What is the understanding regarding "guaranteed hours"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No nanny, you are delusional. I work for the government. My hours are FREQUENTLY changed to accomadate the needs of the community. And I know this May seem shocking to you, but I don't get paid just because they scheduled me. I have to, you know, work if I want to be paid.

Secondly, I worked in retail in college. The retail industry employees millions of people. And it is very, very common for a manager to approach his/her employees during a slow period and pick a few to send home because they are not needed. It happens everyday in all kinds of industries.

Nanny, please take a break from the nanny world, go out into corporate America and get an actual job. Then perhaps you will have a little more perspective about what " no one would do".

+1. Guaranteed hours means just that--the nanny is guaranteed pay for a certain number of hours per week. It does not mean that her schedule won't change. Plenty of jobs, including nanny jobs, require scheduling flexibility. Of course, nanny should be told up front that she needs to be available for whatever block of time she may be needed. For example, she may be told that she has to be available M-F from 8 am to 7 pm unless the parent are notified in advance, but that she will only be guaranteed 45 or 50 hours a week to be scheduled according to the parent's work demands. If nannies want to be treated as professionals, they need to get comfortable with professional expectations, which include being flexible enough to accommodate a variable workflow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No nanny, you are delusional. I work for the government. My hours are FREQUENTLY changed to accomadate the needs of the community. And I know this May seem shocking to you, but I don't get paid just because they scheduled me. I have to, you know, work if I want to be paid.

Secondly, I worked in retail in college. The retail industry employees millions of people. And it is very, very common for a manager to approach his/her employees during a slow period and pick a few to send home because they are not needed. It happens everyday in all kinds of industries.

Nanny, please take a break from the nanny world, go out into corporate America and get an actual job. Then perhaps you will have a little more perspective about what " no one would do".

So, you don't think being a nanny is an "actual job"? You mean a job that has the lives and well being of your children in their hands day in and day out? Horrible that you think so little of your own children to put them in the care of such an amateur worker.

Yeah, she's the delusional twit here. If she keeps up her insanity, we should start reporting her garbage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No nanny, you are delusional. I work for the government. My hours are FREQUENTLY changed to accomadate the needs of the community. And I know this May seem shocking to you, but I don't get paid just because they scheduled me. I have to, you know, work if I want to be paid.

Secondly, I worked in retail in college. The retail industry employees millions of people. And it is very, very common for a manager to approach his/her employees during a slow period and pick a few to send home because they are not needed. It happens everyday in all kinds of industries.

Nanny, please take a break from the nanny world, go out into corporate America and get an actual job. Then perhaps you will have a little more perspective about what " no one would do".

+1. Guaranteed hours means just that--the nanny is guaranteed pay for a certain number of hours per week. It does not mean that her schedule won't change. Plenty of jobs, including nanny jobs, require scheduling flexibility. Of course, nanny should be told up front that she needs to be available for whatever block of time she may be needed. For example, she may be told that she has to be available M-F from 8 am to 7 pm unless the parent are notified in advance, but that she will only be guaranteed 45 or 50 hours a week to be scheduled according to the parent's work demands. If nannies want to be treated as professionals, they need to get comfortable with professional expectations, which include being flexible enough to accommodate a variable workflow.

You're completely insane. No intellegent person does what you're asking, for cheapy nanny wages. Or is your boss paying you 15/hour to???

[Anonymous]

Just so you know, sock puppet, people disagreeing with you is part of the internet. Reporting someone for not having opinions you like will do nothing, so you can stop that threat.

No, I'm not the PP you are threatening. I'm an NP on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No nanny, you are delusional. I work for the government. My hours are FREQUENTLY changed to accomadate the needs of the community. And I know this May seem shocking to you, but I don't get paid just because they scheduled me. I have to, you know, work if I want to be paid.

Secondly, I worked in retail in college. The retail industry employees millions of people. And it is very, very common for a manager to approach his/her employees during a slow period and pick a few to send home because they are not needed. It happens everyday in all kinds of industries.

Nanny, please take a break from the nanny world, go out into corporate America and get an actual job. