Is it ever okay to shift a nanny's hours?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you anticipate this happening regularly (not just this month), I would sit down with her and see if she would be willing to accommodate that flexibility x number of days a month going forward. If it seems like she'd rather not, you'll need to decide if the money it will cost you is sufficient to need to change nannies.

If it's just this one time, I would tell her what's going on and let her choose. My nanny would prefer to get paid all the hours because she needs the money. Our last nanny would have preferred to sleep in.

I disagree. I would feel compelled to do as my employers asked especially if they gave me a sob-story about needing to save money. I would agree and then resent them for even asking me.

This. She's not your friend, she's your employee. It is inappropriate to ask your employee for favors that are in direct contradiction to the work agreement.

[Anonymous]

Can you really afford a nanny, OP?

[Anonymous]

Absolutely ask your nanny if she can and will shift her schedule.
If she says no, tell her to come in an hour late, leave at her regular time and you hire a sitter or another nanny those other 2-3 hours at the market rate.

We do that to avoid nanny burnout too. But always offer it to your nanny first, if you think she can handle it (energy-wise)

[Anonymous]

Just a few days?! No problem.
Nanny childcare is usually flexible if there is good communication and relationships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely ask your nanny if she can and will shift her schedule.
If she says no, tell her to come in an hour late, leave at her regular time and you hire a sitter or another nanny those other 2-3 hours at the market rate.

We do that to avoid nanny burnout too. But always offer it to your nanny first, if you think she can handle it (energy-wise)

Nonsense. The right thing to do would be to pay your nanny for her guaranteed hours including the hour in the morning you are giving her "off". OP is not the least bit concerned with "burn out" - she stated clearly that she wants to save money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely ask your nanny if she can and will shift her schedule.
If she says no, tell her to come in an hour late, leave at her regular time and you hire a sitter or another nanny those other 2-3 hours at the market rate.

We do that to avoid nanny burnout too. But always offer it to your nanny first, if you think she can handle it (energy-wise)

Nonsense. The right thing to do would be to pay your nanny for her guaranteed hours including the hour in the morning you are giving her "off". OP is not the least bit concerned with "burn out" - she stated clearly that she wants to save money.

AND OP's nanny already agreed to stay later on this night OP will be out of town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a few days?! No problem.
Nanny childcare is usually flexible if there is good communication and relationships.

No. Nanny childcare is whatever your agreement is with your nanny. OP agreed to guarantee a set schedule. She can request extra hours, but she must still pay for the hours she agreed to guarantee. There really is no gray to this.

[Anonymous]

No, it is not okay, OP, and I would never ask our nanny to do such a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a few days?! No problem.
Nanny childcare is usually flexible if there is good communication and relationships.

No. Nanny childcare is whatever your agreement is with your nanny. OP agreed to guarantee a set schedule. She can request extra hours, but she must still pay for the hours she agreed to guarantee. There really is no gray to this.

+1 I agree 100%. This is a problem even in the asking. Nanny childcare is NOT flexible - when I scheduled our nanny to be here is when I need her to be here or I can't work - so the opposite is also true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a few days?! No problem.
Nanny childcare is usually flexible if there is good communication and relationships.

\


Wrong. BIG PROBLEM. I am not a "flexible nanny" and never billed myself as such. I am never late for work, never have called in sick or asked for time off. My employers honor the schedule they set and so do I.

Asking for "favors" breaks down the communication and relationship between employer and employee.

You are 100% WRONG here, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely ask your nanny if she can and will shift her schedule.
If she says no, tell her to come in an hour late, leave at her regular time and you hire a sitter or another nanny those other 2-3 hours at the market rate.

We do that to avoid nanny burnout too. But always offer it to your nanny first, if you think she can handle it (energy-wise)

I don't know any nanny who subscribes to your "market rates" theory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you anticipate this happening regularly (not just this month), I would sit down with her and see if she would be willing to accommodate that flexibility x number of days a month going forward. If it seems like she'd rather not, you'll need to decide if the money it will cost you is sufficient to need to change nannies.

If it's just this one time, I would tell her what's going on and let her choose. My nanny would prefer to get paid all the hours because she needs the money. Our last nanny would have preferred to sleep in.

I disagree. I would feel compelled to do as my employers asked especially if they gave me a sob-story about needing to save money. I would agree and then resent them for even asking me.

