How do you handle your vacations with respect to nanny compensation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We pay our nanny guaranteed hours, and we take 6 weeks if vacation a year.
She is very good, but this has become a sore spot. Even though she gets six paid weeks, she has never once offered to give am hour here or there. We returned from a 2 week vacation (after she had already had 4 weeks off that year) and had to stay at work late - and she charged us for that measly HOUR, after having all that paid time off

We are giving her notice next month. My advice to you is to negotiate a compromise up front. Paying for alot of unused time will get to you. [/quote

The vast majority of good, professional nannies will expect guaranteed pay. My guess is that you will very quickly regret letting go a good nanny over this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We pay our nanny guaranteed hours, and we take 6 weeks if vacation a year.
She is very good, but this has become a sore spot. Even though she gets six paid weeks, she has never once offered to give am hour here or there. We returned from a 2 week vacation (after she had already had 4 weeks off that year) and had to stay at work late - and she charged us for that measly HOUR, after having all that paid time off

We are giving her notice next month. My advice to you is to negotiate a compromise up front. Paying for alot of unused time will get to you.

The vast majority of good, professional nannies will expect guaranteed pay. My guess is that you will very quickly regret letting go a good nanny over this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Contrary to what you're hearing, OP, this is not a given. The fact that the nanny has bills to pay isn't really relevant.

This issue is whether you plan to "guarantee hours," which is a perk that must be negotiated by the nanny during the hiring process. If you guarantee hours, you generally must pay the same amount for 52 weeks a year, whether you use the nanny or not. Some people don't guarantee hours, but pay at a competitive base rate with time and a half after 40 hours. A job like that may pay more annually than a job with guaranteed pay for 52 weeks a year. However, the income fluctuations are anxiety-producing for many nannies.

If you pay the nanny while you travel pursuant to guaranteed hours, you can either (a) bring her with you (and pay her travel expenses), (b) have her come in while you are away to perform alternative duties agreed upon in advance, or (c) treat your travel time as additional paid vacation for the nanny and reduce the hourly rate to reflect the above-average PTO package you would be offering.

This is bad advice OP. Guaranteeing hours is not a given, no, but it will be the expectation of any skilled, experienced nanny, so you should be prepared to offer it. If you choose not to offer it, prepare for it to be an issue. A job with fluctuating income is not attractive, especially given that most full time nanny jobs guarantee pay. Also, while you do not have to guarantee hours, paying time and a half after 40 hours is not an option, but a requirement. It is not an either/or situation, as the PP represented it. A nanny with good experience, skills and references (the kind of nanny you want to attract) is going to expect to be paid to maintain her availability for you (like reserving a daycare spot), to not have her income fluctuate without her control, and she will know that she is entitled to both a competitive base rate and OT pay. If you want to find and keep a good nanny, you will need to offer a good package. Please don't fall into the trap of many MBs on this board of trying to offer the least possible, expecting the world, then wondering why your nanny 1) has no loyalty or commitment to your job or 2) is not skilled or experienced enough to do the job or 3) does not have the personal traits of a desire able nanny or employee (late, lazy, disorganized, messy, bad attitude, etc)

To say that paying time and a half is not an option but a requirement is yes legally correct but not all nannies get that. Yes in my state va it's the law. But I am not paid past 40 hrs per week no matter how many hrs I work. I am sure I am not the only nanny out there like this. I would love to be paid the typical 60 hrs I work but I get my 40 hr pay. Of course all the nannies on here will say get a new job but its just not that simple. Yes paying time and a half is the law but not all employers even pay for hrs worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Contrary to what you're hearing, OP, this is not a given. The fact that the nanny has bills to pay isn't really relevant.

This issue is whether you plan to "guarantee hours," which is a perk that must be negotiated by the nanny during the hiring process. If you guarantee hours, you generally must pay the same amount for 52 weeks a year, whether you use the nanny or not. Some people don't guarantee hours, but pay at a competitive base rate with time and a half after 40 hours. A job like that may pay more annually than a job with guaranteed pay for 52 weeks a year. However, the income fluctuations are anxiety-producing for many nannies.

