Holiday Bonus Question

[Anonymous]

I've seen that 1-2 weeks of pay seems to be standard holiday bonuses for families (who are able) to pay. What would others recommend for a nanny who began with the family in mid-November? I want to give something that shows we appreciate our nanny and think things are going well so far (i.e. I want to be fair and not cheap), while appreciating that she hasn't been with us very long.

Suggestions welcome!

[Anonymous]

I have heard and like the suggestion of prorating the bonus based on how many months she has been with you, so something like a days pay/month of service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have heard and like the suggestion of prorating the bonus based on how many months she has been with you, so something like a days pay/month of service.

+1

In this case I would offer two full days worth of pay plus a small gift - and I mean SMALL (it could be a decorative ornament for her tree from abroad, a gift card for Starbucks, a lower-end bottle of wine) - and a nice card with a heartfelt message (e.g. "Even though you haven't been with us long we are so thankful to have you in DC's life etc. etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have heard and like the suggestion of prorating the bonus based on how many months she has been with you, so something like a days pay/month of service.

+1

In this case I would offer two full days worth of pay plus a small gift - and I mean SMALL (it could be a decorative ornament for her tree from abroad, a gift card for Starbucks, a lower-end bottle of wine) - and a nice card with a heartfelt message (e.g. "Even though you haven't been with us long we are so thankful to have you in DC's life etc. etc.).

Very appropriate.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you very much for the suggestions.

[Anonymous]

OP, 1-2 weeks holiday bonus is NOT standard. There is no standard. That said, the max bonus, if earned, is 1 week salary, tops.

Based on a one week generous bonus, OP, you should prorate.

Really, nannies, you are shameful with your bonus inflation.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the OP about the ridiculous nonsense posted by nannies. 1-2 week is not standard. A gift card under $250 is more common. Personally, I like giving gifts around the holidays and we do alot for teachers and everyone. If money is not an issue than giving her a gift card would be a nice gesture. I would not tell her it is pro-rated because you do not want to give the expectation that you will or will not give a bonus next year. Unless she is really amazing so far, I would frame it as a gift rather than a bous for exceeding expectations as she needs more time to demonstrate that she does this.

[nannydebsays]

A bonus is just that: an extra amount of money you give your nanny to show appreciation for a job well done. Nannies do not "deserve" bonuses just for showing up and doing their job. Nannies should not EXPECT bonuses unless they are written into their employment contract.

I'm (obviously) a huge advocate for nannies, but no one has the "right" to a bonus. Employers should stop fretting about what other people do and simply decide what they can afford to give if it's deserved. If that means $250 and a nice gift, so be it. If that means $5000 and a trip to Europe, awesome.

Yes, etiquette experts say 1 - 2 weeks pay is standard for a nanny bonus, but they also suggest tipping the garbage men and the mail man.

[Anonymous]

Really? A nanny's holiday bonus isn't typically a week?

http://www.4nannytaxes.com/index.cfm/resources/news-and-updates/year-end-bonus/

the average year end bonus is one - two weeks of pay

http://www.care.com/child-care-holiday-tipping-a-holiday-bonus-guide-for-your-caregivers-p1017-q3901313.html

A full time nanny can usually expect a holiday bonus of one week's salary. Some will get more (or less), but one week is the norm.

http://www.nannypro.com/content/pages/nannybonus

Cash bonuses: If this is the route you can afford to take this year, the average year-end bonus is two weeks of pay. For newer nannies who have just recently been hired, many families calculate a day's pay per each month the nanny has been with them to figure the total amount of the bonus

I know I've read other articles about this, but I can't hunt them all down.
Do people increase salaries on here? Sometimes they do, absolutely. I highly doubt that there are many nannies (if any) out there that make $20/hour or more for one child.
But in the terms of a holiday bonus, 1 week is standard.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, nanny, but just because you found some nanny blogs that assert it doesn't mean that a bonus of any sort is standard.

Bonuses are earned, not standard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bonuses are earned, not standard.

Tell that to Wall Street.

[Anonymous]

Where are you crazies coming from? The OP is the one that brought up a 1-2 week standard. No where in the responses did anyone even suggest that. OP stated that she wanted to give a bonus to show appreciation and that she felt things were going really well with new nanny. No one said a bonus is required, and no one said it had to be 1-2 weeks. I believe the suggestion was 2 days pay. Geez!

[Anonymous]

The OP said that she was under the impression that 1-2 weeks is standard, most likely she got that wring information from the nannies on this board. People are just pointing out that while nannies would love to get 1-2 weeks bonus it is far from a standard and the nannies here should not be believed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, nanny, but just because you found some nanny blogs that assert it doesn't mean that a bonus of any sort is standard.

Bonuses are earned, not standard.

Did you even click on those links? None of them are nanny blogs. In fact, I purposefully left out any nanny blogs.

[Anonymous]

You MB's throw the word nanny around like it's some kind of insult. Just because you may be a doctor, lawyer, whatever the heck high paying position you have doesn't make you better than me or any other nanny out there. You all remind of Nanny Diaries where the nanny is called the nanny or nanny x. How disgusting and entitled most of you are. Oh nanny your so wrong and oh nanny we can't stand that you do x, y, and z. Your pompous asses need to be knocked down a peg or 2. All the money in the world doesn't make you better than anyone else.