Live in nanny and going on vacation without a kid

[Anonymous]

OP, I don't understand why you think she should just work for free at night? I'm an MB, so it's clear. I agree that her package is fantastic, assuming normal 8-10 hour days - a live-in nanny with a set days-only schedule making $2,400 a month including all food? AND a $2,400 annual bonus? She's making $33,600 a year and has no rent, utilities, or food costs.

But regardless of her package, unless you've discussed occasional nighttime/weekend availability as part of it, you can't just unilateral announce that she will be 100% on duty for an entire week with no additional pay. Regardless of whether the kid wakes up at night or not, for that week, she cannot leave the house in the evenings, go out with friends, or just hang out on her own time. She also would have to handle it if the kid DID wake up (maybe your child will have difficulty with you being gone and sleep poorly? Maybe get sick? Who knows...) It seems to me pretty obvious to me that you need to pay her over and above her typical pay for the additional hours.

I do not think you need to pay her her normal rate for 24 hours a day. Sleeping hours can be at a flat rate per night. I've heard $50/night I think before, so that would be an additional $350 for a 7-night period. Depending on her normal hours, you're looking at additional awake hours to pay too. And of course, her rate for the weekend awake time too.

It's expensive to have someone watch your child for a full week...as it should be. A childcare provider can't be expected just to do it out of the goodness of their heart, unless you've already discussed this flexibility as part of her rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP is here - it's a full time job with a salary and not an hourly rate. If I have to stay late in the office, i am not getting paid extra. It gets reflected on my bonus or some nice perk like dinner in the office or cab ride home. What is bonus for? it's for situations like this - when employee goes beyond his direct responsibilities. Sounds fine, i pay for nights, but no bonus shall be expected or at least not in the amounts we planned. There was nothing extra and beyond.
As for the leaving conditions, I am sure a darker basement is better, than a nice room in the corner with a separate bathroom. we should have thought of that. I am sure should would love walk up the stairs 2 floors all the time, especially at night.

Yikes, OP. Not sure what to think of this. It's only a flexibility expectation if that was agreed upon in your contract. She has no idea what bonus amount you're going to give her or what it's based on unless you specifically have told her. If you don't feel she's gone above her basic responsibilities, then don't give her a bonus (four weeks is a HUGE bonus!!).

Don't get defensive about her living situation. Doesn't help your case, and it doesn't matter.

[Anonymous]

Besides the bonus at the end of the year, all the benefits you offer are very standard. Actually, your living conditions aren't ideal, typically a live in nanny gets a private suite unusually in the basement or over the garage. So I guess the bonus makes up for the fact she is stuck on the same floor as you. Does she get her own bathroom?

Anyways, yes a flat rate is expected for all over night care that ranges from $50-200 depending on kid(s). An extra $400 for having your child 24/7 isn't really worth it at all. Your compensation package has nothing to do with that by the way. That package reflects only her regular hours and duties in the contract.

Essentially she will be working 12 days straight with 7 of those being 24 hour shifts unless she's getting a break when you get back? An extra $400 isn't worth it at all. I would rather you find someone else for overnights and the week then work 24/7 for crap money. With these overnights you need to offer an incentive to make it worth giving up a social life, privacy and the ability to do as you want.
Like others have said, she is an employee not a family member who works out of the kindness of her heart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op you sound like a great Mb but you really need to pay extra for night hours. If she is responsible for the children and cannot leave she is working and needs to be compensated.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like others have said, she is an employee not a family member who works out of the kindness of her heart.

OP is here- you just killed me... seriously?!! I wish I was getting paid that much just for the kindness of my heart!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like others have said, she is an employee not a family member who works out of the kindness of her heart.

OP is here- you just killed me... seriously?!! I wish I was getting paid that much just for the kindness of my heart!

I really don't understand why you are so bitter about paying your nanny a flat rate for over nights? What don't you understand about the difference between grandma vs nanny? Grandma might be willing to sleep over and watch your child for free but your nanny is an employee who can refuse.
If you need to justify paying her than take out of the $2,400 bonus you plan on giving.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm 11:06 and I think you're really overestimating how fantastic her package is. Where do you live? I always assume these are DC nannies, but let us know if not. Yes, it is a very good live-in package, but it's not a very very very good live-in package other than the massive bonus. How many hours is she?