If you pay the nanny while you travel pursuant to guaranteed hours, you can either (a) bring her with you (and pay her travel expenses), (b) have her come in while you are away to perform alternative duties agreed upon in advance, or (c) treat your travel time as additional paid vacation for the nanny and reduce the hourly rate to reflect the above-average PTO package you would be offering.

This is bad advice OP. Guaranteeing hours is not a given, no, but it will be the expectation of any skilled, experienced nanny, so you should be prepared to offer it. If you choose not to offer it, prepare for it to be an issue. A job with fluctuating income is not attractive, especially given that most full time nanny jobs guarantee pay. Also, while you do not have to guarantee hours, paying time and a half after 40 hours is not an option, but a requirement. It is not an either/or situation, as the PP represented it. A nanny with good experience, skills and references (the kind of nanny you want to attract) is going to expect to be paid to maintain her availability for you (like reserving a daycare spot), to not have her income fluctuate without her control, and she will know that she is entitled to both a competitive base rate and OT pay. If you want to find and keep a good nanny, you will need to offer a good package. Please don't fall into the trap of many MBs on this board of trying to offer the least possible, expecting the world, then wondering why your nanny 1) has no loyalty or commitment to your job or 2) is not skilled or experienced enough to do the job or 3) does not have the personal traits of a desire able nanny or employee (late, lazy, disorganized, messy, bad attitude, etc)

To say that paying time and a half is not an option but a requirement is yes legally correct but not all nannies get that. Yes in my state va it's the law. But I am not paid past 40 hrs per week no matter how many hrs I work. I am sure I am not the only nanny out there like this. I would love to be paid the typical 60 hrs I work but I get my 40 hr pay. Of course all the nannies on here will say get a new job but its just not that simple. Yes paying time and a half is the law but not all employers even pay for hrs worked.

Then you are a fool for accepting it, and it still has no bearing on the argument. Paying OT after 40 hours for a live out employee is not something you negotiate for. It is something you demand as your right. Any family unwilling to abide is not deserving of your time. We can argue about wether its fair or not to talk in terms of average pay or whatever, but OT is not an option, and should not be presented as one to OP. Guaranteed hours is not a legal requirement, but it is also bad advice to tell OP its not something she should/needs to consider. Even if the nanny she hires is foolish enough not to negotiate guaranteed hours or a high hourly rate to compensate, that nanny is still going to have trouble making ends meet if OP docks her pay regularly, and that nanny won't stick around. If OP doesn't want this to be an issue, its best that she figure out a childcare budget that she can pay 52 weeks per year, and be prepared to offer the guarantee. Its not that hard. Figure out your budget, divide by 52, offer that as the weekly salary, and be done.

[Anonymous]

Sue them. They'll have to pay back wages. Literally , they will be forced to. Why so many nannies don't stand up for their legal rights is a mystery to me...

Unless it's a genuine case of abuse I never advise walking out on a job before having a new one lined up, but PP you'd better be out there applying. Stop letting them use you as a doormat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sue them. They'll have to pay back wages. Literally , they will be forced to. Why so many nannies don't stand up for their legal rights is a mystery to me...

Unless it's a genuine case of abuse I never advise walking out on a job before having a new one lined up, but PP you'd better be out there applying. Stop letting them use you as a doormat.

When I calculate my hrs out when I work 60 hrs per week I technically make more then minimum wage. So every hr I work my hourly rate just goes down. They are paying at least minimum wage with all hrs worked. That's there defense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sue them. They'll have to pay back wages. Literally , they will be forced to. Why so many nannies don't stand up for their legal rights is a mystery to me...

Unless it's a genuine case of abuse I never advise walking out on a job before having a new one lined up, but PP you'd better be out there applying. Stop letting them use you as a doormat.

When I calculate my hrs out when I work 60 hrs per week I technically make more then minimum wage. So every hr I work my hourly rate just goes down. They are paying at least minimum wage with all hrs worked. That's there defense.

