What is the understanding regarding "guaranteed hours"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's sickening how often nannies are taken advantage of, and they even feel the need to ask if it's ok. Sickening, while their employers are busy fighting for "women's rights" in the workforce. I guess they don't consider their nanny deserving of basic worker's rights, let alone women's rights.
How shameful of them. Thank you to the employers here, who are willing to speak up about this injustice.

And it is generally women (MBs) exploiting other women (nannies).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:thier*

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[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the OP on this thread. I didn't negotiate for sick or vacation days - I'll take my unpaid vacation when the employer family leaves town on their vacation. I'm actually okay with that - it's what I agreed to - I'm just frustrated that every time they take the baby to the doctor or want to spend a morning with him, I'm told that they don't need me but will offer to have me work another time to make up for the hours I lost.

I'll know better with my next job. But with this job, I feel confident now that I can ask them to pay me for the hours they decided they don't need me without working them off at another time as we did agree to a set number of guaranteed hours and a set weekly schedule.

Thanks!

Live and learn, right? I made the same mistakes with my current job. After working in another industry for two decades, I came back to being a nanny last year. I didn't think I had to negotiate or get in writing obvious "workers' rights". My employers do not pay for any sick time (even when their child got me sick and I agree to soldier through and work if needed but they sent me home), they don't pay if they take the child to the doctor, dentist, or out for a special treat during my scheduled hours and I am told to go home, and I'm not paid for legal holidays when MB is off work. Paid vacation time? No way! These people, while pleasant and educated, have never offered me so much as a glass of water.

In my next position (which will be far sooner than my current employers suspect), I will get a contract and get every single thing in writing.

[Anonymous]

How about if the nanny needs the hours off? For ex. my nanny needed the morning off one day this week; I really wanted to ask her to work 1 hour late on that day, not even making up the hours, just letting me get a bit more time in the office. DH disagreed that we could ask her to do this, and that we would have to pay her overtime. WDYT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about if the nanny needs the hours off? For ex. my nanny needed the morning off one day this week; I really wanted to ask her to work 1 hour late on that day, not even making up the hours, just letting me get a bit more time in the office. DH disagreed that we could ask her to do this, and that we would have to pay her overtime. WDYT?

If it is in your nanny contract/agreement that she get a certain number of paid days (hours) and uses those hours for her "few hours off" then no - you can't ask that she make them up. However, if she has used up her hours and would be docked for the time off anyway, I don't see any problem asking her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about if the nanny needs the hours off? For ex. my nanny needed the morning off one day this week; I really wanted to ask her to work 1 hour late on that day, not even making up the hours, just letting me get a bit more time in the office. DH disagreed that we could ask her to do this, and that we would have to pay her overtime. WDYT?

If it is in your nanny contract/agreement that she get a certain number of paid days (hours) and uses those hours for her "few hours off" then no - you can't ask that she make them up. However, if she has used up her hours and would be docked for the time off anyway, I don't see any problem asking her.

No, we don't dock her pay or count against her PTO. Our agreement is that unless her requests become regular or very inconvenient for me, she can take hours off here and there as needed. That's why I didn't think my request was out of line. But I know she would be hesitant to say no even if she had other plans, so I don't like to ever ask her to stay late w/o paying overtime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about if the nanny needs the hours off? For ex. my nanny needed the morning off one day this week; I really wanted to ask her to work 1 hour late on that day, not even making up the hours, just letting me get a bit more time in the office. DH disagreed that we could ask her to do this, and that we would have to pay her overtime. WDYT?

If it is in your nanny contract/agreement that she get a certain number of paid days (hours) and uses those hours for her "few hours off" then no - you can't ask that she make them up. However, if she has used up her hours and would be docked for the time off anyway, I don't see any problem asking her.

No, we don't dock her pay or count against her PTO. Our agreement is that unless her requests become regular or very inconvenient for me, she can take hours off here and there as needed. That's why I didn't think my request was out of line. But I know she would be hesitant to say no even if she had other plans, so I don't like to ever ask her to stay late w/o paying overtime.

You sound like a reasonable MB. As a nanny, I would say that your request was not out of line unless your "requests become regular or very inconvenient" for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Would anyone work for any company that said, "We don't need you on Tuesday but if you don't work on Saturday you'll lose the day's pay"? or "Tomorrow we changed your hours from nine to five to five to nine - work it or lose the pay."

Some of you nannies are hilarious. YES people would (and millions do) work for companies that change their hours and only pay them when they WORK. It's like some of you have never had a real job. Getting paid for hours you were scheduled for, but did not work because you were not needed is NOT how the majority of jobs work. Get a clue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Would anyone work for any company that said, "We don't need you on Tuesday but if you don't work on Saturday you'll lose the day's pay"? or "Tomorrow we changed your hours from nine to five to five to nine - work it or lose the pay."

Some of you nannies are hilarious. YES people would (and millions do) work for companies that change their hours and only pay them when they WORK. It's like some of you have never had a real job. Getting paid for hours you were scheduled for, but did not work because you were not needed is NOT how the majority of jobs work. Get a clue.

