How Do You Educate Your Employer About Bonus?

[Anonymous]

OP these things are different by location. Tipping, gifts and bonuses are all different things. You tip an occasionally babysitter or you tip a regular service worker that you know. I think it is common to give a nanny a gift similar to how parents give teachers gifts. Bonuses in large amounts such as some of the nannies here post aren't common at all.

There seem to be a good number of nanny posters from outside the DC area on this board. I'm sure some are lying too. In NYC, bonuses are more common because more people work in the financial or corporate sector where a bonus is part of the compensation that you factor into your negotiations to take a job. In DC, bonuses are uncommon in healthcare, non profits, and gov't which is a big section of nanny employers.

Its common in professional fields where bonuses are common for an employee to inquire at the time of interview about whether a bonus is possible or part of the compensation package. This doesn't make it an entitlement but it gives you the opportunity to ask up front if it is a possibility. You wouldn't do this for a gift but if you expected one week's salary,its up to you to ask during the hiring process whether this is possible or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP these things are different by location. Tipping, gifts and bonuses are all different things. You tip an occasionally babysitter or you tip a regular service worker that you know. I think it is common to give a nanny a gift similar to how parents give teachers gifts. Bonuses in large amounts such as some of the nannies here post aren't common at all.

There seem to be a good number of nanny posters from outside the DC area on this board. I'm sure some are lying too. In NYC, bonuses are more common because more people work in the financial or corporate sector where a bonus is part of the compensation that you factor into your negotiations to take a job. In DC, bonuses are uncommon in healthcare, non profits, and gov't which is a big section of nanny employers.

Its common in professional fields where bonuses are common for an employee to inquire at the time of interview about whether a bonus is possible or part of the compensation package. This doesn't make it an entitlement but it gives you the opportunity to ask up front if it is a possibility. You wouldn't do this for a gift but if you expected one week's salary,its up to you to ask during the hiring process whether this is possible or not.

Not OP. I've considered asking when negotiating my contract, but worry that it would be off putting to most families. I would love to be able to weigh this when choosing a position. A lot of people are pretty upfront about the flexibility and extra mile type of nanny they want, and I try to be that, but I have never been rewarded. Makes you rethink those surprise dinners you cook, laundry I didn't have to do, or keeping my mouth shut when my MB has been late literally half the days this pay period and didn't adjust payroll for it What's a good nanny to do??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could just tell them that you are greedy and are expecting a bonus, even though many, many people in different industries do not receive one.

Expecting a bonus, when you know you've done above and beyond your job, in an industry where it is common practice doesn't make someone greedy. You however sound bitter. Does a waiter/waitress who doesn't get a tip, even if their only mistake is serving cheap patrons, not have a right to be miffed? If you have earned, but don't receive one, it says something about your employers. They're either uninformed, cheap, or they don't appreciate your performance. It leaves a nanny guessing and looking for greener pastures.

Here is the difference, I don't EXPECT a bonus for going above and beyond my job. When you do your job, what you have earned is your salary.

Your salary and benefits probably already reflect the expectation that you will kill yourself for the job. If I were making 6 figures, I wouldn't expect anything more than my salary either. People in service industries often perform extremely important jobs for very little pay. A bonus says thank you, we value your work, and we know you deserve more.

You would be surprised how many in the 6 figure plus category expect a bonus.

[Anonymous]

A bonus is an industry standard. And when most agencies advertise a job, they usually mention "A discretionary end of year bonus" as one of the benefits.

OP is asking if she should get a bonus. She is asking on how she can educate her employers to the norm.

I think those MB's who say they don't get bonus's or they haven't given their nanny in years...obviously can't afford the luxury of employing a nanny.

[Anonymous]

If my bosses failed to give me a bonus, it would be the kiss of death for my job. I would begin noticing all of the nice things my bosses buy or the expensive vacations they take and I would feel very angry. I would not want to continue going above and beyond and would begin looking for the negatives in my job. I wouldn't be able to stay.
A bonus during the holidays is VERY common everywhere....including DC.
This gesture goes a long way. After I recieve my bonus, it makes me want to bust my ass for them even more.
Either your bosses are truly clueless or they don't believe in bonuses for household employees.

[Anonymous]

MB here. There is no appropriate way to educate your employer about bonuses. They surely know that bonuses are common in service fields, but for whatever reason, have opted not to give you one. If you started the job late in 2012, they may have felt that a small tangible gift was enough. However, if they seem happy with you, it may just be that they just feel you are already compensated in a manner that shows how much they appreciate you.

