Asking Nanny for Light Housekeeping

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would lay out specifics at the start. And from our experience ask for daily unloading of the dishwasher. Doesn’t sound like an issue at first but I ran into the situation where our nanny was loading all her dishes she would use during the day for herself, the baby dishes, and bottles daily. I would come home to a full dirty dishwasher and would have to then run it and Empty it , which lead to me having to be running/ emptying multiple extra loads. I felt like I was actually doing her dishes. So we had to ask for her to empty the dishwasher moving forward even if it contained our dinner dishes etc

So you won’t do the nanny dishes, but you expect her to do yours? What an entitled employer.

+1.

I can't believe at Starbucks, the barista has to make my coffee but I don't make coffee for him. What an entitled customer I am...
The nanny is paid to do a job. It is up to parent + nanny to define what that job entails and set mutual expectations. Unloading dishes doesn't seem like a big stretch from child-related duties -- in my house 50-75% of those dishes are due to kids' food, and trying to split hairs on whether the nanny only unloads the specific dishes related to kids/herself seems like the kind of nitpickiness that would take you down a bad path relationship-wise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would lay out specifics at the start. And from our experience ask for daily unloading of the dishwasher. Doesn’t sound like an issue at first but I ran into the situation where our nanny was loading all her dishes she would use during the day for herself, the baby dishes, and bottles daily. I would come home to a full dirty dishwasher and would have to then run it and Empty it , which lead to me having to be running/ emptying multiple extra loads. I felt like I was actually doing her dishes. So we had to ask for her to empty the dishwasher moving forward even if it contained our dinner dishes etc

So you won’t do the nanny dishes, but you expect her to do yours? What an entitled employer.

+1.

I can't believe at Starbucks, the barista has to make my coffee but I don't make coffee for him. What an entitled customer I am...
The nanny is paid to do a job. It is up to parent + nanny to define what that job entails and set mutual expectations. Unloading dishes doesn't seem like a big stretch from child-related duties -- in my house 50-75% of those dishes are due to kids' food, and trying to split hairs on whether the nanny only unloads the specific dishes related to kids/herself seems like the kind of nitpickiness that would take you down a bad path relationship-wise.

Agree, but if nanny can't be bothered to run/unload dishwasher, ask her to do all dishes used during the day for children and for her by hand. That way, she doesn't have to get bent out of shape doing something she thinks is inappropriate for her role.

[Anonymous]

You need to define what "light housekeeping" is. Some people try to get away with a "light housekeeping" ad but it really is full housekeeping. Typically it's OK to do baby related chores like laundry, dishes and cleaning up after the baby/kids.

I would personally say any chores related to the parents, bathrooms, deep cleaning, laundry are not OK. Parents leaving their dishes in the sink for nanny to wash/clean/load is rude. Unloading the family dishwasher would be OK because they are clean and likely baby/kids dishes are the bulk.

Regardless, all of this should be discussed upfront. Adding it on after the hire is rude. Few nannies will say NO for fear of losing their jobs.

[Anonymous]

Op here. We don’t ever want the nanny to feel take advantage of or lose her to a better offer. We will outline what is expected and put in added duties
(pertaining to child) as his needs change. We think we are offering above competitive rates and benefits.

[Anonymous]

Op here. We are only expecting her to handle the baby housekeeping, meal prep ( chop veggies) maybe 2-3 times a week, and bring in any packages. As he gets older, we I’ll epdct her to make baby food on occasion, ask her to research activities, and clean up things like the high chair. We do not expect anything did us beyond meal prep. We are offering $20 for 40 hours a week, plus OT for 2 date nights a month. We will offer guaranteed hours, 5 weeks of paid vacation - grandparents will take baby 2 weeks out of the year, and the rest with be holidays, plus a week of her choosing, 5 sick days, and all federal holidays paid. We think this is a generous package.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. We are only expecting her to handle the baby housekeeping, meal prep ( chop veggies) maybe 2-3 times a week, and bring in any packages. As he gets older, we I’ll epdct her to make baby food on occasion, ask her to research activities, and clean up things like the high chair. We do not expect anything did us beyond meal prep. We are offering $20 for 40 hours a week, plus OT for 2 date nights a month. We will offer guaranteed hours, 5 weeks of paid vacation - grandparents will take baby 2 weeks out of the year, and the rest with be holidays, plus a week of her choosing, 5 sick days, and all federal holidays paid. We think this is a generous package.

