Anonymous wrote:I think it’s kind of mean to give a bonus in January. Hopefully you’re telling her the amount? A lot of people buy all their Christmas gifts with a bonus.

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s kind of mean to give a bonus in January. Hopefully you’re telling her the amount? A lot of people buy all their Christmas gifts with a bonus.

Anonymous wrote:^^ PP WITH Special Needs Child- Did you actually read what I posted? Obviously not. I said we give her a bonus of two weeks salary PLUS a gift. And I happen to know she likes these things because we’ve gotten to know her so well - she’s like another member of the family.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have had nannies for 8 plus years, as have all of our friends. We always do 2 weeks pay in cash as a holiday/year end bonus, and then a small token gift along with it - sometimes it’s a framed photo of our kids, sometimes it’s a $50 gift card. This year our nanny mentioned there was a candle she loved that is $30. All of our friends do the same (we have all discussed it many times). Hands down the nannies all prefer cash so if you’re going to give more than $100 in a gift card I would change it to cash. Sure she can spend it on $200 in coffee, but I bet she would rather have $200 in cash.

Is there any way you can move the bonus pay up to December instead of next month just to make it easier? I understand that your bonuses won’t be paid until next month but you would just be borrowing from that pot you know is coming. Our bonuses don’t get paid until Feb/Mar but we budget to pay our nanny’s bonus in December every year. Maybe that isn’t feasible for you, but if you can swing it that’s what I would do. If not, maybe explain to your nanny that you will do New Year bonuses instead once your bonus is paid, in which case a $100 gift seems fine to me.

Yes we do similar. Ours is actually an aide for our special needs son who has a lot of medical and physical needs. She has been a godsend for our family (she will watch our other son too if we want a date night). We also give her a gift she can open. This year I got her a scarf, a lavender body scrub, a candle and some candy. We usually give her a gift card for her birthday too.

Anonymous wrote:We were going to give our nanny a Christmas gift that is separate from her annual bonus (that is paid in Jan). We were thinking of a $100 gift card to a local coffee chain she likes. It has a location by us and her house so she could use it while walking with the kids or at home/on the weekend. She is getting above the 2 weeks pay as a bonus and extra paid days off for Christmas since she already used all her vacation days.

Do you think $100 is enough?

Anonymous wrote:We have had nannies for 8 plus years, as have all of our friends. We always do 2 weeks pay in cash as a holiday/year end bonus, and then a small token gift along with it - sometimes it’s a framed photo of our kids, sometimes it’s a $50 gift card. This year our nanny mentioned there was a candle she loved that is $30. All of our friends do the same (we have all discussed it many times). Hands down the nannies all prefer cash so if you’re going to give more than $100 in a gift card I would change it to cash. Sure she can spend it on $200 in coffee, but I bet she would rather have $200 in cash.

Is there any way you can move the bonus pay up to December instead of next month just to make it easier? I understand that your bonuses won’t be paid until next month but you would just be borrowing from that pot you know is coming. Our bonuses don’t get paid until Feb/Mar but we budget to pay our nanny’s bonus in December every year. Maybe that isn’t feasible for you, but if you can swing it that’s what I would do. If not, maybe explain to your nanny that you will do New Year bonuses instead once your bonus is paid, in which case a $100 gift seems fine to me.

Anonymous wrote:Does she know she’s getting x bonus in Jan?

Anonymous wrote:We have had nannies for 8 plus years, as have all of our friends. We always do 2 weeks pay in cash as a holiday/year end bonus, and then a small token gift along with it - sometimes it’s a framed photo of our kids, sometimes it’s a $50 gift card. This year our nanny mentioned there was a candle she loved that is $30. All of our friends do the same (we have all discussed it many times). Hands down the nannies all prefer cash so if you’re going to give more than $100 in a gift card I would change it to cash. Sure she can spend it on $200 in coffee, but I bet she would rather have $200 in cash.

Is there any way you can move the bonus pay up to December instead of next month just to make it easier? I understand that your bonuses won’t be paid until next month but you would just be borrowing from that pot you know is coming. Our bonuses don’t get paid until Feb/Mar but we budget to pay our nanny’s bonus in December every year. Maybe that isn’t feasible for you, but if you can swing it that’s what I would do. If not, maybe explain to your nanny that you will do New Year bonuses instead once your bonus is paid, in which case a $100 gift seems fine to me.