Do you have a contract stating your hourly wage? Or even your weekly rate? There have been cases won, where the nanny showed her weekly rate, and what her schedule was supposed to be, and successfully sued the families for her OT. If the base and OT rate are not documented, it is rightfully assumed that they are paying you at straight time, and not paying for all hours worked. You are an hourly employee, and you are entitled to OT. Document what is going on and show them the laws, get their willful disobedience on record (email), find a new job, and sue the pants off them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We pay our nanny guaranteed hours, and we take 6 weeks if vacation a year.
She is very good, but this has become a sore spot. Even though she gets six paid weeks, she has never once offered to give am hour here or there. We returned from a 2 week vacation (after she had already had 4 weeks off that year) and had to stay at work late - and she charged us for that measly HOUR, after having all that paid time off

We are giving her notice next month. My advice to you is to negotiate a compromise up front. Paying for alot of unused time will get to you.

Are you forced to take vacation at gunpoint? Because that's what it sounds like. You have my condolences.

This. "We're mad we pay for time we said we'd use, but don't because we like to take vacation. This is somehow our nanny's fault, and she should give us additional freebies. Because she doesn't, we're firing her." You sound like a two year old.

No, PP, you sound like a two year old for framing this issue as a matter of the nanny not being at fault for the family's decision to take vacation. "Fault" is not relevant here. People get paid for providing a service, not for being without fault.

At the end of the day, this family's nanny was getting a huge amount of paid vacation. Most professionals need to go through years of school and then work for the same employer for many, many years to earn that kind of leave, and even then, they have to work extra hours before and after taking vacation to keep abreast of deadlines and projects. Why should a nanny get the "freebie" (to use your term) of all that extra vacation and then be surprised that her boss expects her to absorb some of the "cost" of that "freebie" (with the "cost" here being extra work hours before and/or after the trip)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We pay our nanny guaranteed hours, and we take 6 weeks if vacation a year.
She is very good, but this has become a sore spot. Even though she gets six paid weeks, she has never once offered to give am hour here or there. We returned from a 2 week vacation (after she had already had 4 weeks off that year) and had to stay at work late - and she charged us for that measly HOUR, after having all that paid time off

We are giving her notice next month. My advice to you is to negotiate a compromise up front. Paying for alot of unused time will get to you.

The vast majority of good, professional nannies will expect guaranteed pay. My guess is that you will very quickly regret letting go a good nanny over this.

Nope. In fact, I am counting down the days until I can give her notice. Yes, she is good in many ways. BUT, I am honest in advising the OP to negotiate this issue up front. Paying for time you are on vacation only to return and then be charged for AN HOUR or two will really irritate you. To me it shows an utter lack of respect and common courtesy. She has gotten over 6 weeks of vacation a year for the many years she has worked for us. As a PP pointed out, this is a ton of paid leave, and she could have at least acknowledged this by throwing in an hour here or there. I would advise OP to come up with a solution - maybe 2 weeks paid vacation, and after that the hours need to be made up at a mutually convenient time. That is what we will do for our next nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We pay our nanny guaranteed hours, and we take 6 weeks if vacation a year.
She is very good, but this has become a sore spot. Even though she gets six paid weeks, she has never once offered to give am hour here or there. We returned from a 2 week vacation (after she had already had 4 weeks off that year) and had to stay at work late - and she charged us for that measly HOUR, after having all that paid time off

We are giving her notice next month. My advice to you is to negotiate a compromise up front. Paying for alot of unused time will get to you.

The vast majority of good, professional nannies will expect guaranteed pay. My guess is that you will very quickly regret letting go a good nanny over this.

Nope. In fact, I am counting down the days until I can give her notice. Yes, she is good in many ways. BUT, I am honest in advising the OP to negotiate this issue up front. Paying for time you are on vacation only to return and then be charged for AN HOUR or two will really irritate you. To me it shows an utter lack of respect and common courtesy. She has gotten over 6 weeks of vacation a year for the many years she has worked for us. As a PP pointed out, this is a ton of paid leave, and she could have at least acknowledged this by throwing in an hour here or there. I would advise OP to come up with a solution - maybe 2 weeks paid vacation, and after that the hours need to be made up at a mutually convenient time. That is what we will do for our next nanny.