That sounds perfectly reasonable although personally I think meal prep (for the family) is gray area, if your nanny doesn't mind then great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. We are only expecting her to handle the baby housekeeping, meal prep ( chop veggies) maybe 2-3 times a week, and bring in any packages. As he gets older, we I’ll epdct her to make baby food on occasion, ask her to research activities, and clean up things like the high chair. We do not expect anything did us beyond meal prep. We are offering $20 for 40 hours a week, plus OT for 2 date nights a month. We will offer guaranteed hours, 5 weeks of paid vacation - grandparents will take baby 2 weeks out of the year, and the rest with be holidays, plus a week of her choosing, 5 sick days, and all federal holidays paid. We think this is a generous package.

That sounds perfectly reasonable although personally I think meal prep (for the family) is gray area, if your nanny doesn't mind then great.

$20 hour for only 40 hours is low. Most nannies prefer to work closer to 50.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. We are only expecting her to handle the baby housekeeping, meal prep ( chop veggies) maybe 2-3 times a week, and bring in any packages. As he gets older, we I’ll epdct her to make baby food on occasion, ask her to research activities, and clean up things like the high chair. We do not expect anything did us beyond meal prep. We are offering $20 for 40 hours a week, plus OT for 2 date nights a month. We will offer guaranteed hours, 5 weeks of paid vacation - grandparents will take baby 2 weeks out of the year, and the rest with be holidays, plus a week of her choosing, 5 sick days, and all federal holidays paid. We think this is a generous package.

That sounds perfectly reasonable although personally I think meal prep (for the family) is gray area, if your nanny doesn't mind then great.

$20 hour for only 40 hours is low. Most nannies prefer to work closer to 50.

I agree $20 is pretty low. But it’s a 3 month old ans s/he might be sleeping a lot. I’m a nanny and I don’t like to work over 40 hours a week. I get paid well so it’s not something I really need. I do have opportunity for OT though. But I kindly decline if I can’t stay late. Also, most nannies should be aware of their finances and if 40 hours at $20/h is too low then they should not accept the position.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. We are only expecting her to handle the baby housekeeping, meal prep ( chop veggies) maybe 2-3 times a week, and bring in any packages. As he gets older, we I’ll epdct her to make baby food on occasion, ask her to research activities, and clean up things like the high chair. We do not expect anything did us beyond meal prep. We are offering $20 for 40 hours a week, plus OT for 2 date nights a month. We will offer guaranteed hours, 5 weeks of paid vacation - grandparents will take baby 2 weeks out of the year, and the rest with be holidays, plus a week of her choosing, 5 sick days, and all federal holidays paid. We think this is a generous package.

That sounds perfectly reasonable although personally I think meal prep (for the family) is gray area, if your nanny doesn't mind then great.

$20 hour for only 40 hours is low. Most nannies prefer to work closer to 50.

I agree $20 is pretty low. But it’s a 3 month old ans s/he might be sleeping a lot. I’m a nanny and I don’t like to work over 40 hours a week. I get paid well so it’s not something I really need. I do have opportunity for OT though. But I kindly decline if I can’t stay late. Also, most nannies should be aware of their finances and if 40 hours at $20/h is too low then they should not accept the position.

OP here. We are paying $20 after taxes, which bring it to about $25 pre-tax. We are also offering additional hours for date night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. We are only expecting her to handle the baby housekeeping, meal prep ( chop veggies) maybe 2-3 times a week, and bring in any packages. As he gets older, we I’ll epdct her to make baby food on occasion, ask her to research activities, and clean up things like the high chair. We do not expect anything did us beyond meal prep. We are offering $20 for 40 hours a week, plus OT for 2 date nights a month. We will offer guaranteed hours, 5 weeks of paid vacation - grandparents will take baby 2 weeks out of the year, and the rest with be holidays, plus a week of her choosing, 5 sick days, and all federal holidays paid. We think this is a generous package.

That sounds perfectly reasonable although personally I think meal prep (for the family) is gray area, if your nanny doesn't mind then great.

