Vacation/Overnight Pay

[Anonymous]

I work for a family who has 4 kids - 15, 13, 12, 10. Since the kids are older, I'm much more of a homework helper/chauffeur. The parents are going out of the country for a vacation this following week. In total, I will spend 8 days and 7 nights there. 5 of the days the kids will be in school, and 3 will be full day. On the school days, I would say I will be doing things related to the kids for 6.5-8.5 hours of the day (1.5 hours in the morning and then after school until bedtime). The full days I'm guessing will be approximately 12 hours (9am-9pm). When I calculated it out, I will probably be doing kid-related things for about 70.5 hours. However, they are older, so there is not nearly as much demand as with younger children. I get paid $15/hr regularly (and not compensated for gas), and they offered me $1,000 for the week. Does this seem appropriate? I was upset at first and told the mom that I felt I would be being compensated for the hours with the kids but not really for the nights I'm spending at her house, but she told me that $150/day is a better rate than most people offer with the kids being in school most days. I don't know if I'm being crazy right now. From what I know, this would not be fair in a circumstance with younger kids, but is it fair because they are older? Any insight would be greatly appreciated! I'm just looking for honest opinions about this. I feel pretty taken advantage of by this family as is because they like to cut my hours randomly and I drive a lot without being compensated for gas or wear and tear on my vehicle, so I'm not sure if my negative feelings for them is distorting my view on this.

[Anonymous]

Do some searches here because this question has been asked some recently so you could find some helpful responses there.

I'm an MB and we have left our kids with their nanny (in our home) for the same kind of duration you're looking at here.

To do so, we paid the nanny overtime for any hours beyond her regular 50 hour work week, when the kids would typically be awake. Then we paid a flat rate for the overnights, and we gave her an additional vacation day when we returned so she didn't have umpteen days straight of working.

For us this math worked out to something like $600 for the overnights ($75/night for 8 nights) and about $1,200 in overtime. Plus the paid vacation day.

My kids are young (2 year olds), and not in school, so her work demands are different than your scenario. I can't speak to what the "going rate" is for school age kids, but I think $150/day to watch 4 kids and be responsible 24/7 is pretty damn cheap.

I don't think you're wrong to feel that you're being taken advantage of. You should stop allowing that.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

PP here. I just wanted to clarify that the $1,200 in overtime was in addition to her weekly salary, not inclusive of it. So you should look at your overtime rate for any hours beyond the normal parameters of your job, then add a per night fee for the overnights, and come up with what you think is fair based on that - and frame it that way for your employer.

Overtime is a legal pay issue BTW - not optional. Overnight rates can be a grayer area.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure what MB and PP mean, but I've gathered so far from reading through the forum that OP means original poster? I'm the OP. The family treats me more like a babysitter than a nanny, which has been an issue since day 1 with the not compensating for gas and randomly cutting hours when I budget according to the schedule. This is an arrangement I intend to get out of immediately for that very reason, but with that being said, there has never been a set overtime rate. This is obviously my own fault for accepting the position in the first place.

We didn't discuss the pay for the trip until three days before they are leaving (me assuming that it would be adequate pay because they are wealthy and I am essentially taking full responsibility of their children for 8 days), and her response was "The kids are in school most days, and we have checked around and that is higher rate than most." I honestly have no idea what to do at this point.

[Anonymous]

Tell her you have also checked around, and that you will take the job for $XXXX and no less. Or tell her that the additional $1000 on top of your normal weekly pay is acceptable, if that's true.

I'd personally want $50 per overnight, and then OT for all hours over 40, so my fee would be (8 x 50) + (15 x 40) + (22.5 x 3

[Anonymous]

Sorry! 400 + 600 + 686.25 = 1686.25

If you plan to resign ASAP, you don't have much to lose, IMO.

[Anonymous]

I do not understand "overnight rates". If I cannot leave - I AM WORKING. I make $18 an hour when I work so my overnight rate would be 18 am hour.

I'm sorry, OP, your employers are taking advantage of you.

[Anonymous]

if you leave the job I'll take it lol

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but this question just has too much math involved for me to give you an adequate answer.

Even though all four children will be in school, you still need to be available in case one falls ill and needs to stay home for the day or has to come home because they got sent to the nurse's office for not feeling good. Or another case scenario...If some emergency happened such as a fire or a school lockdown, they would need you as a contact person.

It's not like you can just go wherever and do whatever you want for the school hours. You need to be reachable by phone. After all, these are four kids here.

[Anonymous]

Oh my, some of the PPs are insane. There is absolutely no reason to pay an hourly rate for children of those ages. A flat rate for sleeping is enough.

OP, this situation is simple. You should be paid your normal hourly rate and any accrued OT until bedtime. Then you should be paid a flat rate (since the children are older, and you are unlikely to encounter anything to wake you, you should earn $75 flat rate. If there is some crazy emergency that wakes you, then your hourly rate kicks in.)

Keep it simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh my, some of the PPs are insane. There is absolutely no reason to pay an hourly rate for children of those ages. A flat rate for sleeping is enough.

OP, this situation is simple. You should be paid your normal hourly rate and any accrued OT until bedtime. Then you should be paid a flat rate (since the children are older, and you are unlikely to encounter anything to wake you, you should earn $75 flat rate. If there is some crazy emergency that wakes you, then your hourly rate kicks in.)

Keep it simple.

+1

Normal pay plus applicable OT for all waking hours on duty and a flat fee for overnights.

If they don't want to pay you during school hours they need to have someone else available in case a child needs to come home sick, etc. If they want that emergency contact to be you, you are "on call" and need to be paid for that time.

[Anonymous]

Why do you drive without being compensated for gas ???!! It's ridiculous ! And the family is obviously cheap..

[Anonymous]

If you are the one responsible for the children 24 hours a day while their parents are gone, then you should be paid for the entire time you are there. It's not like you can just leave the kids and do whatever you want when they go to bed. You are working the entire time. A flat rate is not a legal way to compensate. It is legal for them to not pay you for 8 hours of sleeping time on the nights you are staying there, but they cannot legally just pay you a flat rate for the week. If you are working 24 hour shifts for 7 days and a partial day as the 8th day, then that would be 16 hours per day plus the 8th day (let's say it's a standard 10 hour day). That would be a total of 122 hrs. SO... (40*15)+(82*22.5)= $2445 gross for the week.

[Anonymous]

$1000 for the week would be legal compensation according to federal minimum wage guidelines (40*7.25)+(82*10.88)=$892.16 gross for the week. HOWEVER, if you have your hourly rate spelled out in your contract, then they need to pay you based on AT LEAST (40*15)+(82*22.50) assuming you will be working the numbers of hours stated in my previous post. Also, it would be a good idea to have an "Extended Care" clause in your next contract, to have all this spelled out ahead of time. That way there will be no confusion.

[Anonymous]

What I do when I have the kids while the parents go out of town is a flat fee at night.
I charge my regular hourly rate for all wake hours and naps. Then I have a flat fee of $100/night. If anyone wakes up my hourly rate starts again, I break it down in 15 min increments. So if its just to pat a babies back that's 15 mins.

One thing I see that you may also need to discuss is during school hours. You are responsible for them if there was an emergency. If an hourly rate doesn't work maybe another flat fee.

So a flat fee for school hours ($50 or $75)? Then your regular rate til bed and kids asleep (not just in bed but asleep.) Then a flat fee for the night ($75 or $100)? If any wakes up your hourly rate kicks in.