And your options will be 1)stupid nanny 2)inexperienced nanny 3)desperate nanny or 4)flaky nanny. Wanna know how those nannies work out?
1)She is a fool and doesn't know she can do better, but since she is a fool she will make lots of mistakes, and do stupid things that irritate you, and you will fire her and be here again.
2)She will put up your agreement for a time, gaining experience, learning how agreements usually work, and she will leave once someone tries steal her from you, or she will be similar to stupid nanny in that her frequent mistakes will irritate you and you will be here again.
3)She has plans to accept your job because she needs it, all the while she is looking for the next best thing. She is likely desperate for a reason, and it won't take long for that reason to become appearant. You will be here again.
4)She will show herself to be unprofessional and unreliable, and you will be here again.

These are the types of nannies foolish enough or desperate enough to take a job that requires her to both make up time for YOUR frequent vacations, AND that will give her no choice in when her vacation is. Its a shitty job you're proposing. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another thing you can consider, OP, is to market all the extra time off (above and beyond the usual vacation schedule) as a perk and offer a lower base rate to compensate for the time off. I think this would work if you are taking 4+ weeks off a year in addition to the week of your choice and a week of the nanny's.

This sounds like a good idea

[Anonymous]

PP, I'm just suggesting that it could be something negotiated upfront. Obviously if someone didn't like that, they wouldn't take the job. But I disagree with you that it would be so difficult to find a temporary position. There are always tons of parents trying to find coverage for the summer, and you could advertise that you are available full-time for that period well in advance if you knew the dates going in.



I agree and have employed a nanny for many years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We pay our nanny guaranteed hours, and we take 6 weeks if vacation a year.
She is very good, but this has become a sore spot. Even though she gets six paid weeks, she has never once offered to give am hour here or there. We returned from a 2 week vacation (after she had already had 4 weeks off that year) and had to stay at work late - and she charged us for that measly HOUR, after having all that paid time off

We are giving her notice next month. My advice to you is to negotiate a compromise up front. Paying for alot of unused time will get to you.

The vast majority of good, professional nannies will expect guaranteed pay. My guess is that you will very quickly regret letting go a good nanny over this.

Nope. In fact, I am counting down the days until I can give her notice. Yes, she is good in many ways. BUT, I am honest in advising the OP to negotiate this issue up front. Paying for time you are on vacation only to return and then be charged for AN HOUR or two will really irritate you. To me it shows an utter lack of respect and common courtesy. She has gotten over 6 weeks of vacation a year for the many years she has worked for us. As a PP pointed out, this is a ton of paid leave, and she could have at least acknowledged this by throwing in an hour here or there. I would advise OP to come up with a solution - maybe 2 weeks paid vacation, and after that the hours need to be made up at a mutually convenient time. That is what we will do for our next nanny.

Nobody in their right mind is going to agree to make up over 4 weeks of vacation time. That is over 160 hours.
You're going to have a bad time PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We pay our nanny guaranteed hours, and we take 6 weeks if vacation a year.
She is very good, but this has become a sore spot. Even though she gets six paid weeks, she has never once offered to give am hour here or there. We returned from a 2 week vacation (after she had already had 4 weeks off that year) and had to stay at work late - and she charged us for that measly HOUR, after having all that paid time off

We are giving her notice next month. My advice to you is to negotiate a compromise up front. Paying for alot of unused time will get to you.

The vast majority of good, professional nannies will expect guaranteed pay. My guess is that you will very quickly regret letting go a good nanny over this.

Nope. In fact, I am counting down the days until I can give her notice. Yes, she is good in many ways. BUT, I am honest in advising the OP to negotiate this issue up front. Paying for time you are on vacation only to return and then be charged for AN HOUR or two will really irritate you. To me it shows an utter lack of respect and common courtesy. She has gotten over 6 weeks of vacation a year for the many years she has worked for us. As a PP pointed out, this is a ton of paid leave, and she could have at least acknowledged this by throwing in an hour here or there. I would advise OP to come up with a solution - maybe 2 weeks paid vacation, and after that the hours need to be made up at a mutually convenient time. That is what we will do for our next nanny.

Nobody in their right mind is going to agree to make up over 4 weeks of vacation time. That is over 160 hours.
You're going to have a bad time PP.