This. She's not your friend, she's your employee. It is inappropriate to ask your employee for favors that are in direct contradiction to the work agreement.

You put it like this: "Larla, I need you to stay 3 hours late on Thursday, next Monday, and next Wednesday. If you are able to do that, you can either have a long day and get paid for all those hours, or if you would prefer a shorter day, you can come in at X:00 and be paid for just two hours of overtime. If you can't stay late at all, we'll stick to the regular schedule. Which would you prefer?"

Tell me which option MB wants in this scenario. I would make this same pitch to my nanny and hope that she didn't choose coming in late, because it messes up my whole day. But, I would worry about her doing an 11-hour day to begin with, and would want to 1) give her the option for the overtime, and 2) give her a way to both get the overtime and not be so tired at the end of it.

If you're the kind of nanny who never wants to do extra hours for any reason at all, and you will feel pressured and insulted if someone asks, you need to say that up front. It's not a common sentiment among 40-hour-a-week nannies. Every nanny I have had also takes babysitting gigs on the side for extra cash, and always wants me to ask before exploring other options because she prefers to make time-and-a-half for work she's looking for anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you anticipate this happening regularly (not just this month), I would sit down with her and see if she would be willing to accommodate that flexibility x number of days a month going forward. If it seems like she'd rather not, you'll need to decide if the money it will cost you is sufficient to need to change nannies.

If it's just this one time, I would tell her what's going on and let her choose. My nanny would prefer to get paid all the hours because she needs the money. Our last nanny would have preferred to sleep in.

I disagree. I would feel compelled to do as my employers asked especially if they gave me a sob-story about needing to save money. I would agree and then resent them for even asking me.

This. She's not your friend, she's your employee. It is inappropriate to ask your employee for favors that are in direct contradiction to the work agreement.

You put it like this: "Larla, I need you to stay 3 hours late on Thursday, next Monday, and next Wednesday. If you are able to do that, you can either have a long day and get paid for all those hours, or if you would prefer a shorter day, you can come in at X:00 and be paid for just two hours of overtime. If you can't stay late at all, we'll stick to the regular schedule. Which would you prefer?"

Tell me which option MB wants in this scenario. I would make this same pitch to my nanny and hope that she didn't choose coming in late, because it messes up my whole day. But, I would worry about her doing an 11-hour day to begin with, and would want to 1) give her the option for the overtime, and 2) give her a way to both get the overtime and not be so tired at the end of it.

If you're the kind of nanny who never wants to do extra hours for any reason at all, and you will feel pressured and insulted if someone asks, you need to say that up front. It's not a common sentiment among 40-hour-a-week nannies. Every nanny I have had also takes babysitting gigs on the side for extra cash, and always wants me to ask before exploring other options because she prefers to make time-and-a-half for work she's looking for anyway.

This isn't about not wanting to work extra hours. No one here said that it would be unreasonable to ask your nanny if she's available for some extra hours. What is not okay is what OP planned to do- shifting hours around outside of the agreed upon schedule, resulting in nanny receiving less OT than she should. If you're worry is truly burnout, let your nanny come in an hour late, but that doesn't mean you don't have to pay for the extra hours you've scheduled. OP's nanny has guaranteed hours. If OP tells her to come in late, she is still paid, right? If OP asks nanny to stay late, she should obviously pay for that time right? The fact that both would happen in the same day changes nothing.

[Anonymous]

This is something you should have addressed in your employment agreement with your nanny. Ours says that nanny will work 40 hours per week at $x/hour, and that hours will typically be from a to b, except that, on occasional circumstances and subject to nanny's availability, those hours may change from b to c for a given day. This typically happens only a few times a year, and our nannies have always been fine with it. That said, we also are fine when, for example, nanny says I want to go to the doctor in the morning, is it ok if I come in an hour later than usual and stay an hour later at night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely ask your nanny if she can and will shift her schedule.
If she says no, tell her to come in an hour late, leave at her regular time and you hire a sitter or another nanny those other 2-3 hours at the market rate.

We do that to avoid nanny burnout too. But always offer it to your nanny first, if you think she can handle it (energy-wise)

Nonsense. The right thing to do would be to pay your nanny for her guaranteed hours including the hour in the morning you are giving her "off". OP is not the least bit concerned with "burn out" - she stated clearly that she wants to save money.

she already works more hours than her guaranteed hours so moot non-point.