Remember that a bonus is just another form of compensation and try not to take the lack of a bonus as a reflection on your performance. Some employers like to provide a significant portion of income in the form of a bonus because their cash flow fluctuates, while others prefer to (or have been compelled by negotiations to) max out their compensation budget in the form of salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here- thanks for the replies. I know it does sound greedy to expect a bonus. But I am 100% sure that my bosses don't understand customary nanny practices. They are absolutely wonderful people, but completely clueless.

I know for sure they can afford to give a bonus, they are multi-billionaires and live a life of extreme luxury. And they grew up that way. They tell me daily that they appreciate everything I do. They do notice how I go above and beyond.

I like how PP used the "Server not receiving a tip" comparison. I see at many touristy restaurants around the city have a note to international tourists, that it is customary to tip in the US. Tipping is optional in restaurants but it is customary. Just like a nanny bonus is customary.

The tipping analogy just doesn't hold up to scrutiny, OP. Servers in restaurants earn and expect tips because they get paid something like $3 per hour--less than minimum wage. A tip up to 20% is just basic compensation for them, as your hourly wage is for you.

[Anonymous]

Care.com made a post about holiday bonsues that includes as well a regional consideration.

http://www.care.com/child-care-do-you-give-your-nanny-a-holiday-bonus-p1017-q35916734.html

Here it is. You can always send this to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A bonus is an industry standard. And when most agencies advertise a job, they usually mention "A discretionary end of year bonus" as one of the benefits.

OP is asking if she should get a bonus. She is asking on how she can educate her employers to the norm.

I think those MB's who say they don't get bonus's or they haven't given their nanny in years...obviously can't afford the luxury of employing a nanny.

I love when posters who put this dig in, if you can't afford a bonus, you shouldn't have a nanny.....if you can't afford to pay$25 an hour, you shouldn't have a nanny.....etc..etc..

Do you know how lame of an argument this is? While there are always going to be families who truly cannot a nanny, most families can. They may not be able to pay top notch dollars, but they probably will be perfectly fine with a newer nanny who tries hard, but doesn't have the experience yet to get a lot of money.

20 plus years ago, yes, employing a nanny wasn't for everyone, but for many families today, it is a good option. And that woman who was called a babysitter 20 years ago for doing the same job is now called a nanny. And there are many nannies out there now who shouldn't try to qualify themselves as being a nanny. Being a nanny is a lot more than just watching someone's child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- thanks for the replies. I know it does sound greedy to expect a bonus. But I am 100% sure that my bosses don't understand customary nanny practices. They are absolutely wonderful people, but completely clueless.

I know for sure they can afford to give a bonus, they are multi-billionaires and live a life of extreme luxury. And they grew up that way. They tell me daily that they appreciate everything I do. They do notice how I go above and beyond.

I like how PP used the "Server not receiving a tip" comparison. I see at many touristy restaurants around the city have a note to international tourists, that it is customary to tip in the US. Tipping is optional in restaurants but it is customary. Just like a nanny bonus is customary.

The tipping analogy just doesn't hold up to scrutiny, OP. Servers in restaurants earn and expect tips because they get paid something like $3 per hour--less than minimum wage. A tip up to 20% is just basic compensation for them, as your hourly wage is for you.

This is a myth. Servers in restaurants make AT LEAST minimum wage. They make a tipped minimum wage of $3.63/hour PLUS tips, and if they don't make enough in tips to equal minimum wage for every hour worked, the employer must pay the difference. The idea is that they should make more than minimum wage through their tips according to their performance. This is the same idea as a nanny bonus. They make their salary for doing exactly what is outlined in their contract, but valued nanny stops there. We straighten up messes, fold extra laundry, prepare extra meals, come in early, stay late, look the other way when you are frequently 5-10 minutes late, run the occasional emergency errand, catch your family's illnesses while caring for all of you yet don't take a day off, and I could go on. If your nanny has consistently done more than the minimums of her job description and has just generally been there for you, a bonus is the traditional reward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A bonus is an industry standard. And when most agencies advertise a job, they usually mention "A discretionary end of year bonus" as one of the benefits.

OP is asking if she should get a bonus. She is asking on how she can educate her employers to the norm.

I think those MB's who say they don't get bonus's or they haven't given their nanny in years...obviously can't afford the luxury of employing a nanny.

I love when posters who put this dig in, if you can't afford a bonus, you shouldn't have a nanny.....if you can't afford to pay$25 an hour, you shouldn't have a nanny.....etc..etc..

Do you know how lame of an argument this is? While there are always going to be families who truly cannot a nanny, most families can. They may not be able to pay top notch dollars, but they probably will be perfectly fine with a newer nanny who tries hard, but doesn't have the experience yet to get a lot of money.

20 plus years ago, yes, employing a nanny wasn't for everyone, but for many families today, it is a good option. And that woman who was called a babysitter 20 years ago for doing the same job is now called a nanny. And there are many nannies out there now who shouldn't try to qualify themselves as being a nanny. Being a nanny is a lot more than just watching someone's child.

A herein lies the issue. Many MBs on this board expressly desire an experienced, highly recommended, sometimes educated, bilingual, generally talented, above and beyond type nanny. No one wants to admit that they can't afford THAT nanny. If you hired THAT nanny, SHE deserves a bonus. If you hired an inexperienced middle of the road middle class nanny (read:babysitter), and you pay her a middle of the road, affordable on a middle class income type salary, with middle class benefits, a gift and a card is likely fine. The problem is when a middle class family pays middle class wages to a truly qualified highly recommended nanny, and they forgo the bonus she has, by any standards, earned. That is not fair, and you need to admit that you can't afford her.

I do agree though that the term nanny is far too overused. If you've never heard of a nanny bonus, you either haven't hired one, or you had no business doing so. And if you're working for bosses that don't know what they're doing being an employer of household staff, you can either do better, or you're not as amazing as you think.

[Anonymous]

Please educate your employer and hopefully they will educate you out of a job. Basically your logic is because they are rich, you are entitled to it. Humm... no, a bonus has more to do with good work performance (maybe they are not as pleased with you as you think), how your salary is structured and lots of other issues. My husband and I never get bonuses nor expect them. We have both had substantial pay cuts to the point it is almost not worth it for us to keep our nanny and for me to stay home. She has very little idea on how we have been impacted (just knows we took cuts) except or us getting rid of cable and a few other luxury things but she never used them anyway. We are happy to have jobs as is she.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A bonus is an industry standard. And when most agencies advertise a job, they usually mention "A discretionary end of year bonus" as one of the benefits.

OP is asking if she should get a bonus. She is asking on how she can educate her employers to the norm.

I think those MB's who say they don't get bonus's or they haven't given their nanny in years...obviously can't afford the luxury of employing a nanny.

I love when posters who put this dig in, if you can't afford a bonus, you shouldn't have a nanny.....if you can't afford to pay$25 an hour, you shouldn't have a nanny.....etc..etc..

Do you know how lame of an argument this is? While there are always going to be families who truly cannot a nanny, most families can. They may not be able to pay top notch dollars, but they probably will be perfectly fine with a newer nanny who tries hard, but doesn't have the experience yet to get a lot of money.

20 plus years ago, yes, employing a nanny wasn't for everyone, but for many families today, it is a good option. And that woman who was called a babysitter 20 years ago for doing the same job is now called a nanny. And there are many nannies out there now who shouldn't try to qualify themselves as being a nanny. Being a nanny is a lot more than just watching someone's child.

A herein lies the issue. Many MBs on this board expressly desire an experienced, highly recommended, sometimes educated, bilingual, generally talented, above and beyond type nanny. No one wants to admit that they can't afford THAT nanny. If you hired THAT nanny, SHE deserves a bonus. If you hired an inexperienced middle of the road middle class nanny (read:babysitter), and you pay her a middle of the road, affordable on a middle class income type salary, with middle class benefits, a gift and a card is likely fine. The problem is when a middle class family pays middle class wages to a truly qualified highly recommended nanny, and they forgo the bonus she has, by any standards, earned. That is not fair, and you need to admit that you can't afford her.

I do agree though that the term nanny is far too overused. If you've never heard of a nanny bonus, you either haven't hired one, or you had no business doing so. And if you're working for bosses that don't know what they're doing being an employer of household staff, you can either do better, or you're not as amazing as you think.

I can't afford to pay a bonus and choosing not to pay a bonus are two different things.

I also think many nannies are not as great as they think, but get so bent out of shape when they don't get "what they think they deserve."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A bonus is an industry standard. And when most agencies advertise a job, they usually mention "A discretionary end of year bonus" as one of the benefits.

OP is asking if she should get a bonus. She is asking on how she can educate her employers to the norm.

I think those MB's who say they don't get bonus's or they haven't given their nanny in years...obviously can't afford the luxury of employing a nanny.

I love when posters who put this dig in, if you can't afford a bonus, you shouldn't have a nanny.....if you can't afford to pay$25 an hour, you shouldn't have a nanny.....etc..etc..

Do you know how lame of an argument this is? While there are always going to be families who truly cannot a nanny, most families can. They may not be able to pay top notch dollars, but they probably will be perfectly fine with a newer nanny who tries hard, but doesn't have the experience yet to get a lot of money.

20 plus years ago, yes, employing a nanny wasn't for everyone, but for many families today, it is a good option. And that woman who was called a babysitter 20 years ago for doing the same job is now called a nanny. And there are many nannies out there now who shouldn't try to qualify themselves as being a nanny. Being a nanny is a lot more than just watching someone's child.

