Nanny Share Questions

[Anonymous]

Hi, so we are new to this- and have a few questions about the logistics of a share.
1. Does the primary hosting parent pay less?
2. If the hours do not match up to the dot, say one family needs care until 4 and the other until 6, do both parties pay for the entire time, or when offering would the job would you lay out the rates? For example from 8-4 this because its 2 kids and then 4-6 this because its one?
3. Vacation: When nanny takes the vacation leave, not sick leave, does it need to be cleared through both parties?

Honestly, not trying to nickle and dime anyone- just wanting to know the industry norm and offer our nanny a great package!

[Anonymous]

Honestly your best bet would be to look for a nanny who has experience with shares. She'll let you know how it needs to work out for everyone.

[Anonymous]

There is no industry norm. Every nanny is different. So is every family.

[Anonymous]

Im in a share where the families use different hours. We layed out 2 seperates in the beginning (2 baby rate and a single baby rate) and it has worked out fine. As for vacation, its in the contract that ALL parties will make a good faith effort to inform the group of intended vacation time with 4 weeks notice.

[Anonymous]

PP here. Both families split the 2 baby rate evenly. There are pros and cons to being either host or non host.

[Anonymous]

you can do the seperate rates or you could just agree on a weekly rate for the set guaranteed hours and how to split it (family needing extra pays 55% of the full rate maybe). (If anyone needed OT then you'd pay it on top of that.) I would do the latter.

yes, of course both families need to be in the loop & consulted on vacation since it will impact both of them. That said, having shared for 5 years about, both families should ideally agree that if nanny requests VAC then they work hard to make it happen unless there is a big reason why it won't work that particular day. Otherwise it gets hard for nanny to take off.

You will need to coordinate the 1 week off that overlaps w/ employer time off, if you do VAC the standard way of 1 week emplloyers' pick and 1 week at nanny's pick.

[Anonymous]

OP, here thanks! The vacation time is just a touchy thing for me, because I am a 10 month employee. I understand that our nanny will be paid for all 12 months, but we will honestly go down to part time for the summers. (Part time hours, not part time pay). Taking leave is super hard for me, because I have the summers off- so it would selfishly be easier to have the nanny take some vacation time in the summer, if that makes sense. I get that I cannot dictate that, nor do I want to.
Like i said, this is just new to me.

[Anonymous]

This is how we handle it in my share:

1. Does the primary hosting parent pay less?
No. Both families pay the same.

2. If the hours do not match up to the dot, say one family needs care until 4 and the other until 6, do both parties pay for the entire time, or when offering would the job would you lay out the rates? For example from 8-4 this because its 2 kids and then 4-6 this because its one?

My situation is similar to this. One family uses me for 45 hours and the other for 40.
Family A (40 hrs) pays me $9.50/hr for the first 40 hours.
If they need me beyond those 40, we have a "1 child rate" and a "2 children rate."

Family B (45 hrs) pays be $9.50/hr for the first 40 hours, and $19/hr (double time vs time and a half) for the additional 5 hours.
This is so I am guaranteed a 45 hour work week.

OT for 1 child: $19/hr
OT for 2 kids: $14.25/hr each

3. Vacation: When nanny takes the vacation leave, not sick leave, does it need to be cleared through both parties?
Yes. I am required to give notice two months before my vacation. Also, I try to work with the families based on when they're taking their vacations. I'm fortunate that they both have grandparents nearby that can help out in a pinch if necessary.

[Anonymous]

I am a nanny in a share. I'm not sure if we are the "norm" but I can tell you what we do. So far, it has worked out wonderfully.

1. Does the primary hosting parent pay less?

Both families pay me the same. The family who hosts the share in their home covers the cost of my food and weekly house cleaning. The other family has slightly fewer hours but doesn't have to worry about any of the aspects of having a nanny and extra child in their home. Obviously, this varies with every share depending on the number of kids per family and their needs.

