Would you pay nanny for today if it was supposed to be her first day?

[Anonymous]

She's essentially full-time (38 hours/wk) but we are paying her by the hour as she will occasionally work a few extra hours in a given week and we want to pay her for those hours. We haven't addressed snow days in her contract, but my husband and I were thinking that the way we'd handle it is that if the federal gov't is closed, we'll give her the day off with no discussion and pay her. If the gov't has liberal leave, we'll tell her that we would like her to come, and that if she can't, we won't pay her. Neither of us works for the federal gov't, but we figured this was a fair way to handle it.

Thinking the only fair thing to do is to to pay her a half day since she was counting on the income, but on the other hand, I won't get paid! I'll normally be able to work from home on a snow day as I'm a consultant and my job is pretty portable as long as I have my computer and a phone. However, I can't work today since the only point of today was to go into the office, get acquainted with everyone, get my computer, learn the time charging system, etc.

What do you think?

[Anonymous]

Pay her.

[Anonymous]

I would pay her for today, but explain to her what the situation will be like in the future.
I think you are being more than fair in paying her when the federal government shuts down. However, I would give her a choice when it comes to liberal leave. I would tell her she could use it as a vacation/sick day, or not get paid. If she is dependent on that income, she might prefer to use it as a vacation day.

I would also get the snow day policy into the contract as soon as possible. That way, it won't cause confusion for anyone down the road.

[Anonymous]

Does she get guaranteed hours? Did she call out or did you?

[Anonymous]

OP here. She doesn't officially have guaranteed hours but I plan to ensure she does. I told her not to come when I found out I couldn't go to work.

[Anonymous]

PS - that's a good idea on giving her the option of using a personal day on liberal leave so she can get the income she's counting on. We also might give her the opportunity to make up those hours later in the week (eg if there was a snow day on a Monday that she doesn't get paid for, we might offer her the chance to watch the kids on Sat night to make up the money ).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. She doesn't officially have guaranteed hours but I plan to ensure she does. I told her not to come when I found out I couldn't go to work.

Then you pay her. It wasn't her choice to not come in, it was yours. You should have had a contract made that states everything in detail before her start date. Since you have the day off, I'd start working on it and email it to her. Your idea for snow days is fine but you shouldn't nickel and diming her on the first day. You are basically delaying her income by not having her start today and not paying. I'd see that as a huge red flag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. She doesn't officially have guaranteed hours but I plan to ensure she does. I told her not to come when I found out I couldn't go to work.

Then you pay her. It wasn't her choice to not come in, it was yours. You should have had a contract made that states everything in detail before her start date. Since you have the day off, I'd start working on it and email it to her. Your idea for snow days is fine but you shouldn't nickel and diming her on the first day. You are basically delaying her income by not having her start today and not paying. I'd see that as a huge red flag.

I agree. You told her not to come, you need to pay her for the full day.

[Anonymous]

Basically, if I'm understanding you correctly, under normal circumstances, you would have paid her for today, right? The only thing is that today is her first day? Today is the first day of your agreement/relationship, and she would have been expected to honor it, by showing up on time and performing her duties. It happened to snow on her first day, but your relationship and agreement started today, and I think you should honor it as you would have expected her to on her first day, and as you would had this been any other day down the road.

[Anonymous]

You don't sound like you can afford a nanny if you're already trying to avoid paying her for her first day that you canceled. Try that at a daycare and see how quickly you get replaced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don't sound like you can afford a nanny if you're already trying to avoid paying her for her first day that you canceled. Try that at a daycare and see how quickly you get replaced.

Really, what are you adding to the conversation by sounding like an idiot?

[Anonymous]

You need to pay her for the whole day.

[Anonymous]

If she is available to work that day, you pay her. If you are not working or are home, I would not ask her to come in. I would pay her as how would you feel if your income was docked for snow.

[Anonymous]

Thank you to the helpful replies. I think there is consensus! We already had a contract but I amended it today to add the snow policy.

[Anonymous]

Considering how little most nannies earn, you really don't have much wiggle room. Her wages are nothing like yours, are they?