Guidance on nanny salary and benefits

[Anonymous]

Hi, First time on this forum, apologies - I do not know the acronyms.

I have employed the same wonderful nanny for 6 years in NYC and will be giving her up and moving to DC in the summer. I would love some help in working out how best to determine salary and how to advertise for the position. In NY an high proportion of nannies work off the books and only a small % of nannies we interviewed understood what we wanted by paying on the books and what that meant regarding taxes and social etc. The nannies we interviewed discussed comp solely in terms of their take home pay rather than a gross amount. I am interested in guidance on what appropriate salary should be for the following position and how should I present the salary (as the gross number or what the take home will be)?

Caring for two children - 6 (in school full time) and 3 (preschool 5 x half days) and general light housekeeping/errand help while the kids are in school. Some school pick up and drop offs, taking kids to activities. Both schools in short walking distance. home is very close parks, zoo, shops, DC Metro. There will be some days with both kids during school vacations etc. We typically advertise for 2 weeks paid vacation, one week of our choice, one week of theirs but in reality I have over 4 weeks and we have always paid while we are on vacation and we always give our nanny a week extra of their own time to choose so usually works out to be 5.5 weeks paid vacation time. We have always paid sick days (unlimited) and been flexible with personal days. We pay for food of the nanny's choice to be in our home for their lunch. We have paid for local NY subway travel - what was needed to get around the city to pick up the kids and take them to activities (typically nannies in Manhattan do not drive). I would love to know what is normal for travel, what to expect on that front in DC. Our hours are around 50-55 per week. Are there any other benefits that are typical in the DC market?

Thanks in advance for any guidance on the above and any tips you can share. THANK YOU.

[Anonymous]

MB here. My impression (since I certainly can't claim to know accurately) is that most DC nannies are "on the books." In terms of vacation, what you provided it pretty standard -- 2 weeks paid vacation, at least 5 sick/personal days, and most - if not all - federal holidays. If you are living in the DC metro area and do not need your nanny to drive, presumably you can provide her with some sort of compensation for metro fares. I have always had a nanny who drives and we provided a reasonable gas allowance per week (since she drives my kids). Some nannies will also like some contribution towards health care. It's hard to say what salary you should offer since there is a range, but I would think for 2 school aged kids, depending on experience, $18 an hour is in the "range" -- though depending on experience, "extras" you are asking the nanny to do, etc., you may be paying a bit more. In my experience, negotiating the salary is always done on the gross hourly/weekly wage and not in terms of what the nanny's take-home pay will be. At $18 an hour for 50-55 hours per week, you have to factor in overtime for at least 10-15 hours. Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Hourly rates can be up to 25. & 30./hr. here in the DC area, although what PP said is correct, that 18. is about average. The top-notch ones get the 25. & 30. You can expect them to know how to do an outstanding job with your children. Household duties are child-related. Errands should be fine. It'll be a long week and you want the nanny to be happy with her work for at least a solid year.

[Anonymous]

I would be interested in applying can you email me?????

[e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hourly rates can be up to 25. & 30./hr. here in the DC area, although what PP said is correct, that 18. is about average. The top-notch ones get the 25. & 30. You can expect them to know how to do an outstanding job with your children. Household duties are child-related. Errands should be fine. It'll be a long week and you want the nanny to be happy with her work for at least a solid year.

This "nanny" is full of it. There is absolutely no reason for you to pay 25-30 per hour for two kids, one of whom will be in school full time, with the amount of hours you are offering.

$16-17 will find you plenty of fantastic nannies.
Especially if you emphasize the hours and vacation time.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the above - you do NOT need to pay $25-30 for this position. $16-18 is perfect with the other benefits you mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the feedback. In the NY market there are also nannies who command much higher salaries but that is not the norm and those who are paid the market "average" are some of the most wonderful dedicated and profession women we have met and become friends with over the past 6 years with our current beloved nanny. We also want to provide a workplace and find a person who will be happy in the position, is naturally inclined to love our children and join our family long term rather than be focused on "at least a solid year".
Is this common in the DC market that nannies may jump around year to year?

[Anonymous]

Hint: When a nanny tells you her last job paid her 25/hr, don't be greedy and try getting her down to your 18. If she's out of reach for your finances, let her move on. Few parents can afford her, but those who can, are the ones she wants.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the feedback. In the NY market there are also nannies who command much higher salaries but that is not the norm and those who are paid the market "average" are some of the most wonderful dedicated and profession women we have met and become friends with over the past 6 years with our current beloved nanny. We also want to provide a workplace and find a person who will be happy in the position, is naturally inclined to love our children and join our family long term rather than be focused on "at least a solid year".
Is this common in the DC market that nannies may jump around year to year?

