Here Is The Situation
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Anonymous
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A wonderful nanny - never late, never in a bad mood and never texts or makes personal calls when she is working (we have nanny cams and I know that she carries an inexpensive flip-phone just for DH and I to call her). I was the only employer who posted that they could answer "yes" to the three questions posed last week.
She is a college graduate with graduate school credits in ECD and years of experience. She is truly great with our baby and the baby loves her. She has handles all child related chores including making his baby food and doing his laundry (at her home on her off hours without pay as she has a washer/dryer in her apartment and we don't - she said it was easier for her to do this rather than haul a baby to the basement). The baby has been learning and thriving in her care. Further we have no worries about his health or safety. She has been at $18 an hour for 34 hours with no other benefits other than guaranteed hours for this last full year. She has asked for either a $2 an hour raise or a $1 an hour raise with 2 additional hours added to her schedule. Further, she has asked to be paid for any vacation weeks we take off and the option to make up any hours she loses on federal holidays. Further wrinkle - I am still in graduate school and DH works full time. We have been using a small part of our savings just to have a nanny and would definitely have to dip about $300 into our savings a month to meet her requests. What would you do? |
Anonymous
You can not afford a nanny. No shame in that. You need to humbly acknowledge your position and help her find another job. |
Anonymous
| Troll. She always goes on forever with her stories. |
Anonymous
| I think her requests are mostly reasonable, though $20/hr is high for one child. How long are you planning to have a nanny? Will DC go to daycare/preschool at some point? |
Anonymous
| In the Washington area, $20/hr is not that high. My rates for one child are $25/hr. Some nannies charge more. Depends on who you hope to get. |
Anonymous
| I know how you feel and it's a tough decision but unfortunately only one you and your DH can make. We are in a similar situation, we have a wonderful nanny who we pay more than I make but we decided to just accept that we aren't going to save any money for the next few years while we need a full time nanny. For us we decided that childcare was going to be our number 1 priority now but that was what we thought worked best for us. Eventually I will make more and we won't always need a full time nanny. You and DH need to decide if this will work for you or if you need to find a new nanny. I'm sure you could find someone equally good with your DC who doesn't do the laundry and make the baby food but who will charge less. |
Anonymous
Oh, stop! Christ, everyone you don't agree with isn't a troll! |
Anonymous
+1 We have a nanny because it is in the best interersts of our children. We could find cheaper options, i.e. daycare, but our kids need to be at home outside of school hours and have individual attention. However, we do pay when we are on vacation, why should she suffer because we choose to go away? We guarantee 30 hours a week 52 weeks a year and give two weeks paid vacation. Maybe you can offer a compromise by not increasing her hourly rate, but pay her when you are away, and offer some PTO? |
Anonymous
There's nothing with which to disagree, Einstein. OP is asking a question. |
Anonymous
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OP here - I'm not a troll. Honest situation and an honest question.
Yes, the baby will be going to preschool but not in the coming year. She is a no-nonsense nanny. I am fairly certain that these are her bottom-line demands as she has given us a lot of time to make up our minds (none of this would take affect until her year anniversary with us in six weeks). She has not however given us any ultimatum. So does that mean there is negotiating room? |
Anonymous
Give it a rest, Cupcake. |
Anonymous
OP here - She did give us the option of 19 an hour with two additional hours of work which is probably the way that we will go if we accept her requests. Seems silly not to. |
Anonymous
It's a bit early for your cupcake, considering it's only 9:05am, don't you think? |
Anonymous
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I think that the fact that you essentially gave her no benefits for her first year means that you can't really only give her a little bit for year 2. I think she's telling you that the job as is is not working for her.
It sounds like she is not asking for any additional paid time off for herself (vacation or sick days?), and is offering to make up the time on the holidays. You are still getting a very good deal. If you want to keep this nanny, I think you should agree. If you really can't afford her, then consider rethinking your job description and looking for someone cheaper. She sounds like someone who would not have trouble finding a good job elsewhere. |
Anonymous
| OP, are you scrimping to get by, as much as she is? Or not so much? |