A herein lies the issue. Many MBs on this board expressly desire an experienced, highly recommended, sometimes educated, bilingual, generally talented, above and beyond type nanny. No one wants to admit that they can't afford THAT nanny. If you hired THAT nanny, SHE deserves a bonus. If you hired an inexperienced middle of the road middle class nanny (read:babysitter), and you pay her a middle of the road, affordable on a middle class income type salary, with middle class benefits, a gift and a card is likely fine. The problem is when a middle class family pays middle class wages to a truly qualified highly recommended nanny, and they forgo the bonus she has, by any standards, earned. That is not fair, and you need to admit that you can't afford her.

I do agree though that the term nanny is far too overused. If you've never heard of a nanny bonus, you either haven't hired one, or you had no business doing so. And if you're working for bosses that don't know what they're doing being an employer of household staff, you can either do better, or you're not as amazing as you think.

Being a nanny (I have been one and now an MB) is not a professional job with a professional salary. You think too highly of yourself and forget that there is no master's degree in being a nanny (maybe in England but doubtful you trained there). Its on the job experience with maybe a college degree you cannot or will not get a job in. I would rather pay my nanny a good wage all year rather than her have to hope for a bonus that we may or may not be able to give (this year we are not. We are not doing presents for ourselves, just a few people (like my husband's mom and its just clothing she desperately needs as she is in a nursing home) and a few gifts for the kids (main ones are coming from grandparents). We can afford a nanny and it makes sense given our jobs. Afford is a relative term. If you live within your means, you can afford it. Nanny's just feel very entitled seeing someone in a better house, better cars or what they perceive to be true (my parents live in a million dollar home they have owned for 40 years paying $40,000 for it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A bonus is an industry standard. And when most agencies advertise a job, they usually mention "A discretionary end of year bonus" as one of the benefits.

OP is asking if she should get a bonus. She is asking on how she can educate her employers to the norm.

I think those MB's who say they don't get bonus's or they haven't given their nanny in years...obviously can't afford the luxury of employing a nanny.

I love when posters who put this dig in, if you can't afford a bonus, you shouldn't have a nanny.....if you can't afford to pay$25 an hour, you shouldn't have a nanny.....etc..etc..

Do you know how lame of an argument this is? While there are always going to be families who truly cannot a nanny, most families can. They may not be able to pay top notch dollars, but they probably will be perfectly fine with a newer nanny who tries hard, but doesn't have the experience yet to get a lot of money.

20 plus years ago, yes, employing a nanny wasn't for everyone, but for many families today, it is a good option. And that woman who was called a babysitter 20 years ago for doing the same job is now called a nanny. And there are many nannies out there now who shouldn't try to qualify themselves as being a nanny. Being a nanny is a lot more than just watching someone's child.

A herein lies the issue. Many MBs on this board expressly desire an experienced, highly recommended, sometimes educated, bilingual, generally talented, above and beyond type nanny. No one wants to admit that they can't afford THAT nanny. If you hired THAT nanny, SHE deserves a bonus. If you hired an inexperienced middle of the road middle class nanny (read:babysitter), and you pay her a middle of the road, affordable on a middle class income type salary, with middle class benefits, a gift and a card is likely fine. The problem is when a middle class family pays middle class wages to a truly qualified highly recommended nanny, and they forgo the bonus she has, by any standards, earned. That is not fair, and you need to admit that you can't afford her.

I do agree though that the term nanny is far too overused. If you've never heard of a nanny bonus, you either haven't hired one, or you had no business doing so. And if you're working for bosses that don't know what they're doing being an employer of household staff, you can either do better, or you're not as amazing as you think.

Being a nanny (I have been one and now an MB) is not a professional job with a professional salary. You think too highly of yourself and forget that there is no master's degree in being a nanny (maybe in England but doubtful you trained there). Its on the job experience with maybe a college degree you cannot or will not get a job in. I would rather pay my nanny a good wage all year rather than her have to hope for a bonus that we may or may not be able to give (this year we are not. We are not doing presents for ourselves, just a few people (like my husband's mom and its just clothing she desperately needs as she is in a nursing home) and a few gifts for the kids (main ones are coming from grandparents). We can afford a nanny and it makes sense given our jobs. Afford is a relative term. If you live within your means, you can afford it. Nanny's just feel very entitled seeing someone in a better house, better cars or what they perceive to be true (my parents live in a million dollar home they have owned for 40 years paying $40,000 for it).

I agree. How many times - even on this thread - do nannies complain about what other nannies get then either feel bitter or wonder if they should get the same? And yes, you can afford a nanny even if you don't give a bonus. What an idiotic remark.