Nanny jumping isn't common here but its also seems less common for people around here to keep nannies once the youngest goes to school. It may be because there are many more upper middle class, two income families jobs than jobs with people who are super wealthy in this area. The average 200-300K income family is not keeping a 45K nanny around if they are paying for private school or their kids are in sports anyway so they only need an hour of care a day. Au pairs, part time nannies, aftercare, and camps seem much more common.

There are some wonderful nannies who are not legal work but have a very hard time finding a job here. When we were interviewing, I was disappointed that 2 of my favorites were not legal and we wouldn't do this because of our jobs. One warning about your search is that you will get flooded with responses and need to do a lot of weeding no matter what you advertise.

I'd agree that $15 is an average standard rate for a good nanny. You'll be able to find a great nanny for $16-$18. There are $20 nannies but this is much less common and usually is someone who rose above their market ceiling with annual raises and a surprise bump from another kid being born. The rates that people quote here are also average rates not base rates. I never saw a nanny that negotiated in terms of base or ever reported her base when asked what she made previously. Its best to negotiate in terms of both average rate and weekly gross for that average rate against the number of scheduled hours. When you write your contract make sure that you figure out the actual base rate for the first 40 hours and the OT rate for the hours over 40 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for the feedback. In the NY market there are also nannies who command much higher salaries but that is not the norm and those who are paid the market "average" are some of the most wonderful dedicated and profession women we have met and become friends with over the past 6 years with our current beloved nanny. We also want to provide a workplace and find a person who will be happy in the position, is naturally inclined to love our children and join our family long term rather than be focused on "at least a solid year".
Is this common in the DC market that nannies may jump around year to year?

Nanny jumping isn't common here but its also seems less common for people around here to keep nannies once the youngest goes to school. It may be because there are many more upper middle class, two income families jobs than jobs with people who are super wealthy in this area. The average 200-300K income family is not keeping a 45K nanny around if they are paying for private school or their kids are in sports anyway so they only need an hour of care a day. Au pairs, part time nannies, aftercare, and camps seem much more common.

There are some wonderful nannies who are not legal work but have a very hard time finding a job here. When we were interviewing, I was disappointed that 2 of my favorites were not legal and we wouldn't do this because of our jobs. One warning about your search is that you will get flooded with responses and need to do a lot of weeding no matter what you advertise.

I'd agree that $15 is an average standard rate for a good nanny. You'll be able to find a great nanny for $16-$18. There are $20 nannies but this is much less common and usually is someone who rose above their market ceiling with annual raises and a surprise bump from another kid being born. The rates that people quote here are also average rates not base rates. I never saw a nanny that negotiated in terms of base or ever reported her base when asked what she made previously. Its best to negotiate in terms of both average rate and weekly gross for that average rate against the number of scheduled hours. When you write your contract make sure that you figure out the actual base rate for the first 40 hours and the OT rate for the hours over 40 hours.

Not necessarily true. If I quote someone a rate, say $18/hour for 2 kids, that's precisely what I mean. If your job requires overtime, why would that suddenly change what the work is valued at. The whole point of OT pay is to fairly compensate those working overtime, and to discourage employers from overworking their employees. I see a lot of MBs on here spout this crap and its just wrong. Your need for more hours does not entitle you to underpay someone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for the feedback. In the NY market there are also nannies who command much higher salaries but that is not the norm and those who are paid the market "average" are some of the most wonderful dedicated and profession women we have met and become friends with over the past 6 years with our current beloved nanny. We also want to provide a workplace and find a person who will be happy in the position, is naturally inclined to love our children and join our family long term rather than be focused on "at least a solid year".
Is this common in the DC market that nannies may jump around year to year?

Nanny jumping isn't common here but its also seems less common for people around here to keep nannies once the youngest goes to school. It may be because there are many more upper middle class, two income families jobs than jobs with people who are super wealthy in this area. The average 200-300K income family is not keeping a 45K nanny around if they are paying for private school or their kids are in sports anyway so they only need an hour of care a day. Au pairs, part time nannies, aftercare, and camps seem much more common.

