asking nanny to do non-baby-related housework

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We all recognize that nanny housekeeper jobs are common. The outrage you find with many nannies on this board is when a position that was, when hired, a nannying job, but because the employer can't stomache that nanny may not be occupied every second of every day and tries to add duties not formerly agreed upon or properly compensated for. If you are honest in your ads and interviews OP this should not be a problem. Nanny/housekeeper jobs command a higher hourly rate so a nanny who charges $15/hour for nanny duties may charge $16-$17/hour for nanny/housekeeper duties. If you want to stick with $15/hour you will find yourself interviewing the previously $10-$12/hour nannies and that may be fine with you.

+1

[Anonymous]

Sure you can, OP. However, it's very important that you let your potential nanny know well in advance. Make it clear so the nanny doesn't become blind-sided at what she thought was just 'nannying'. Also, some employers (only a minority of them), will say ten hours of housekeeping a week but then slowly slide up to twenty. They'll also stop doing their own laundry and cleaning and make it the nanny's sole responsibility. Not saying this is you but just giving you a warning so your future nanny doesn't become passive-aggressive, frustrated and feeling she is being taken advantage of.

I would definitely do what you plan to do. If you were going to do it for a couple of hours a month then I'd say just pay the darn nanny. But, if it's going to be a weekly thing then definitely put the nanny to use instead of constantly paying her for time not needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We all recognize that nanny housekeeper jobs are common. The outrage you find with many nannies on this board is when a position that was, when hired, a nannying job, but because the employer can't stomache that nanny may not be occupied every second of every day and tries to add duties not formerly agreed upon or properly compensated for. If you are honest in your ads and interviews OP this should not be a problem. Nanny/housekeeper jobs command a higher hourly rate so a nanny who charges $15/hour for nanny duties may charge $16-$17/hour for nanny/housekeeper duties. If you want to stick with $15/hour you will find yourself interviewing the previously $10-$12/hour nannies and that may be fine with you.

Not true. We had no problem finding nannies that were willing to do light housekeeping in the normal range of $15. Its not a good idea to hire a nanny who is seeking a job with no light housekeeping and only considers it as a premium anyway. These are the nannies with low work ethic. Rates are more affected by number of hours per week and location than the tasks in a job.

Not true. Light housekeeping tasks SHOULD be paid at a premium, they are in addition to normal nanny duties. When most nannies quote a rate, say for one child, that rate includes caring for the child and all CHILD related tasks. Light housekeeping is outside of child related cleaning and should be compensated accordingly. If I would normally charge $15 for one child and normal duties, I'd have to be dense to charge the same thing for a job requiring that and additionally adult laundry, clean up, cooking, or errands. It has nothing to do with work ethic. I have no problem doing the work, I just desire to be paid for it. I'm sure you can understand that. That would be like someone in the corporate world being offered a "promotion" or increase in responsibility but no bump in pay. I know it happens, but not regularly as there'd be no motivation to take said promotion.

Yes, but in this job the other duties are happening during times the nanny/housekeeper has no responsibilities for the children. So she's doing two parallel jobs, not two jobs at the same time. I was in a similar situation, very irregular hours and we wanted to offer a FT position. We structured the same way. 40 guaranteed hours/week with a nannying vs housekeeping schedule clearly delineated week by week. We didn't have to pay a premium when we found the right person. I think it worked out really well as it absolutely guarenteed she'd get break time during the day, and she didn't even have to worry about child related tasks getting done while she was on child care time. (Just cleaning up after herself)

+1 ------ Thank you for filling her in on the difference so I didn't have too. Lol.

[Anonymous]

Professional nannies are insulted if asked to launder the parents' dirty underware or bed sheets. I used to have to listen to one housekeeper tell me how many used condoms she picked off the sheets every week. Definately TMI! Lol.

[Anonymous]

I agree, even if its rare, you have to discuss this possibility during the interview.
I ended up doing the parents laundry/sheets/bathrooms as part of a job creep and quit soon after. I never agreed to clean the while house, which they ended up asking for while never raising my pay.

Just be honest in you ad and interview!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Professional nannies are insulted if asked to launder the parents' dirty underware or bed sheets. I used to have to listen to one housekeeper tell me how many used condoms she picked off the sheets every week. Definately TMI! Lol.

What goes on between the parents' sheets, really need to be kept private from the nanny. I can't imagine any respectable nanny feeling right about getting involved with the parents' dirty laundry.
Pardon the pun.
I wouldn't want to see MB's birth control or personal prescriptions in her private bathroom, either. I really don't want to be privy to your every personal detail. Eventually, it becomes to much for the nanny. Healthy boundaries are good thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As long as you advertise it as what it is (nanny/housekeeper) and not just a nanny position, its fine. And make expectations/duties clear on a contract.

This is what it comes down to. Be very specific before she's hired on what and when the housework will be.

