Annoyed at Nanny Asking for Raise

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean is there really an expectation that a nanny’s pay goes up by $2/year? Seems insane. By the time your kid is in kindergarten she’s gotten $8/hour in raises, which for a 40h/week nanny amounts to over $16 k/yr increase not including the nanny taxes.

The people on here telling you that that is reasonable are probably nannies themselves. They always post outrageously inflated hourly pay on here.

I mean, do you expect your pay to increase over the years? Why would it be different for your nanny? Do you think inflation only affects office workers?

[Anonymous]

Paying her insurance for her is a good way to give her a raise-- if you are paying her on the books she doesn't pay more tax on the value of the health insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean is there really an expectation that a nanny’s pay goes up by $2/year? Seems insane. By the time your kid is in kindergarten she’s gotten $8/hour in raises, which for a 40h/week nanny amounts to over $16 k/yr increase not including the nanny taxes.

The people on here telling you that that is reasonable are probably nannies themselves. They always post outrageously inflated hourly pay on here.

I mean, do you expect your pay to increase over the years? Why would it be different for your nanny? Do you think inflation only affects office workers?

My pay doesn’t increase at anywhere near a percentage that accounts for inflation.

But yes, when you choose a profession where your salary is paid by a household and not a corporation, you don’t get the same perks. For example, FMLA has an employee number threshold. That’s because it’s unreasonable to ask a family to even hold your job for you, unpaid.

Get a different job for a company if you don’t like it and your skills are transferable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean is there really an expectation that a nanny’s pay goes up by $2/year? Seems insane. By the time your kid is in kindergarten she’s gotten $8/hour in raises, which for a 40h/week nanny amounts to over $16 k/yr increase not including the nanny taxes.

The people on here telling you that that is reasonable are probably nannies themselves. They always post outrageously inflated hourly pay on here.

I mean, do you expect your pay to increase over the years? Why would it be different for your nanny? Do you think inflation only affects office workers?

My pay doesn’t increase at anywhere near a percentage that accounts for inflation.

But yes, when you choose a profession where your salary is paid by a household and not a corporation, you don’t get the same perks. For example, FMLA has an employee number threshold. That’s because it’s unreasonable to ask a family to even hold your job for you, unpaid.

Get a different job for a company if you don’t like it and your skills are transferable.

You can disagree with industry standards in the nanny world, but my guess would be that you have other benefits at your job- health insurance, more PTO than 10 days, retirement with match, etc.

Assume a nanny makes $30hr for 40 hours per week. That's $4800/month before taxes and around $4k take home. The average 1 bedroom rent in DC is $2366/mo, but let's say a nanny can find a cheaper one bed at $2k. That's half her pay. Now she has to pay her health insurance, let's say $400 on the very low end. And her employer requires her to have a car- payment, gas, and insurance is $450 per month on the low end. Now she has $1100/month for food, phone, internet, utilities, any student loans, necessities and household items. Forget anything like fun money, retirement, or savings. Nannies have to afford to live and when a family wants full time private childcare, they are taking on the role of being that person's sole employer and source of income. No nanny is trying to pull one over on families or demand exorbitant rates. They are just trying to skate by month to month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean is there really an expectation that a nanny’s pay goes up by $2/year? Seems insane. By the time your kid is in kindergarten she’s gotten $8/hour in raises, which for a 40h/week nanny amounts to over $16 k/yr increase not including the nanny taxes.

The people on here telling you that that is reasonable are probably nannies themselves. They always post outrageously inflated hourly pay on here.

I mean, do you expect your pay to increase over the years? Why would it be different for your nanny? Do you think inflation only affects office workers?

My pay doesn’t increase at anywhere near a percentage that accounts for inflation.

But yes, when you choose a profession where your salary is paid by a household and not a corporation, you don’t get the same perks. For example, FMLA has an employee number threshold. That’s because it’s unreasonable to ask a family to even hold your job for you, unpaid.

Get a different job for a company if you don’t like it and your skills are transferable.

That's laughable. You say that while denying the economic fact that everyone's cost of living increases every year and thus there is a reasonable expectation that their pay increases as well. If YOU don't like it, don't become someone's employer. You aren't entitled to private personal childcare. Your nanny IS entitled to the very best rates she can command. Asking for a raise is not out of the ordinary, especially if the employer is dumb enough to not offer one in this inflationary environment and still expects to keep their nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean is there really an expectation that a nanny’s pay goes up by $2/year? Seems insane. By the time your kid is in kindergarten she’s gotten $8/hour in raises, which for a 40h/week nanny amounts to over $16 k/yr increase not including the nanny taxes.

The people on here telling you that that is reasonable are probably nannies themselves. They always post outrageously inflated hourly pay on here.

I mean, do you expect your pay to increase over the years? Why would it be different for your nanny? Do you think inflation only affects office workers?

My pay doesn’t increase at anywhere near a percentage that accounts for inflation.