2. If the hours do not match up to the dot, say one family needs care until 4 and the other until 6, do both parties pay for the entire time, or when offering would the job would you lay out the rates? For example from 8-4 this because its 2 kids and then 4-6 this because its one?

In order to ensure that I have a guaranteed minimum monthly salary, I am required to work from 9-6, though one family typically only needs me from 10-6 or 9-5. They pay me for a 45 hour week every week regardless.

3. Vacation: When nanny takes the vacation leave, not sick leave, does it need to be cleared through both parties?

I clear vacation days with both families as it affects both of them. We use an online calendar to keep up with all of our schedules. It's a life saver. We also have a 3-way contract and meet once a month to go over any concerns or just catch up. It's great because we're rarely all in one place at the same time.

In my opinion, a share is only practical if both families are looking for similar hours and child related responsibilities. Obviously I do more extras for the family who's home I work in (ie. laundry, dishes, tidying up, etc.) but I run errands and plan activities for my charges for both families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, here thanks! The vacation time is just a touchy thing for me, because I am a 10 month employee. I understand that our nanny will be paid for all 12 months, but we will honestly go down to part time for the summers. (Part time hours, not part time pay). Taking leave is super hard for me, because I have the summers off- so it would selfishly be easier to have the nanny take some vacation time in the summer, if that makes sense. I get that I cannot dictate that, nor do I want to.
Like i said, this is just new to me.

OP, when it comes to vacation time there are a few ways to do it. Some employers offer more than the standard two weeks, (usually 4-6) but entirely at their discretion. Others offer two weeks, one of the nanny's choosing and one set by the employers. And some offer two weeks of the nannies choice but indicate that both weeks MUST occur during school holidays (or not during school holidays, or during the summer months, or whatever works for them). So do know that as you go into the negotiating process, dictating when she may take her vacation time CAN be something you put in your contract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, here thanks! The vacation time is just a touchy thing for me, because I am a 10 month employee. I understand that our nanny will be paid for all 12 months, but we will honestly go down to part time for the summers. (Part time hours, not part time pay). Taking leave is super hard for me, because I have the summers off- so it would selfishly be easier to have the nanny take some vacation time in the summer, if that makes sense. I get that I cannot dictate that, nor do I want to.
Like i said, this is just new to me.

OP, when it comes to vacation time there are a few ways to do it. Some employers offer more than the standard two weeks, (usually 4-6) but entirely at their discretion. Others offer two weeks, one of the nanny's choosing and one set by the employers. And some offer two weeks of the nannies choice but indicate that both weeks MUST occur during school holidays (or not during school holidays, or during the summer months, or whatever works for them). So do know that as you go into the negotiating process, dictating when she may take her vacation time CAN be something you put in your contract.

PP here - need to add, this is something you would of course need to clear with the other family before deciding on, but if you're both in a similar position and agree to it, there are very few experienced nannies who haven't seen such a clause before.

[Anonymous]

MB here- both families pay the same. If the hours are roughly the same, I wouldn't worry about it. If they're fairly different, I would recommend at least doing the same hourly rate and then the person who needs more jut paying extra. On vacations, we try to coordinate, but it's understood that we'll make it work regardless. You might also want to think about things like aftercare - ie: what happens if one parent is stuck at work or in traffic, especially if it's the non-host parent. Does the nanny get to leave at the regular time or does she stay? I think the biggest thing is sick policies. One person's idea of what's too sick might not be another person's. And what happens if something breaks in the house? We host and we've just decided that that's part of our responsibility/liability, but I've known other families who put something specifically in the contract. Last, who is the contact point for the nanny (usually the host family)? We try to keep everyone in the loop, but as a practical matter, we can't be having 3 way calls all the time so if an issue arises, our nanny usually calls us first. It works fine for us, but I could see some other parents feeling annoyed or share partners thinking they were "out of the loop." Shares are great, you'll love it, but like any other relationship, you just have to keep lines of communication open.