Nanny here. 5 weeks paid vacation is good with the standard being two weeks. I think many nannies will be happy with the rate and benefits OP is offering. It’s also helpful that OPs baby is already self-soothing and crib trained. That to me is the hardest obstacle when caring for infants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it is too much, OP. A nanny generally does anything and everything related to the baby so the baby's laundry is generally expected. As is washing his bottles and dishes(when he used dishes). I have also done parents meal prep - I cannot cook but have chopped vegetables, made fruit salad, and started a simple slow cooker recipe before. Once my charge got older, I also made all her purees homemade and fresh every day and all of her marketing. I took over ordering for my charge (diapers, shampoo, etc) early on now do all the household ordering and the parents staples. I also handle payment to the twice weekly housekeeper, accept packages and stay available for handyman, cable guy, etc.

As long as you are clear that the engagement and teaching of your baby comes first, I see no problem with doing more.

Nannies to do not meal prep or put away groceries.

Oh hush. Yes we do.

-signed, a nanny with 27yrs experience; currently with twin infants and meal pre (and put away grocery deliveries) daily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How good isn’t the pay and benefits? Most employers think they are paying a good wage, but it’s low for what they ask.

Yes,am nanny ,they alll say ,we pay good,bla,bla,but the end the $ is not enough.
Nanny need to do only thing relative to the babies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. We are only expecting her to handle the baby housekeeping, meal prep ( chop veggies) maybe 2-3 times a week, and bring in any packages. As he gets older, we I’ll epdct her to make baby food on occasion, ask her to research activities, and clean up things like the high chair. We do not expect anything did us beyond meal prep. We are offering $20 for 40 hours a week, plus OT for 2 date nights a month. We will offer guaranteed hours, 5 weeks of paid vacation - grandparents will take baby 2 weeks out of the year, and the rest with be holidays, plus a week of her choosing, 5 sick days, and all federal holidays paid. We think this is a generous package.

You are fine, OP. It is a decent package but not a "generous" one. $20 an hour (for a legal employee) is middle-to-low.

But I wouldn't describe as what you are asking for as "light housekeeping". A nanny should do anything and everything for the child in her care (laundry, food prep, washing bottles, disinfecting toys, keeping the baby's room neat, emptying the diaper genie).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. We don’t ever want the nanny to feel take advantage of or lose her to a better offer. We will outline what is expected and put in added duties
(pertaining to child) as his needs change. We think we are offering above competitive rates and benefits.

You may think so but maybe the nanny doesn't. "Housekeeping", means cleaning only things pertaining to children ON HER WATCH, not cleaning your house from weekend mess or emptying dishwasher of family dishes.

Does your employer ask you to wash his/her clothes, clean toilets, etc.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here. We are only expecting her to handle the baby housekeeping, meal prep ( chop veggies) maybe 2-3 times a week, and bring in any packages. As he gets older, we I’ll epdct her to make baby food on occasion, ask her to research activities, and clean up things like the high chair. We do not expect anything did us beyond meal prep. We are offering $20 for 40 hours a week, plus OT for 2 date nights a month. We will offer guaranteed hours, 5 weeks of paid vacation - grandparents will take baby 2 weeks out of the year, and the rest with be holidays, plus a week of her choosing, 5 sick days, and all federal holidays paid. We think this is a generous package.

You are fine, OP. It is a decent package but not a "generous" one. $20 an hour (for a legal employee) is middle-to-low.

But I wouldn't describe as what you are asking for as "light housekeeping". A nanny should do anything and everything for the child in her care (laundry, food prep, washing bottles, disinfecting toys, keeping the baby's room neat, emptying the diaper genie).

Agreed. $20 in the DC, NOVA, MD area is average at best. However, your benefits are quite nice, especially if you do date nights as her right to refuse if she has plans, but OT if she works. 5 weeks guaranteed vacation is great (does she have to be available in case your plans change, or is it truly vacation?), even if only one week is her choice; can she use her week consecutively with one of yours, so that she can have 3 weeks non-consecutive and then one 2 week vacation? Think about a contribution to health insurance to bump your benefits package up into the outstanding bracket, and many nannies will cut you a break on the hourly rate, especially if you put something into your contract about yearly review and raise.