the huge snow storm where nanny can’t make it in and then refuses to come in again the next day despite being offered safe transportation here) that I’m always supposed to pay her no matter what but also supposed to pay for every minute over our schedule on a given day.

Hourly employees generally have the benefit of overtime pay and being paid for every minute worked. The drawback is they don’t get a lot of paid vacation, generally don’t get paid for time they don’t work, and can be subject to schedule changes.

Salaried employees get the benefit of paid vacation and paid holidays. They get paid whether or not they’re able to show up and do their job. The drawback is they don’t get paid extra for every minute they work over their regular schedule in a given day.

My husbands job is one and mine is the other. It feels like nannies get both. And yes I’m partially just frustrated at the moment that dh wasn’t able to do his job and therefore wasn’t paid bc our nanny wouldn’t come in with provided transportation or stay overnight to prevent this problem (she doesn’t have kids or pets) but we still have to pay her. I in no way think nannies should be poorly paid or paid off the books or nickled and dimed, but I also don’t think they have some special status that elevates things above literally all over workers at regular companies.

Nannies, teachers, and others in this position get the worst of both worlds and not the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL at the delusional nanny who thinks she is less replaceable than an ER physician. Nannies are unskilled labor.

I don’t know what comment you’re “lol” ing about but do you really think there is no skill involved in being a nanny? No talent? Truly anyone - male, female, young, old - can do it? Do you think college degrees in Early Childhood education are ridiculous and worthless?

I’m honestly asking. You post here a lot with such contempt for nannies that I’m curious as to the extent.

+1. I’m curious, too. So much contempt for nannies.

I don’t have contempt for nannies and I don’t think any random person can necessarily be a good nanny. I do think the nannies on this board can be ridiculous and I see a lot of entitlement and proclamations about the “profession”. I think a good nanny requires a very special person, one who has a particular disposition, aptitude, patience, and caring. Nonetheless, I would still characterize it as unskilled labor. There is no barrier to entry. It is not a regulated title or profession. Further, not all nannies have a degree in ECE. I would wager that MOST do not. I know several people who majored in ECE and it did not appear to be a rigorous course of study. I do think it certainly adds value when compared with those without that education. Perhaps you should lobby for a professional organization to make it a minimum standard and requirement for those who want to call themselves a nanny. I don’t think it will happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will preface this saying I do not have a nanny, but here are my thoughts. If she misses a day of work due to snow, why would you pay her for that day? It seems to me, she should either use a vacation day or take it unpaid.

We put in our contract that we follow OPM. When OPM closed the other day we gave a paid day off. If it’s a delayed start she comes 1-2 hours late. We’ve also given early dismissal at our discretion when snow started coming down around 1 pm one day. But there have been other times where it was a judgment call and OPM gave liberal leave so we offered the choice to use her accrued leave (or I guess take an unpaid day if she hadn’t wanted to use her PTO). I get what OP is saying, but I also realize our nanny doesn’t get any paid benefits, retirement matching, transit reimbursement, etc. through us like our jobs offer.

Finding a part time nanny during covid was really difficult. So offering some paid leave and to follow OPM re: the weather was something we could do to make ourselves attractive as employers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PS how many employers posting here would take a job that involves being paid only when you are needed and that is at the employer's discretion? If you get paid 4 digits a year maybe. If you get paid 2 digits a year no can do.

You are describing literally every hourly job. Even highly skilled ones, like nursing, are subject to the employer’s needs. If you’re not getting enough hours at your employer, you look for a different employer.

[Anonymous]

I’m the 13:28 poster and also wanted to point out the same issue happens with center based care. We’ve had our previous preschool close b/c of snow, parent-teacher conferences, a burst pipe, etc. We still had to pay the same monthly rate.

The importance is having everything laid out in the contract ahead of time (e.g. to follow OPM or whatever) so neither side is making the call on their own. The expectations are known that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work at a place that has a lot of hourly workers, and they are in no way interchangeable. Nannying is an important skilled job, but there are many important skilled jobs that are hourly.

At my workplace, if we close when you’re scheduled to work, you get paid. If we are open and you don’t show up, you don’t get paid. Snow days are a bit of a gray area because it’s the family that’s deciding if they’re “open” or not. That relies on you to be sensible and humane. But when you offered safe transportation, assuming it really was safe, the nanny should have either, or not been paid

Yeah, I don't get why this person is so invested in hourly jobs generally involving interchangeable employees. There are plenty of hourly jobs that require employees to not just have specific skills, but also knowledge of workplace logistics, procedures, and even personalities, such that someone who technically has the skills but lacks the specific experience in that workplace can't just smoothly step in. It's really not helping her case.

There are very few hourly jobs in a workplace that won’t allow one worker to exchange shifts with another worker. Most nannies can’t do that, as they’re the only one, and they are integral to the household functioning during the week.

That has nothing to do with anything. Hourly workers are hourly workers and are paid... hourly. Whether they’re anesthesiologists, nurses, lawyers, or house cleaners. It’s not a matter of how important or skilled you are. It’s a matter of how you’ve agreed to be paid. There is no pay category of “hourly worker but super special important so not actually paid hourly”. There are super special important jobs that are hourly. How is this controversial?

[Anonymous]

A lot of you are invested in some sort of weird power-play that's probably the result of feeling under-appreciated at your own jobs. I have had the same nanny for going on 6 years. I never have to worry that my child is in good hands. That's how I feel like I "won", not because I withheld pay on a snow day or paid for too many vacation days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of you are invested in some sort of weird power-play that's probably the result of feeling under-appreciated at your own jobs. I have had the same nanny for going on 6 years. I never have to worry that my child is in good hands. That's how I feel like I "won", not because I withheld pay on a snow day or paid for too many vacation days.

The purpose of the nanny is to take good care of my child SO I CAN DO MY JOB. Too many vacation days, skipped days etc impact my job performance (and pay and career progression). Its not so I can take tennis lessons and watch the today show

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hourly employees cannot accrue compensatory tme because to many cheap employers like you never allow them to take their compensatory time off. As you are so outraged about then you or your DH should quit our jobs and stay home and take care of your own children. Otherwise, shut up.

Geez! NP here. Do you have to be so obnoxious? It’s annoying to everyone reading this thread. If you are so offended then take your nastiness elsewhere.