Taking out the bonus, because it sounds like you might be questioning it, and assuming she works 9-hour days 5-days a week, you're paying a little over $13 an hour (a little under $13 an hour if you include overtime - my understanding is that's not required for a live-in?). She gets free rent, utilities, and food. Yes, that is a great rate for a live-in in this area, but only by a few dollars an hour (seems like something around $10-11/hour is "standard" quoted on here). And two weeks of vacation and Federal holidays (wait, only 6?) are completely standard.

Listen, I agree that it's a very good package for a live-in nanny assuming she has a regular 8-10 hour/day schedule. But regardless of what you pay her, if you haven't clarified that you're paying the slightly higher rate because you expect her to be available for occasional overnights, then I don't see how you can just decide she's not worth what you're paying unless she works more when you say you want her to work more.

[Anonymous]

Are you happy with her otherwise? I know with my au pairs that when I start getting nitpicky in my head about costs that should be reasonable (e.g., can you believe she expects me to buy her a bottle of seltzer water every day???), it's always because I'm unhappy with her work performance in some way that I haven't directly addressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm 11:06 and I think you're really overestimating how fantastic her package is. Where do you live? I always assume these are DC nannies, but let us know if not. Yes, it is a very good live-in package, but it's not a very very very good live-in package other than the massive bonus. How many hours is she?

Taking out the bonus, because it sounds like you might be questioning it, and assuming she works 9-hour days 5-days a week, you're paying a little over $13 an hour (a little under $13 an hour if you include overtime - my understanding is that's not required for a live-in?). She gets free rent, utilities, and food. Yes, that is a great rate for a live-in in this area, but only by a few dollars an hour (seems like something around $10-11/hour is "standard" quoted on here). And two weeks of vacation and Federal holidays (wait, only 6?) are completely standard.

Listen, I agree that it's a very good package for a live-in nanny assuming she has a regular 8-10 hour/day schedule. But regardless of what you pay her, if you haven't clarified that you're paying the slightly higher rate because you expect her to be available for occasional overnights, then I don't see how you can just decide she's not worth what you're paying unless she works more when you say you want her to work more.

OP is here - we live in CT and it's 10 hours a day. I think reducing the bonus and paying per night is the way to go without creating any kind of conflict situation.
Thank you 11:06! you are among those few people who actually tried to understand, explain things and suggest.

[Anonymous]

Yes you need to pay her for the over night hrs. At least a minimum or 40 per night but 50-75 is really more the norm. She can't leave the house when the child is sleeping and she is basically working 24/7 for a week. What if your child is sick or something during the night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm 11:06 and I think you're really overestimating how fantastic her package is. Where do you live? I always assume these are DC nannies, but let us know if not. Yes, it is a very good live-in package, but it's not a very very very good live-in package other than the massive bonus. How many hours is she?

Taking out the bonus, because it sounds like you might be questioning it, and assuming she works 9-hour days 5-days a week, you're paying a little over $13 an hour (a little under $13 an hour if you include overtime - my understanding is that's not required for a live-in?). She gets free rent, utilities, and food. Yes, that is a great rate for a live-in in this area, but only by a few dollars an hour (seems like something around $10-11/hour is "standard" quoted on here). And two weeks of vacation and Federal holidays (wait, only 6?) are completely standard.

Listen, I agree that it's a very good package for a live-in nanny assuming she has a regular 8-10 hour/day schedule. But regardless of what you pay her, if you haven't clarified that you're paying the slightly higher rate because you expect her to be available for occasional overnights, then I don't see how you can just decide she's not worth what you're paying unless she works more when you say you want her to work more.

OP is here - we live in CT and it's 10 hours a day. I think reducing the bonus and paying per night is the way to go without creating any kind of conflict situation.
Thank you 11:06! you are among those few people who actually tried to understand, explain things and suggest.

I think that's a good solution, OP. But do maybe take the opportunity to consider what your expectations are. If your expectations are that she be more flexible, then you needed to have made that clear in your contract.