Really? Where do you work where they do this to do? What industry does this? You are a sad case, Mommy, if you put up with this from your employer and thisnk that this is the "way of the world".

[Anonymous]

No nanny, you are delusional. I work for the government. My hours are FREQUENTLY changed to accomadate the needs of the community. And I know this May seem shocking to you, but I don't get paid just because they scheduled me. I have to, you know, work if I want to be paid.

Secondly, I worked in retail in college. The retail industry employees millions of people. And it is very, very common for a manager to approach his/her employees during a slow period and pick a few to send home because they are not needed. It happens everyday in all kinds of industries.

Nanny, please take a break from the nanny world, go out into corporate America and get an actual job. Then perhaps you will have a little more perspective about what " no one would do".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No nanny, you are delusional. I work for the government. My hours are FREQUENTLY changed to accomadate the needs of the community. And I know this May seem shocking to you, but I don't get paid just because they scheduled me. I have to, you know, work if I want to be paid.

Secondly, I worked in retail in college. The retail industry employees millions of people. And it is very, very common for a manager to approach his/her employees during a slow period and pick a few to send home because they are not needed. It happens everyday in all kinds of industries.

Nanny, please take a break from the nanny world, go out into corporate America and get an actual job. Then perhaps you will have a little more perspective about what " no one would do".

This is actually quite true. It is only because my nanny cares for my most cherished objects that she is spared this approach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No nanny, you are delusional. I work for the government. My hours are FREQUENTLY changed to accomadate the needs of the community. And I know this May seem shocking to you, but I don't get paid just because they scheduled me. I have to, you know, work if I want to be paid.

Secondly, I worked in retail in college. The retail industry employees millions of people. And it is very, very common for a manager to approach his/her employees during a slow period and pick a few to send home because they are not needed. It happens everyday in all kinds of industries.

Nanny, please take a break from the nanny world, go out into corporate America and get an actual job. Then perhaps you will have a little more perspective about what " no one would do".

LOL - so working for the "government" and your one job as a sales clerk is "the way of the world"!!! Please - you were given a schedule when you worked for the government which included an on-call schedule. Go peddle your nonsense to someone else. I've worked in various industries all in corporate America and NONE call you and tell you you don't need to come into work from your scheduled shift/hours AND you won't get paid for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No nanny, you are delusional. I work for the government. My hours are FREQUENTLY changed to accomadate the needs of the community. And I know this May seem shocking to you, but I don't get paid just because they scheduled me. I have to, you know, work if I want to be paid.

Secondly, I worked in retail in college. The retail industry employees millions of people. And it is very, very common for a manager to approach his/her employees during a slow period and pick a few to send home because they are not needed. It happens everyday in all kinds of industries.

Nanny, please take a break from the nanny world, go out into corporate America and get an actual job. Then perhaps you will have a little more perspective about what " no one would do".

This is actually quite true. It is only because my nanny cares for my most cherished objects that she is spared this approach.

Yes, thank you. Let me just clarify that my nanny has guaranteed hours and almost never works the amount we guarantee her. But I would never require her to make the hours up elsewhere, as I find that stingy. However, it would irk me to no end to discover that she thought this is just how every job is and if I didn't do it I would be a horrible monster trying to treat her as a slave. That simply is not true. Andy many gets far better treatment from me than I get from my employer.

And nannies, if your mb gives you guaranteed hours and pays you for hours you don't work please realize that this is a "perk" of your job and probably not one your my gets from her boss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No nanny, you are delusional. I work for the government. My hours are FREQUENTLY changed to accomadate the needs of the community. And I know this May seem shocking to you, but I don't get paid just because they scheduled me. I have to, you know, work if I want to be paid.

Secondly, I worked in retail in college. The retail industry employees millions of people. And it is very, very common for a manager to approach his/her employees during a slow period and pick a few to send home because they are not needed. It happens everyday in all kinds of industries.

Nanny, please take a break from the nanny world, go out into corporate America and get an actual job. Then perhaps you will have a little more perspective about what " no one would do".

So, you don't think being a nanny is an "actual job"? You mean a job that has the lives and well being of your children in their hands day in and day out? Horrible that you think so little of your own children to put them in the care of such an amateur worker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I am guaranteed a certain number of hours a week and have a set schedule - does this mean I must make up the hours when the parents decided they don't need me for the arranged schedule?

My employers have set a schedule for my working hours - same every week. When they take the baby to the doctor or take a few hours off during my scheduled hours, they offer to have me work late to make up for the time. My understanding was that I was guaranteed pay for those hours regardless of whether or not they needed me to work.

I have other commitments during my usual off hours and can never stay late to make up for hours lost.

Please don't attack - if it is generally understood that I am expected to make up those hours or lose the pay, I'll understand. This is an honest question.

In the nanny world guaranteed hours are specific hours that you guarantee to your employer that you will be available for their childcare needs. In return your employer guarantees to pay you for your availability whether or not you are actually watching their child for the full amount of time.

I've interviewed with families who see guaranteed hours as they get so many hours a week to use as they please and I usually correct that notion with the above explanation.