New Year's Eve - Make sure to charge more for sitting that night!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Our nanny is sitting for us at her usual evening rate. Before we asked her if she wanted to sit that night (she doesn't usually work evenings for us) we asked the other two regular sitters we use. Both asked us for their regular rate and were available and happy to sit.

We went with our nanny because she wanted to plan a sweet evening of pizza making and movie watching with our DD.

I think this idea that it's some sort of privilege to have a sitter on NYE is just a rumor to drive up rates.



Well good for you. But once you become a parent, you sign away your rights to party the night away at your convenience and not have to pay for it on a holiday of all things. If stupid people want to not get paid extra for giving up what should be THEIR time off, then that is their decision, but I think parents should have to pay a premium for it for that convenience.

Wow, you've got a lot of unnecessary rage, PP. Not sure where you get the idea that parents sign away their rights to go out at their convenience. They absolutely can, on any holiday they like, as long as they have child care for that night. You are also strange to think that anyone is being forced to give up their precious holiday time and forced to babysit. Of the seven couples we will be with on NYE, only one has hired a sitter who is charging more than her normal rate. Good for her. All the rest of us are paying the regular rate as requested by our sitters.

NYE isn't some sentimental family holiday. It's a party night. Apparently, some sitters prefer to work instead of going out, or they would have turned down the job. There's nothing cruel or exploitative going on. It's a job. You don't want it, don't take it. If you think you are worth more than your usual rate on NYE, then charge it. The parents will pay or hire someone else.

No one I know has had to pay a "premium" for the convenience of enjoying a night out. I wouldn't hire a sitter who expected me to pay such a "premium" because there are many good sitters out there charging their regular reasonable rates. Besides, I wouldn't hire a sitter with your attitude. My DD deserves better than an angry, bitter babysitter.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not to mention having to move the kids once they are sleeping, into a car and then back into their own house.

they stay overnight, Einstein. Everyone wins because I don't charge for the overnight Putin solely so they don't have to wake the kids up our do extra driving around.

Maybe not everyone would want their kids to stay over for the whole night, Einstein!

[Anonymous]

I am a very good caregiver, and I have many families who would love to poach me, so my references from them are great too. I also have a boyfriend. If someone wants to hire me to work ANY HOLIDAY, they pay a premium.

[Anonymous]

New Years Eve is not a holiday!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New Years Eve is not a holiday!!!

It's not a holiday by law, but it is a common holiday that is celebrated world wide. People's activities start at any point throughout the afternoon/evening. While it is not technically a "holiday" or always given as a day off from people's work, it is considered to be one, just as much as NY day itself. Most people have no plans for the daytime holiday, just resting and relaxing after celebrating the night before.

Since it is an "annual event" that many partake in, people are willing to pay more for the chance to leave their kids with someone they trust for the night, while they go have fun sans kids. If NYE doesn't mean anything or enough for people to think that a nanny is justified charging a higher rate, then the parties that night aren't anything special either and the parents could change their plans and go out the night of the 2nd instead and only be charged regular rates.

Any time the demand of one evening is so big and where there is a shorter supply of sitters available to work, it means rates can go up (supply and demand). Isn't that what the parents are always saying about a regular nanny's rate being based on the market and when there are tons of nannies out there needing work and willing to take lower rates, that the families are justified in paying lower rates then? Well the opposite is also true then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New Years Eve is not a holiday!!!

It's not a holiday by law, but it is a common holiday that is celebrated world wide. People's activities start at any point throughout the afternoon/evening. While it is not technically a "holiday" or always given as a day off from people's work, it is considered to be one, just as much as NY day itself. Most people have no plans for the daytime holiday, just resting and relaxing after celebrating the night before.

Since it is an "annual event" that many partake in, people are willing to pay more for the chance to leave their kids with someone they trust for the night, while they go have fun sans kids. If NYE doesn't mean anything or enough for people to think that a nanny is justified charging a higher rate, then the parties that night aren't anything special either and the parents could change their plans and go out the night of the 2nd instead and only be charged regular rates.

