What is standard in invoicing for fractions of an hour?

[Anonymous]

In some preschools and daycares, they actually charge by the minute if a parent is late.

It's not due to being rude, it's a smart business practice.

Time is money and money is time. Period.

If you are expected to stay and give a de-briefing after the parents return, then you should be paid for it. It's common sense.

While nannies love their kids, parents should also acknowledge that this is a JOB and that a nanny's time is just as important as any other employee's time.

[Anonymous]

I'm a MB, and I keep track of the hours (I work from home, so the nanny's hours only vary if we make special arrangements). I round up to the nearest quarter hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to discuss it with the family to see their preference. I do quarter hour increments. Rounded up. If it's 5:31/5:32, I won't round to 5:45.

Disagree with the PP. If I'm talking about my charge, I can't leave. That's time I can't schedule to do other things. I arrive a few minutes before work to get settled, so I expect to be able to leave within a minute or two of my end time, or get paid for the additional time.
It isn't a situation where I'm tricking them into paying more -- it's in my contract.

Then you don't say rounded up, you say rounded to the nearest. Rounding up means rounding up to 5:45 from 5:32.

I changing the language in my initial post and missed part of it. I meant that I typically don't round up if it's only a minute or two. But here's another example: two days where MB arrives at 5:31, I'd round up one of the days to 5:45 and keep one day at 5:30. I would not describe it as rounding to the nearest, because if it's 5:35 I absolutely round up to 5:45 versus down to 5:30

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to discuss it with the family to see their preference. I do quarter hour increments. Rounded up. If it's 5:31/5:32, I won't round to 5:45.

Disagree with the PP. If I'm talking about my charge, I can't leave. That's time I can't schedule to do other things. I arrive a few minutes before work to get settled, so I expect to be able to leave within a minute or two of my end time, or get paid for the additional time.
It isn't a situation where I'm tricking them into paying more -- it's in my contract.

Then you don't say rounded up, you say rounded to the nearest. Rounding up means rounding up to 5:45 from 5:32.

I changing the language in my initial post and missed part of it. I meant that I typically don't round up if it's only a minute or two. But here's another example: two days where MB arrives at 5:31, I'd round up one of the days to 5:45 and keep one day at 5:30. I would not describe it as rounding to the nearest, because if it's 5:35 I absolutely round up to 5:45 versus down to 5:30

So then you don't really have a system or formula "round up or down" you just round in such a way as to maximize your pay and take advantage of your employer. Got it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In some preschools and daycares, they actually charge by the minute if a parent is late.

It's not due to being rude, it's a smart business practice.

Time is money and money is time. Period.

If you are expected to stay and give a de-briefing after the parents return, then you should be paid for it. It's common sense.

While nannies love their kids, parents should also acknowledge that this is a JOB and that a nanny's time is just as important as any other employee's time.

Then OP should go work for a daycare and see if any of that "late parent" money finds its way into their paycheck lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In some preschools and daycares, they actually charge by the minute if a parent is late.

It's not due to being rude, it's a smart business practice.

Time is money and money is time. Period.

If you are expected to stay and give a de-briefing after the parents return, then you should be paid for it. It's common sense.

While nannies love their kids, parents should also acknowledge that this is a JOB and that a nanny's time is just as important as any other employee's time.

Then OP should go work for a daycare and see if any of that "late parent" money finds its way into their paycheck lol.

Huh? I am the OP and I never mentioned parents being late or charging for telling them what my charges did while they were away! I just want to know if there is a standard for charging for the half or quarter hour?!!

[Anonymous]

OP - ignore the crappy posts. We have a pathetic little troll on this forum who has never been a nanny and has never employed a nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In some preschools and daycares, they actually charge by the minute if a parent is late.

It's not due to being rude, it's a smart business practice.

Time is money and money is time. Period.

If you are expected to stay and give a de-briefing after the parents return, then you should be paid for it. It's common sense.

While nannies love their kids, parents should also acknowledge that this is a JOB and that a nanny's time is just as important as any other employee's time.

Then OP should go work for a daycare and see if any of that "late parent" money finds its way into their paycheck lol.

Huh? I am the OP and I never mentioned parents being late or charging for telling them what my charges did while they were away! I just want to know if there is a standard for charging for the half or quarter hour?!!

Then just refer to the first reply, that summed it up very well. Round down to the nearest 30 minutes unless you are within like 5-6 minutes of the next 30 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In some preschools and daycares, they actually charge by the minute if a parent is late.

It's not due to being rude, it's a smart business practice.

Time is money and money is time. Period.

If you are expected to stay and give a de-briefing after the parents return, then you should be paid for it. It's common sense.

While nannies love their kids, parents should also acknowledge that this is a JOB and that a nanny's time is just as important as any other employee's time.

