Over Achiever or opportunist?

[Anonymous]

Honestly, the way you're acting through thread, I can see you're probably over the top in person. 1. You're seeking a housekeeper and a nanny. 2. Her only concern should ONLY be the baby. 3. If you all were so "clean" cleaning would have never been apart of the job. I'd suggest tell her no cleaning is required unless cleaning baby bottles etc for $18/hour or give her $20.05/hour if you do want all the cleaning apart of the job. It isn't her fault that you all are well off, at $20/hour, it's a good rate but for DC, what can you really do with $39k/year BEFORE taxes ?

You need to work on your reading comprehension, PP. OP stated that the only housekeeping she required pertained to the baby. That is a standard requirement for any nanny. The nanny chose to take on extra cleaning because she hoped to get paid for it.

OP, you are already overpaying at $18/hr for one child in DC. I think you should hire a new nanny at $16/hr with your same requirements and give yourself room for earned raises and bonuses over time with a far better nanny.

[nannydebsays]

Anonymous wrote:We recently hired a nanny on trial for our 10 month old baby. The deal is after a few weeks, if we like her, we will go into a 1-year contract. We previously paid our nannies $15/hr, some were terrible and some were good except something went wrong (calling in frequently, dropping the baby). So this time, we offered $18/hr, 40 hours a week. We went over in detail what she needed to do during the day as far as light housekeeping. All of them pertained to the baby and we made that clear. Frankly she's been coming in every morning and doing everything. Our bed, scrubbing the bath tub and toilet, picking up after mine and my husbands mess. We never asked her to do these things but went along with it and took on anything we could get to if she hadn't before us. I don't work but have my own agenda. I don't want to clean on her schedule when I have other things going on. I'll clean my mess at my own leisure (and we're not very messy).

Anyways, she asked for a raise on her second week of working with us. She now wants $20.50/hr for cleaning up after us. This is for one baby in the Dupont Circle area. We live in a one bedroom apartment and there isn't really that much to clean. Another concern I have is that she is not focusing on the baby enough and wants to do other things (like clean), so does that make her a good candidate as his nanny? She has about 10 yrs experience and no college education. I feel like we are being taken advantage of since we are fortunate young adults. Does anyone else think so?


Also, how does the lunch hour work? She works 8 hours straight (10am-6pm) and eats when she pleases. I'd like to start working again soon and that will require a 9.5 hour work day for her. If someone has a nanny contract sample they could send me I would greatly appreciate it.

I hate the people who always call "troll", but your post makes me wonder if this is real. You've had that many nannies in less than 10 months? Then something is off with your screening and hiring practices, or the wages you offered in the past were low for your area.

As for this nanny, you sit down with her and explain that you want her to focus on baby only. You tell her you appreciate her housekeeping efforts, but you want her to stick to the agreed chores at this time since you want her to do XYZ with baby. You then remind her of the wages she agreed to when taking the job, and go back over her gross weekly pay ($720), her withholdings, and so on. THEN, you remind her that at X time you will be returning to work, and her hours will increase to 47.5 per week, which raises her weekly gross to $922.50.

As far as lunch hours go, nannies don't get one unless your state or local government has passed a law forcing employers to offer unpaid break time through the day. She can eat when she wants, eat while baby eats, what have you, but unless you plan to come home from work and let her leave to get lunch daily, a "lunch break" is not a concern.

If she continues to clean, and lobby for a raise, you'll need to start looking again and trying to find a nanny who prefers to teach kids, not scrub toilets.

[Anonymous]

I think I would have a talk with her since you haven't signed any kind of contract. Tell her that $18/hour is it, and that you don't expect her to do any of your housework. Frankly, I think my employers would be insulted if I cleaned the toilets or scrubbed their shower because they'd think I thought it was dirty or something. That isn't part of my job description, so why would I do it? Tell her that what she cleans during her free time is up to her, but when the baby is awake she needs to be focused on him the whole time.

As for lunch breaks, I just take mine whenever my charge is sleeping. I'm assuming your baby is still taking 1-2 naps per day, so she is getting plenty of breaks. My charge is almost 20 months, and naps for 2-3 hours per day. That's plenty of time for me to eat and recharge.