But yes, when you choose a profession where your salary is paid by a household and not a corporation, you don’t get the same perks. For example, FMLA has an employee number threshold. That’s because it’s unreasonable to ask a family to even hold your job for you, unpaid.

Get a different job for a company if you don’t like it and your skills are transferable.

That's laughable. You say that while denying the economic fact that everyone's cost of living increases every year and thus there is a reasonable expectation that their pay increases as well. If YOU don't like it, don't become someone's employer. You aren't entitled to private personal childcare. Your nanny IS entitled to the very best rates she can command. Asking for a raise is not out of the ordinary, especially if the employer is dumb enough to not offer one in this inflationary environment and still expects to keep their nanny.

And if they can’t afford it the nanny will leave, they’ll hire a new one and life will go on. It’s not the end of the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean is there really an expectation that a nanny’s pay goes up by $2/year? Seems insane. By the time your kid is in kindergarten she’s gotten $8/hour in raises, which for a 40h/week nanny amounts to over $16 k/yr increase not including the nanny taxes.

The people on here telling you that that is reasonable are probably nannies themselves. They always post outrageously inflated hourly pay on here.

I mean, do you expect your pay to increase over the years? Why would it be different for your nanny? Do you think inflation only affects office workers?

My pay doesn’t increase at anywhere near a percentage that accounts for inflation.

But yes, when you choose a profession where your salary is paid by a household and not a corporation, you don’t get the same perks. For example, FMLA has an employee number threshold. That’s because it’s unreasonable to ask a family to even hold your job for you, unpaid.

Get a different job for a company if you don’t like it and your skills are transferable.

That's laughable. You say that while denying the economic fact that everyone's cost of living increases every year and thus there is a reasonable expectation that their pay increases as well. If YOU don't like it, don't become someone's employer. You aren't entitled to private personal childcare. Your nanny IS entitled to the very best rates she can command. Asking for a raise is not out of the ordinary, especially if the employer is dumb enough to not offer one in this inflationary environment and still expects to keep their nanny.

And if they can’t afford it the nanny will leave, they’ll hire a new one and life will go on. It’s not the end of the world.

That's fine (for everyone except, you know, your kid). But being mad your nanny asked for a raise is a weird reaction to a totally normal and expected thing. She didn't do anything wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister is a nanny and gets 25$ per hour for 2 kids. At that low-ish rate she insists on cash and a guaranteed 45 hours/ week including the days the family is on vacation. They are all happy in the arrangement and it has been nearly 2 years.

Most people in DC won’t engage in illegal hiring practices to save $5.00 but I’m glad your sister found someone to enable her tax fraud?

[Anonymous]

gosh, what is she doing with all that cash? it is not safe to keep it "under your mattress}", and whatever goes in the bank can be traced by irs and she may be made pay taxes back, plus penalty

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:gosh, what is she doing with all that cash? it is not safe to keep it "under your mattress}", and whatever goes in the bank can be traced by irs and she may be made pay taxes back, plus penalty

Yeah a nanny wanting that much cash probably has hobbies and other activities which accept cash and are totally not what I want around my kids.

[Anonymous]

she is also probably drawing public aid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our nanny makes $26/hr in Bethesda for one child. After one year she asked me for a raise ($2/hr plus a few hundred a month to her health insurance). Her justification was, inflation and the fact she had been with us for one year. I would never ask my boss for more pay with that justification. Not even when I worked an hourly rate in retail would that request have gotten me more money. Is this just the way it is in the nanny world? Raises expected annually for no reason other than retention?

Did you get a raise this year?
Did the nanny exceed expectations?
Has market rate for nannies changed in your area?
What is it worth to you to keep this nanny for the next year?
Just because the nanny did not articulate her justification the same way you would have does not mean it is not reasonable.

OP here. I got a 2% raise this year, not the 11% raise my nanny is asking for. I would say she “meets expectations”. Seems like the nanny market gets flooded in summer as families let nannies go as their kids start school. So I am just not convinced the market justified the raise.

OP, why is it reasonable for you to get an annual raise yet offensive if you nanny requests one? You may quibble about the exact amount, but it is a valid request.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:gosh, what is she doing with all that cash? it is not safe to keep it "under your mattress}", and whatever goes in the bank can be traced by irs and she may be made pay taxes back, plus penalty

Her employer will be in more trouble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Paying her insurance for her is a good way to give her a raise-- if you are paying her on the books she doesn't pay more tax on the value of the health insurance.

Agree with this - there are tax benefits for both the nanny and employer. Not sure what several hundred refers to but 300/month for health insurance is like 6.6% increase in overall compensation (in line with inflation) and could be a good compromise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Paying her insurance for her is a good way to give her a raise-- if you are paying her on the books she doesn't pay more tax on the value of the health insurance.

Agree with this - there are tax benefits for both the nanny and employer. Not sure what several hundred refers to but 300/month for health insurance is like 6.6% increase in overall compensation (in line with inflation) and could be a good compromise.

https://www.care.com/hp/nanny-health-insurance