Any time the demand of one evening is so big and where there is a shorter supply of sitters available to work, it means rates can go up (supply and demand). Isn't that what the parents are always saying about a regular nanny's rate being based on the market and when there are tons of nannies out there needing work and willing to take lower rates, that the families are justified in paying lower rates then? Well the opposite is also true then.

+ a million!

The parents on here are so hypocritical sometimes!

[Anonymous]

^^^^^^
Exactly!

[Anonymous]

What's your point, 20:15?

If you can get a higher rate for that night, or any night you think is an extra-special-almost-holiday, go for it!

If you're trying to convince the rest of us to agree with you, it's not going to happen, because you're wrong. It's not a holiday. If parents have a choice, they aren't going to pay a sitter more on this non-holiday. Apparently, there are also plenty of nannies here not planning on charging extra.

Night's over. So's this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's your point, 20:15?

If you can get a higher rate for that night, or any night you think is an extra-special-almost-holiday, go for it!

If you're trying to convince the rest of us to agree with you, it's not going to happen, because you're wrong. It's not a holiday. If parents have a choice, they aren't going to pay a sitter more on this non-holiday. Apparently, there are also plenty of nannies here not planning on charging extra.

Night's over. So's this thread.

There are plenty of parents that will pay more to have a reliable and trusted sitter watch their kids that night instead of having to find someone else to do it. This is especially so if it is last minute and most of the people that are available are advertising high rates for that night (maybe the reason why they are available you might say).

I was NOT going to be available for the night, but when my MB said that she could really use someone last minute and offered to go $5 over my regular rate, I decided to say ok. It would have been a hassle to find someone else last minute, or even for her normally to find someone other than a close friend (who was going to do it originally) since she is very busy and doesn't really have time to search for someone and interview/call references for a one night gig.

Many other parents are the same. It is easier to keep their normal sitter/nanny and pay a slightly higher rate as an incentive for them to work that night, when they might have originally planned on going out themselves.

[Anonymous]

We didn't go out on NYE, but it never would have occurred to me to pay a sitter extra. If she is available and chooses to work that night, that's up to her!

[Anonymous]

Our sitter does not charge extra for holidays like New Year's Eve but we give her a generous tip because we appreciate her availability.

[Anonymous]

It's missing out on a holiday with loved ones, an important holiday that can mean a lot to a lot of people.

right. the sacred holiday of getting drunk w/ lots of strangers!

anyway, agree that sitters should feel free to charge extra for NYE since it is not a night most want to work and many DO charge more, so the typical mkt rate is higher that night. But if a nanny thinks it is better to charge the regular rate to her MB (or a sitter for a long time client) then that is also a market-based decision by them on what is in their long term best interest. Same reason some famlies pay PT nannies guaranteed hrs even though it's not 100% standard - because it's in their best interest to keep the relationship on good terms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://bestnannynewsletter.blogspot.com/2012/12/do-you-charge-more-when-working-on-new.html

I won't be sitting that night, but I would absolutely charge more sitting on a holiday. If parents want the luxury of having a sitter on a night when most of us would have our own plans, they better be willing to pay through the nose for it.

Read the blog. The New York Times reported some sitters earned $100+/hr a decade ago! Parents don't want to have to be worried that night. A trusted sitter is worth her weight in gold.

[Anonymous]

If I have multiple families who all want sitting on the same night (and New Year's Eve is definitely at the top for the list for that), I have no problem raising my rates. Whoever wants to pay the highest rate is the family who hires me for that night.

One of the things that's constantly thrown around is that there are more people wanting to do childcare than people needing childcare. But NYE, Valentine's weekend, days when weather closes the school, these are the days when sitters can have their pick.

[Anonymous]

Si charge double my hourly rate for one family, if another family wants to join they pay extra hourly as well. The parents don't have to go out or they can try and find cheaper care. Either way why shouldn't I charge a premium on premium nights/days. Even uber has price surges. It's basic business sense of supply and demand.