overall comp plus driving

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my old nanny used her car to bus kids, I had a chart (small table) hung on the fridge with frequent destinations (preschool, library, zoo, etc.) and an empty field for othe destinations. Nanny would put a chechmark of where they went (or wrote down destination), and I paid her IRS rates every 2 or 4 weeks depending on the frequency of rides. If nanny wanted to go our for lunch with kid in tow, well that was her decision and she NEVER wrote it down. When a nanny mentioned that her car needed repair, well, I did not feel bad about it or felt that I owed her anything, because by that one I probably paid her more than $1000 for mileage.

Currently I provide the car for my nanny. I think it works better, but it partially is because we are upto 3 now, and not all cars fit 3 car seats in back.

The IRS rate is as high as it is b/c it's supposed to cover wear and tear, maintenance, and depreciation, too.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you need to talk all this out with her. She can pack a lunch or snack for your child. If she is going with friends or family, she can pay for her own lunch and gas. It sounds like she's gotten very comfortable and going a little overboard.

[Anonymous]

nannydebsays wrote:Frankly, I would guess she is benefiting greatly from your willingness to pay off the books. I would tell her you will pay mileage per IRS for 200 miles a month max, but that you are going to change her pay back to being fully on the books. But I am mean, and hate hearing about tax dodging nannies.

If you don't want to do that, then I would work out the total amount she is getting from you now vs. fully taxed and 50 paid miles per week and present her with a choice:

Nanny, we have run some numbers, and are willing to let you choose what you prefer regarding your off-the-books pay and mileage money.

We can either continue to pay you $XXX per week gross with 25% untaxed and give you $10/week for gas, which would be $ZZZ/week total take home, or we can put your wages back on the books 100% and pay you IRS mileage rate for no more than 50 miles/week. That would give you $AAA weekly take home money.

What method would you prefer?

And I would also suggest you discuss a "petty cash" fund, limited to what you feel is reasonable for activities and meals out per month, and institute a receipt based reporting method.

IOW, if she takes out $30 for X, she returns the change and the receipts in order to get her petty cash replenished.

And FWIW, I have taken my NK out to eat less than 10 times in 4 years. We pack our lunches whenever possible.

Good luck!

Agree. OP effectively gave her nanny two raises in January, and now the nanny is asking for more money. Go back to the contract and come to an agreement on the duties covered by this year's higher hourly rate and what is included. Otherwise your full time nanny will keep trying to get a raise for anytime she does something new or different during her 8 hour shift. Time for everyone to be reasonable.

You can cover driving via a raise, a fixed monthly amount or tallying miles*rate. Try to incentivize the behaviours you most want.

[Anonymous]

We let a nanny go because "every three months it was something."
Once she wanted more pay because there was a car seat in her car. Then it was she used to get paid $20 cash to drive kids home from school so she wanted that again. Later it was she wanted to drive the kids to a horse farm with her friends and get $50 to do so. Finally, she would make up things my husband supposedly agreed to or pretend to not understand. Always about money, always exaggerating.

On and on, 8am requests blindsiding me while I was trying to get to work. Finally, when we had our second kid and she mishandled that contract negotiation entirely, we told her it wasn't working. It just was not working.

My advice would be to see what else is out there.
We are much happier now with our nanny situation and last year's interview process confirmed we were indeed overpaying our first nanny and for subpar behavior.

[Anonymous]

You are giving her annual increases that are way too high a % given the economy in the past few years.

Her trips should be things you want your kid to do. Not her choices. And lunches to see HER friends? No.

Mileage for stuff you want her to drive your kid to is paid at its rates. No cash payments for anything.

[Anonymous]

Our nanny is always trying to finagle something too. This time it is the fact that we signed up for a music class at the church up the road (less than 1 mile) and she wants more pay to go. I think it will be fun for both of them!

I need to find a nanny without this attitude or a la carte mentality. It is like anytime her day is altered she thinks she deserves another raise. She seems to prefer playdates with her nanny friends and their charges. Which is fun too but....