Night Nanny question

[Anonymous]

The reason they do not want to claim it is because sine you are working at night, I am assuming you are working for a reduced rate, correct?

Many nannies who work night shifts while the children sleep do not charge an hourly rate, rather they charge a flat overnight fee instead. And this is illegal on the parent's end because the parents end up paying less than minimum wage per hour so the nanny cannot legally claim it on her income taxes or the parents can get in trouble for it since they are underpaying her.

If the parents want to do everything legally, they would have to pay the nanny her hourly wage during the night + the majority of families do not want to pay their nannies for "just sleeping." Their words...Not mine by the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reason they do not want to claim it is because sine you are working at night, I am assuming you are working for a reduced rate, correct?

Many nannies who work night shifts while the children sleep do not charge an hourly rate, rather they charge a flat overnight fee instead. And this is illegal on the parent's end because the parents end up paying less than minimum wage per hour so the nanny cannot legally claim it on her income taxes or the parents can get in trouble for it since they are underpaying her.

If the parents want to do everything legally, they would have to pay the nanny her hourly wage during the night + the majority of families do not want to pay their nannies for "just sleeping." Their words...Not mine by the way.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reason they do not want to claim it is because sine you are working at night, I am assuming you are working for a reduced rate, correct?

Many nannies who work night shifts while the children sleep do not charge an hourly rate, rather they charge a flat overnight fee instead. And this is illegal on the parent's end because the parents end up paying less than minimum wage per hour so the nanny cannot legally claim it on her income taxes or the parents can get in trouble for it since they are underpaying her.

If the parents want to do everything legally, they would have to pay the nanny her hourly wage during the night + the majority of families do not want to pay their nannies for "just sleeping." Their words...Not mine by the way.

A "night nanny" is typically someone who is working overnights for infant care - awake caregiving for feedings, etc... This usually also carries a minimum time commitment of several hours. This is not the same as someone who spends the night with children beyond infancy.

OP used the term night nanny - which I presume means she was charging hourly for infant care, and probably at a $30-40/hr range (if she's anywhere in the DC Metro area and charging competitive rates). This is real money which can add up fast. If she would like to declare that legally as part of her income so she gets credit with social security for her earnings that is entirely within her rights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The reason they do not want to claim it is because sine you are working at night, I am assuming you are working for a reduced rate, correct?

Many nannies who work night shifts while the children sleep do not charge an hourly rate, rather they charge a flat overnight fee instead. And this is illegal on the parent's end because the parents end up paying less than minimum wage per hour so the nanny cannot legally claim it on her income taxes or the parents can get in trouble for it since they are underpaying her.

If the parents want to do everything legally, they would have to pay the nanny her hourly wage during the night + the majority of families do not want to pay their nannies for "just sleeping." Their words...Not mine by the way.


Couldn't have said it better myself.

Night nanny doesn't mean what you think it means.

A night nanny is hired for overnight infant care. It's usually a short term job and a night nanny is often an IC. OP isn't clear about whether she is an IC or a W-2 employee. Either way, she can and should claim all her income on her taxes and she is very responsible for doing the right thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi I have worked for a couple families for Three to five months as a night nanny. I want to claim on taxes what they have paid. They are telling me they are not claiming it on taxes. What should I do I want to claim the money I worked for?

Nanny here


Okay. So you can claim it but it may get your employers in trouble so you need to decide if you are okay with losing them as clients or references.

This is not all your employers fault. You need to decide if you are working under the table or above it BEFORE you start the job. Going forward you need to make better business decisions when accepting these jobs. A lot of families don't realize or just don't care that many of us want to be payed legally. You need to make sure you are both on the same page.