[Anonymous]

OP, I would let this nanny go after the trial period.

She sounds like a con artist to me.

First of all, she sounds like she is looking for more of a housekeeper-type job vs. a childcare-type job and you are looking for a nanny for your baby so this isn't a suitable match by any means.

Also, the fact that she is volunteering to deep clean for you when that is not part of her job requirements, then nickel and dime you for the cost is just a hustle in my book. To ask you for a raise the second week is just outrageous!!

It sounds like she had some master plan to hustle your family from the get go.

Best to let this one go ASAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does your nanny know you're going to be switching her to 9.5 hour days? And will you be paying overtime? You hired her for 40 hrs a week.

you again with your overtime question.

[Anonymous]

If she is already asking for a raise then she won't be happy with the current salary.

[Anonymous]

Find a new nanny.

[Anonymous]

No offense OP, but I can't imagine anyone with a child living in a 1 bedroom apartment is that well off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No offense OP, but I can't imagine anyone with a child living in a 1 bedroom apartment is that well off.

So? How's this relevant to OP's question?

[Anonymous]

Hi All, thanks for your replies. Just an update on what's going on. Yesterday she finally sent me her social security and green card. During her interview we asked her explicitly if we could put her on payroll after a few weeks for deductions. She said that would not be a problem at all. Well, it turns out her green card expired in July. I was so furious and told her she could not come back until that was resolved. So, it turns out, she was trying to squeeze every dollar out of us before we put her on payroll/signed a year contract bc she knew she would get caught. With that being said, I'm looking for a new nanny. On the plus side, I'll be working from home starting in a couple weeks. I don't want to go through metro nannies again bc they sent us awful temps/prospects for perm positions. Any suggestions or referrals?

[Anonymous]

Green card is a documant that proves permanent resident status. There is a difference between expiration date of the card and (potential) expiration of permanent resident status.

If originally green card was given for 2 years, it would be most likely be a conditional green card. She should have then filed for removal of conditions,and receipt of that filing usually exends the status for a year. If she did not file, well she has bigger problems then.

If originally green card was given for 10 years, the card might have expired but the STATUS doesn't. They should apply for a new card, it is pretty straightforward. Green card is just one of the list of documents that can be produced for employer to hire someone for purposes of filling I9. If she can produce driver's licence and unrestricted social security card, it should be enough proof that she legally can work in the US.

I'm not saying you should hire thhat nanny - she really sounds like not good fit for your family, I just wanted to make a point that having expired green card doesn't mean necessarily that one is illegal or not allowed to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No offense OP, but I can't imagine anyone with a child living in a 1 bedroom apartment is that well off.

So? How's this relevant to OP's question?

She has indicated that the nanny was trying to take advantage of them because they are so "well off".

Here are her direct quotes-


I feel like we are being taken advantage of since we are fortunate young adults. Does anyone else think so?

I think the problem is that she see's how much we spend and how well off we are and wants to squeeze it out of us.

[Anonymous]

Honestly OP it sounds like you are difficult to work for, so maybe a nanny isn't the best fit for you. The fact that you have been through several in only 10 months of your child's life is very concerning. Additionally, if you are going to work from home and you live in a 1 bedroom apartment, I'd look into childcare outside your home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly OP it sounds like you are difficult to work for, so maybe a nanny isn't the best fit for you. The fact that you have been through several in only 10 months of your child's life is very concerning. Additionally, if you are going to work from home and you live in a 1 bedroom apartment, I'd look into childcare outside your home.

Hallelujah.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi All, thanks for your replies. Just an update on what's going on. Yesterday she finally sent me her social security and green card. During her interview we asked her explicitly if we could put her on payroll after a few weeks for deductions. She said that would not be a problem at all. Well, it turns out her green card expired in July. I was so furious and told her she could not come back until that was resolved. So, it turns out, she was trying to squeeze every dollar out of us before we put her on payroll/signed a year contract bc she knew she would get caught. With that being said, I'm looking for a new nanny. On the plus side, I'll be working from home starting in a couple weeks. I don't want to go through metro nannies again bc they sent us awful temps/prospects for perm positions. Any suggestions or referrals?

Oh sweetie. You'll never find a nanny who wants to work in a 1 bedroom apartment that you are also working in.