How much is fair pay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Exactly this, OP. Family with a nanny here and friends with many other families with nannies, and this is pretty much what we all offer. $15-16 an hour with 40 hours guaranteed (We do M-F, but I would think doing Mon to Thurs would be a great perk), Federal holidays off, two weeks of paid time off in a calendar year. We've never heard of a 'birthday bonus' either, but of course, give her a gift on her birthday. We give one week's pay at the holidays. No health insurance contribution. We had tons of candidates when we posted this job - experienced, legal, educated nannies.

We had no problem finding a great nanny with exactly this package.

If you keep repeating yourself, more people will believe you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Exactly this, OP. Family with a nanny here and friends with many other families with nannies, and this is pretty much what we all offer. $15-16 an hour with 40 hours guaranteed (We do M-F, but I would think doing Mon to Thurs would be a great perk), Federal holidays off, two weeks of paid time off in a calendar year. We've never heard of a 'birthday bonus' either, but of course, give her a gift on her birthday. We give one week's pay at the holidays. No health insurance contribution. We had tons of candidates when we posted this job - experienced, legal, educated nannies.

We had no problem finding a great nanny with exactly this package.

New poster here. This package is essentially what we started at w/ our nanny also. We have a few more hours per week so slightly higher salary, in year two we added a monthly healthcare contribution, and we did a significant gift (airline ticket for int'l travel home at the holidays) in lieu of a bonus, but basically this package feels about right as a general market median.

[nannydebsays]

Anonymous wrote:

nannydebsays wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, all. $16/17 sounds doable and we could guarantee 40 hours a week to be worked M-Th (Fridays off.)

Are there any other expenses I'm not factoring in? I think we'd want to give a birthday and holiday bonus (how much is typical?) Are there any other expenses? I would not have the nanny driving the kids around so I don't think fuel $ would be necessary.

Thanks for the info re health insurance not being very common.

Since you say you'll be paying legally, add about 10% to the weekly pay to cover your share of taxes/expenses, plus the cost of a nanny payroll company. So $16/hour gross for 40 hours = $640/week, add $64 for taxes.

If nanny does eventually drive kids around, the standard is to use IRS reimbursement, currently 56,5 cents per mile.

As far as B'day and Holiday bonuses (and yearly retention bonuses) the "standard" is that there is no standard. I get 1 week for B'day, 2 weeks for holiday/retention. Some get more, some get less. IMO, nannies should never expect bonuses, because some families can't afford them, some just don't give them, etc. It's a fabulous gesture, but if it's not in your budget...

Horrible advice.. I've never heard of someone adding any extra $64 to take cares of taxes. The whole reason the nanny is getting paid $16 per hour is because taxes are taken out and will actually lower her to around $14-$15 per hour. Also, never heard of a birthday bonus. Ever.

Employers who pay legally are wise to add 10% or so ON TOP OF the nanny's weekly wages to cover the EMPLOYER'S share of employment taxes. This allows EMPLOYERS to more accurately calculate the real cost of having a nanny.

And I do get a "birthday bonus", but I ask my employers to use that money to pay for me to attend a national nanny educational conference each year. It's a win win for everyone, but if I wasn't interested in attending a conference, I would just get the cash. I agree that my employers are unusual in this.