[Anonymous]

Lots of nannies will say yes, just to be offered the job. The trial period will expire. Then she'll want to go back to wanting to be a regular nanny. If she liked housekeeping, she'd be a housekeeper and get paid lots more $$$$.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

We all recognize that nanny housekeeper jobs are common. The outrage you find with many nannies on this board is when a position that was, when hired, a nannying job, but because the employer can't stomache that nanny may not be occupied every second of every day and tries to add duties not formerly agreed upon or properly compensated for. If you are honest in your ads and interviews OP this should not be a problem. Nanny/housekeeper jobs command a higher hourly rate so a nanny who charges $15/hour for nanny duties may charge $16-$17/hour for nanny/housekeeper duties. If you want to stick with $15/hour you will find yourself interviewing the previously $10-$12/hour nannies and that may be fine with you.

Not true. We had no problem finding nannies that were willing to do light housekeeping in the normal range of $15. Its not a good idea to hire a nanny who is seeking a job with no light housekeeping and only considers it as a premium anyway. These are the nannies with low work ethic. Rates are more affected by number of hours per week and location than the tasks in a job.

Not true. Light housekeeping tasks SHOULD be paid at a premium, they are in addition to normal nanny duties. When most nannies quote a rate, say for one child, that rate includes caring for the child and all CHILD related tasks. Light housekeeping is outside of child related cleaning and should be compensated accordingly. If I would normally charge $15 for one child and normal duties, I'd have to be dense to charge the same thing for a job requiring that and additionally adult laundry, clean up, cooking, or errands. It has nothing to do with work ethic. I have no problem doing the work, I just desire to be paid for it. I'm sure you can understand that. That would be like someone in the corporate world being offered a "promotion" or increase in responsibility but no bump in pay. I know it happens, but not regularly as there'd be no motivation to take said promotion.

Yes, but in this job the other duties are happening during times the nanny/housekeeper has no responsibilities for the children. So she's doing two parallel jobs, not two jobs at the same time. I was in a similar situation, very irregular hours and we wanted to offer a FT position. We structured the same way. 40 guaranteed hours/week with a nannying vs housekeeping schedule clearly delineated week by week. We didn't have to pay a premium when we found the right person. I think it worked out really well as it absolutely guarenteed she'd get break time during the day, and she didn't even have to worry about child related tasks getting done while she was on child care time. (Just cleaning up after herself)

It doesn't matter that the housekeeping is being done when the children do not need any help. The higher rate is because the housekeeping portion gets a higher rate. Since you don't charge one rate for housekeeping hours and another rate for the nanny hours, you have to charge one rate to cover it all. I agree that could could potentially lower the rate a bit for giving 40 hours a week instead of 35, BUT not everyone would want to do. There is no benefit to me for working 40 hours a week and earning the same amount that I could be making for working only 35 hours with a higher rate! The benefit comes when you go over 40 hours and I get OT pay, but if you aren't going to go over 40 hour a week (which seems like it might be the case if you originally only wanted to give 35 hours), then I would rather have the 35 hours, same pay, and get 5 more hours to myself each week.

[Anonymous]

Ack, I meant *you could* not could could. I should spell check first.

[Anonymous]

It's been my experience that housekeepers earn higher rates because they normally work for many diffferent families and don't normally work a full 40-50 hours/wk. They normally get no benefits. Plus, the market is skewed by services that charge high hourly rates and then give the housekeepers a percentage.

When we switched from a nanny to a housekeeper and offered 16 hours/ wk (two full days) with PTO, paid lunch break, and guarenteed hours, we ended up paying the same hourly as we did for a nanny.

[Anonymous]

It all depends on what kind of person you find.

[Anonymous]

Eeks. I would never take this job.

[Anonymous]

OP one of the biggest mistakes that first time MBs make is to not include light housekeeping. We originally hired a nanny who was childcare only and she was just lazy. We let her go and hired someone who was fine with light housekeeping. Our new nanny is 100% more engaged with our kids, and does more things with them than our previous "professional nanny". Its complete bullshit that these so called "professionals" are using the downtime to be better nannies. A bad work ethic is a bad work ethic. It will come out in other ways too. They are simply bad employees trying to get away with whatever they can.

Our new nanny still gets at least a one hour break but she does laundry, grocery shopping and some light housekeeping. This makes a huge difference in the amount of time that we can spend with the kids in the evenings and on weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP one of the biggest mistakes that first time MBs make is to not include light housekeeping. We originally hired a nanny who was childcare only and she was just lazy. We let her go and hired someone who was fine with light housekeeping. Our new nanny is 100% more engaged with our kids, and does more things with them than our previous "professional nanny". Its complete bullshit that these so called "professionals" are using the downtime to be better nannies. A bad work ethic is a bad work ethic. It will come out in other ways too. They are simply bad employees trying to get away with whatever they can.

Our new nanny still gets at least a one hour break but she does laundry, grocery shopping and some light housekeeping. This makes a huge difference in the amount of time that we can spend with the kids in the evenings and on weekends.

If you are being completely honest here with us, and yourself, please tell us how many times a day, you serve your boss coffee or tea, so that your sense of having a fine work, is properly demonstrated.