Then OP should go work for a daycare and see if any of that "late parent" money finds its way into their paycheck lol.

Huh? I am the OP and I never mentioned parents being late or charging for telling them what my charges did while they were away! I just want to know if there is a standard for charging for the half or quarter hour?!!

Then just refer to the first reply, that summed it up very well. Round down to the nearest 30 minutes unless you are within like 5-6 minutes of the next 30 minutes.

Please do not feed this troll. It has never had a nanny, never employed a nanny, and never been a nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I love when nannies say "debriefing" like it's some kind of military exercise lol. "Little Larla had a huge poop today and we went to the library, she giggled a lot during the story. See you tomorrow!" Takes 30 seconds and you don't deserve to get paid extra for that.

Fantastic! So I don't need to tell you that DC1 has a temperature of 100.2 and you want to keep an eye on it? Great, you'll notice later, hmmmm, maybe late enough that it's 101 or higher before you notice...

You don't want me to tell you that DS is starting to try to roll over? Not a problem, you might not see him try until the weekend anyway, I guess waiting 5 days to know is fine, if that's what you want.

Oh! You don't want to know that DD has a huge bruise on her ribs because a kid at preschool kicked her accidentally? Wow...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I love when nannies say "debriefing" like it's some kind of military exercise lol. "Little Larla had a huge poop today and we went to the library, she giggled a lot during the story. See you tomorrow!" Takes 30 seconds and you don't deserve to get paid extra for that.

Fantastic! So I don't need to tell you that DC1 has a temperature of 100.2 and you want to keep an eye on it? Great, you'll notice later, hmmmm, maybe late enough that it's 101 or higher before you notice...

You don't want me to tell you that DS is starting to try to roll over? Not a problem, you might not see him try until the weekend anyway, I guess waiting 5 days to know is fine, if that's what you want.

Oh! You don't want to know that DD has a huge bruise on her ribs because a kid at preschool kicked her accidentally? Wow...

Lucky for you all that information only took you about 30 seconds to convey to me! In the time it takes you to pack your bag and put your shoes on you have "debriefed" me. So glad that worked out and you didn't charge me for 15 minutes worth of "debriefing"!!!! Thx nanny!

[Anonymous]

Some nannies deliberately pad their hours by hanging out for unnecessary chitchat or tidying up or updating the log book after the parents return home. Tidying and updating the log should be done before the nanny's scheduled departure time. A debriefing should not take more than 5 minutes, which should be rounded to the nearest 15 minutes--in this case down rather than up. If the conversation turns to something other than the kids or work duties--weekend plans, etc.--the nanny is off the clock and shouldn't bill that time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some nannies deliberately pad their hours by hanging out for unnecessary chitchat or tidying up or updating the log book after the parents return home. Tidying and updating the log should be done before the nanny's scheduled departure time. A debriefing should not take more than 5 minutes, which should be rounded to the nearest 15 minutes--in this case down rather than up. If the conversation turns to something other than the kids or work duties--weekend plans, etc.--the nanny is off the clock and shouldn't bill that time.

Employers need to be on time for your "plan" to work. I like to give a bit of transition time for my charges and always start winding them down for the transition ten minutes before their parents are expected home. My employers asked that we stop keeping a log book so I make sure I have the bullet points ready to tell them.

It does take no more than a few minutes BUT my employers are also never late and return home ready to take over immediately.

If you want a fast, smooth transition - it is a two way street.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some nannies deliberately pad their hours by hanging out for unnecessary chitchat or tidying up or updating the log book after the parents return home. Tidying and updating the log should be done before the nanny's scheduled departure time. A debriefing should not take more than 5 minutes, which should be rounded to the nearest 15 minutes--in this case down rather than up. If the conversation turns to something other than the kids or work duties--weekend plans, etc.--the nanny is off the clock and shouldn't bill that time.

Employers need to be on time for your "plan" to work. I like to give a bit of transition time for my charges and always start winding them down for the transition ten minutes before their parents are expected home. My employers asked that we stop keeping a log book so I make sure I have the bullet points ready to tell them.

It does take no more than a few minutes BUT my employers are also never late and return home ready to take over immediately.

If you want a fast, smooth transition - it is a two way street.

I forgot to answer OP question - I am on a schedule and have guaranteed hours. I am never late and MB/DB are never late so it is generally not an issue. One the days when they do ask me to stay late or come in early, I am paid to the nearest half-hour. So my advice to you would be to round down before the quarter hour mark and bill up after the quarter hour mark.

[Anonymous]

MB here. We round up to the quarter hour.

FWIW, this doesn't include "debriefing" because we manage to do that in the five minutes the nanny takes to gather her things. She has never asked for extra pay for that time, so it works for all of us.