Nanny Per Diem

[Anonymous]

Our nanny is going with us out of town. We're providing housing (a small cottage with one bedroom, bathroom, living/dining room, & kitchen on the same grounds) so we're wondering how to legally calculate her per diem.

[Anonymous]

She will get her usual hourly rate for hours worked, plus overtime if working more than 40 hours, and a per diem?

[Anonymous]

Per firm is to cover food and expenses while the person is away from home right? Assuming you are proving that I don’t know that you need to do a per diem as such. How long are you going for and is is somewhere fun so she can go do n things during her off hours or are you stuck in the middle of nowhere?

[Anonymous]

Calculate based on her cost of food and eating out/ordering in.

[Anonymous]

When we travel with our nanny, we cover travel and accommodation, and she generally eats with us or the kids. If she’s off on her own for the morning, she puts her meal on her credit card that we pay. She’s always very reasonable. We have never done a set per diem amount because each day’s schedule is different.

[Anonymous]

You pay for all required transportation (to and from location and for all trips with kids), she pays all costs associated with getting to and from her personal entertainment. If she helps during transportation to/from location, she’s paid, if not the travel hours are unpaid. Personally, I prefer to have the parents sit elsewhere in coach while I take care of kids or to be seated away from the kids, because having parents and nanny all with kids is too much for them.

You pay for lodging. If she’s willing to share a room with kids, she’s paid for all hours with kids (sleep and awake), or she’s provided with a private room and isn’t paid for overnight hours.

You pay for all required activities. If she goes to Disney on her day off, she pays. If she’s going with kids for even part time of the day, you pay. Some families just buy the extended ticket for the nanny and leave it up to her whether to use it in her off time.

You pay for all food costs. You can set a per diem amount, provided that it’s reasonable. Asking a nanny taking kids to Disney to stick to $15/day is not reasonable, but it might be reasonable in a rural area. Rule of thumb is to set an amount that is generous almost everywhere ($100) or to budget for the nanny based on what you expect to spend (you’re spending no more than $35/day on your own food, nanny has the same limit). Be aware that pinching pennies on food for the nanny can create ill will VERY fast, especially if she has a room without a refrigerator and is working long hours. Most nannies prefer to have a better food budget and stay in a less expensive room, especially if they’re going to rely on delivery and take out.