New employers want me to pay for broken glass, only problem is they say it's a $250 glass

[Anonymous]

Nanny here.

I did a quick 3 minute google to see how much the most expensive wine glasses are. The most expensive I could find was about $60 each.

My opinion is if someone has $250 wine glasses, they don't leave them lying around in the sink. They would get washed and put away right after use, to avoid the risk of them getting broken.

I think these people were setting you up to fail. I think you should get out of there as soon as possible. If you stay, remember, they have just shown you their true colors and this will continue.

I have nannied for 3 families so far in my career. I have broken glasses at two homes. I half melted a plastic mixing bowl in the other home. I scratched the floor in my current family's new home when I was petsitting while they were on vacation and I moved the litter box to sweep. There is a hole in the cushion of their $4,000 couch from that time the dog somehow got his collar stuck to the couch and I couldn't get the dogs collar off while he was stuck to the couch and I finally ended up cutting the couch cushion because the dog was choking.

None of those families charged me for any of that.

[Anonymous]

+1 that this is absurd and you should look for a new job

[Anonymous]

We had a housekeeper break the marble top on a $10,000 antique table in half purely because she was an idiot. We still didn't try to charge her. You need to say no and find a new job ASAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had a housekeeper break the marble top on a $10,000 antique table in half purely because she was an idiot. We still didn't try to charge her. You need to say no and find a new job ASAP.

No. You were the idiot. If you have an item that expensive then you either clean it yourself or hire an expert to clean the table.

[Anonymous]

This is insane. I would never use a wine glass if it was worth $250, I certainly wouldn't leave it lying carelessly in the sink, and I would never think of charging the nanny for breaking a glass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a housekeeper break the marble top on a $10,000 antique table in half purely because she was an idiot. We still didn't try to charge her. You need to say no and find a new job ASAP.

No. You were the idiot. If you have an item that expensive then you either clean it yourself or hire an expert to clean the table.

Then no one with antique furniture could ever have household staff ...
Homeowner's insurance covers this stuff, but at the 10K mark, you have to decide if it's worth it to make the claim and possibly lose your insurance.

[Anonymous]

Can they legally garnish your wages at will? My understanding is that you are still entitled to full pay, they must pursue you in small claims court for the $250, which they will not get.
And they most likely are also claiming from home insurance, which would make claiming money from you as well insurance fraud

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a housekeeper break the marble top on a $10,000 antique table in half purely because she was an idiot. We still didn't try to charge her. You need to say no and find a new job ASAP.

No. You were the idiot. If you have an item that expensive then you either clean it yourself or hire an expert to clean the table.

Then no one with antique furniture could ever have household staff ...
Homeowner's insurance covers this stuff, but at the 10K mark, you have to decide if it's worth it to make the claim and possibly lose your insurance.

Broke a marble table in half? How? Did she drop a piano on it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had a housekeeper break the marble top on a $10,000 antique table in half purely because she was an idiot. We still didn't try to charge her. You need to say no and find a new job ASAP.

No. You were the idiot. If you have an item that expensive then you either clean it yourself or hire an expert to clean the table.

Then no one with antique furniture could ever have household staff ...
Homeowner's insurance covers this stuff, but at the 10K mark, you have to decide if it's worth it to make the claim and possibly lose your insurance.

Broke a marble table in half? How? Did she drop a piano on it?

She tried to detach the marble top from the wood bottom to polish it. (Something we 100% never asked her to do; it never even occurred to me someone would think this was possible.) In trying to do so, she knocked the whole thing on its side and the marble split in half. It may have had some kind of undetected weakness previously to crack like that (we got it from my Grandma and it dates to the 1870s, apparently) or it may have just hit the floor at a really unfortunate angle (it dented out wood floor too). In any case, we didn't want our insurance to go up, so we didn't claim anything; we hired someone to essentially plaster glue it back together and, because of marble's natural color variations, it's not that noticeable unless you're standing over it (when it definitely is).

[Anonymous]

Horrible employers and people. I would ask to order one on amazon to ship to their home and ask for all my money. Plus who leave delicate wine glasses in sink along with other heavy dishes?

[Anonymous]

Thank god u didn't cut yourself because nobody would care about that just a stupid wine glass.

[Anonymous]

Mb here. Get a new job. Ds' nanny has accidentally broken two things during her employment. Never even crossed our mind to charge her for.it.

[Anonymous]

I'd like to see a $250 wine glass. Next week they'll leave a plate costing $500 in the sink.

[Anonymous]

Can we have an update OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we have an update OP?

I texted them this weekend saying that legally I'm owed my full pay and that I'm sincerely sorry I broke the wine glass. The mother got super pissy, and basically fired me. They owe me my pay from last week, if I don't get it I will take them to the small claims court. It's $500 but I didn't work a 40 hour week for free.