There are some wonderful nannies who are not legal work but have a very hard time finding a job here. When we were interviewing, I was disappointed that 2 of my favorites were not legal and we wouldn't do this because of our jobs. One warning about your search is that you will get flooded with responses and need to do a lot of weeding no matter what you advertise.

I'd agree that $15 is an average standard rate for a good nanny. You'll be able to find a great nanny for $16-$18. There are $20 nannies but this is much less common and usually is someone who rose above their market ceiling with annual raises and a surprise bump from another kid being born. The rates that people quote here are also average rates not base rates. I never saw a nanny that negotiated in terms of base or ever reported her base when asked what she made previously. Its best to negotiate in terms of both average rate and weekly gross for that average rate against the number of scheduled hours. When you write your contract make sure that you figure out the actual base rate for the first 40 hours and the OT rate for the hours over 40 hours.

Not necessarily true. If I quote someone a rate, say $18/hour for 2 kids, that's precisely what I mean. If your job requires overtime, why would that suddenly change what the work is valued at. The whole point of OT pay is to fairly compensate those working overtime, and to discourage employers from overworking their employees. I see a lot of MBs on here spout this crap and its just wrong. Your need for more hours does not entitle you to underpay someone.

+1

I always quote my base rate ($18-20/hr), not my "average." If you need OT, my OT rate is 1.5x whatever rate I quoted you.

If that sounds impractical because of the number of OT hours you need (say a 60hr/wk job), then you can come to the table prepared to negotiate a lower base rate by offering me something else - more paid time off or health care coverage, for example.

[Anonymous]

These moms are experts at negotiating their own top wages at their jobs, but feel entitled to a bargain rate nanny. They hate to be reminded of reality, but here goes:

"You get what you pay for."

There's no special exemption for childcare. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Nanny jumping isn't common here but its also seems less common for people around here to keep nannies once the youngest goes to school. It may be because there are many more upper middle class, two income families jobs than jobs with people who are super wealthy in this area. The average 200-300K income family is not keeping a 45K nanny around if they are paying for private school or their kids are in sports anyway so they only need an hour of care a day. Au pairs, part time nannies, aftercare, and camps seem much more common.

There are some wonderful nannies who are not legal work but have a very hard time finding a job here. When we were interviewing, I was disappointed that 2 of my favorites were not legal and we wouldn't do this because of our jobs. One warning about your search is that you will get flooded with responses and need to do a lot of weeding no matter what you advertise.

I'd agree that $15 is an average standard rate for a good nanny. You'll be able to find a great nanny for $16-$18. There are $20 nannies but this is much less common and usually is someone who rose above their market ceiling with annual raises and a surprise bump from another kid being born. The rates that people quote here are also average rates not base rates. I never saw a nanny that negotiated in terms of base or ever reported her base when asked what she made previously. Its best to negotiate in terms of both average rate and weekly gross for that average rate against the number of scheduled hours. When you write your contract make sure that you figure out the actual base rate for the first 40 hours and the OT rate for the hours over 40 hours.



I agree w/ this poster - this feels like unbiased, fair, excellent advice for the OP. It mirrors my experience (and those of 2 other mothers in my neighborhood just outside DC but inside the beltway) with our nanny searches and hires this year.

[Anonymous]

Hint: When a nanny tells you her last job paid her 25/hr, don't be greedy and try getting her down to your 18. If she's out of reach for your finances, let her move on. Few parents can afford her, but those who can, are the ones she wants.

"don't be greedy" - I can't imagine a situation where this conversation last longer than the nanny stating her rate is $25 and the parents asking if she would consider the job for a rate of $18. Asking that question is not greedy. If the answer from the nanny is no then everyone does move on. isn't this stating the obvious. If a nanny might be offended by the parent asking this question and considers them greedy then I doubt the interview process rsults in much interaction beyond this point.

At some point if a family prepared to pay $25/hr does not turn up for 2 or 3 months and that nanny is out of work then the higher priced nanny's annual income may have resulted in being lower than the $18/hr income they could have had with the original offer. As with most professions, the high salaries are only sustainable if there is a market for them. Also a nanny who starts with a family on a more average/reasonable market rate has a better shot at a longer term position with a family when the competing costs of schools and activities come in. it would be an easier (financially, maybe not emotionally) decision to give up a nanny being paid $25/30 hr when a family is also paying school fees etc. but propbably a different decision if the nanny is paid at the market norm.