Also, as a reality check, if she's working 50 hours a week, that's $12/hour or $11/hour if you're paying overtime (again, not sure it's required with a live-in, but someone can correct me if I'm wrong). I don't have anything to base this on other than what other posters have said they pay their live-ins, but others have quoted $10/hour or $11/hour rates. Obviously this varies based on perks and whether you're paying for all their food, etc. But OP, your package is not outstanding. She doesn't have her own private space, she makes just slightly over my understanding of an average rate, and she gets two weeks vacation (which seems standard) and only 6 Federal holidays. It's a good package, but it's nothing that you should feel like she should be bending over backwards for you about.

Off-topic, but this is kind of why I don't get live-ins in general - it just doesn't seem to be not that much of a monetary savings for a family, but with the added issue of having to have someone live with you.

[Anonymous]

MB here. I don't think your pay is fantastic, just averagely appropriate. And I agree with the others who said you need to pay the nanny for the night-time.

[Anonymous]

Agree with others that your package is simply average, and your perception that it is fantastic is why your expectations are unreasonable. For average pay you shouldn't expect anything exceptional from your nanny, ie. watching your kid for a week for no extra pay. Taking it out of the over the top bonus sounds like a good solution, since she won't miss what she doesn't know she would've gotten. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm 11:06 and I think you're really overestimating how fantastic her package is. Where do you live? I always assume these are DC nannies, but let us know if not. Yes, it is a very good live-in package, but it's not a very very very good live-in package other than the massive bonus. How many hours is she?

Taking out the bonus, because it sounds like you might be questioning it, and assuming she works 9-hour days 5-days a week, you're paying a little over $13 an hour (a little under $13 an hour if you include overtime - my understanding is that's not required for a live-in?). She gets free rent, utilities, and food. Yes, that is a great rate for a live-in in this area, but only by a few dollars an hour (seems like something around $10-11/hour is "standard" quoted on here). And two weeks of vacation and Federal holidays (wait, only 6?) are completely standard.

Listen, I agree that it's a very good package for a live-in nanny assuming she has a regular 8-10 hour/day schedule. But regardless of what you pay her, if you haven't clarified that you're paying the slightly higher rate because you expect her to be available for occasional overnights, then I don't see how you can just decide she's not worth what you're paying unless she works more when you say you want her to work more.

OP is here - we live in CT and it's 10 hours a day. I think reducing the bonus and paying per night is the way to go without creating any kind of conflict situation.
Thank you 11:06! you are among those few people who actually tried to understand, explain things and suggest.

I think that's a good solution, OP. But do maybe take the opportunity to consider what your expectations are. If your expectations are that she be more flexible, then you needed to have made that clear in your contract.

Also, as a reality check, if she's working 50 hours a week, that's $12/hour or $11/hour if you're paying overtime (again, not sure it's required with a live-in, but someone can correct me if I'm wrong). I don't have anything to base this on other than what other posters have said they pay their live-ins, but others have quoted $10/hour or $11/hour rates. Obviously this varies based on perks and whether you're paying for all their food, etc. But OP, your package is not outstanding. She doesn't have her own private space, she makes just slightly over my understanding of an average rate, and she gets two weeks vacation (which seems standard) and only 6 Federal holidays. It's a good package, but it's nothing that you should feel like she should be bending over backwards for you about.

Off-topic, but this is kind of why I don't get live-ins in general - it just doesn't seem to be not that much of a monetary savings for a family, but with the added issue of having to have someone live with you.

I agree with you. The only time a live in situation is truly beneficial for the nanny is when she is offered a slightly higher salary compared to other live ins and has her own apartment with private entrance. Other perks include car, paid insurance, gas, gym membership and cell bill. What OP offers is a standard middle class live in package and it's less attractive because of the shared floor. I would much rather get a higher rate and pay for my own apartment rather than take OPs offer but I can understand it being attractive to a desperate nanny or a new nanny.

[Anonymous]

I'm 11:06 and 12:18. I wasn't considering it from the nanny's perspective and I can see how a basic package wouldn't be all that attractive to a nanny, but wow - if live-in nannies are paid $11/hour plus board, all food, utilities, car use, paid car insurance, gas, gym membership and cell bill, where do I sign up? I cannot imagine why anyone would have a live-in nanny and offer all that. What would be the incentive of basically paying just a few thousand less a year on what is costing almost $40k for a live-in?