New nanny biweekly pay with one week lag

[Anonymous]

We have just hired our first nanny and she finished her first week. We are using nanny4taxes to do our payroll as well as all the taxes. I did all the set up last week and the beginning of this week, and I have just figured out that they usually take one week after the end of the pay period before they send checks. Since we are paying her biweekly(per our contract) that meant she wouldn't get mailed a check until the 22nd. Concerned, I called nanny4taxes and they told me I could write her a check for Monday through Thursday and then they would send her her first check on the 22nd for the next week (Friday through the next Thursday). That still means 2 weeks of pay spread out over 3 weeks, but at least she would have some of the money in advance.

So I talked to our nanny about this today, and she was very concerned. She is used to getting paid weekly by the MB just writing a check. I went ahead and paid her for the 4 days and told her I would call nanny4taxes back on Monday to see if there was any other way around the delays.

Has anyone else been in this situation? I don't want to cause undue hardship, but we did have biweekly pay in the contract, and are already committed to using this service. I'm not sure what else we might be able to do at this point. TIA

[Anonymous]

If you've already paid her for the 4 days then she'll just have to wait until the 22nd for her next paycheck. If she was concerned about being paid bi-weekly instead of weekly then she should have brought it up when you and her negotiated your worrying agreement. If she's still concerned remind her that she agreed to the bi-weekly pay schedule as part of her working agreement.

[Anonymous]

Think back to the last time you made $40k or less per year. It is hard to go 3 weeks, maybe more if she's been out of work, without pay if you are already literally living paycheck to paycheck. I've started nanny jobs and been so broke I didn't know if I could afford the gas/metro fare to get to work for those 3 weeks. Payment for the first 4 days should help, and she will adjust to getting paid biweekly.

[Anonymous]

I don't care if I get paid weekly or biweekly but a week lag would be unacceptable to me. Why can't the payroll people figure out the taxes and you write the check yourself?

21:27 is right - when you make as little as a nanny does, it's too hard to go long stretches without a paycheck. It's also unfair to make your nanny wait a week for her paychecks to be processed when there's no reason not to get them right away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't care if I get paid weekly or biweekly but a week lag would be unacceptable to me. Why can't the payroll people figure out the taxes and you write the check yourself?

21:27 is right - when you make as little as a nanny does, it's too hard to go long stretches without a paycheck. It's also unfair to make your nanny wait a week for her paychecks to be processed when there's no reason not to get them right away.

Op here. I do fully understand this, which is why I'm hoping someone else who has been in this situation( a MB) can chime in with their experience. So I can call the company Monday morning.

[Anonymous]

I'm an MB here. We use Breedlove (I think it's called Homework solutions now). We also have a 1 week lag but I think that's because we do direct deposit. If we were writing our own check I don't think there would be as much of a lag. Our nanny had no problem with the lag although she was the one who wanted the direct deposit so it's a little different. It's only the first check that is an issue. She gets paid every week now, it's just not for the week she just worked, it's for the one before.

[Anonymous]

I have a week lag and it's never been an issue. My bills are only due once a month, so I don't understand the problem.

I'm not familiar with the nanny4taxes, but do they have an option for the nanny to be paid weekly (with a lag)?

[Anonymous]

The initial lag is the only one that affects the nanny and you've solved that problem by writing her a check for that week (that's also what my MB did when I started). The lag won't matter once her checks start coming in because she'll have a set pay schedule and will know how much money will be arriving and when. If she can't adjust her budget to being paid bi-weekly I'd be concerned; if she was just worried about going three weeks without pay, that's understandable.

[Anonymous]

Most nannies like to be paid every Friday.

[Anonymous]

MB here, also w/ Breedlove, and we had this at the beginning, but because we went with direct deposit there was no lag after that.

It means approving payroll before the week has actually been worked (at least the majority of it) but if you plan to have a long-term relationship with your nanny, with guaranteed hours, that isn't a major risk in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Oh - also, we pay weekly.

[Anonymous]

Pp can you clarify what you mean? So you are approving the week and then the amount is getting direct deposited immediately for that week?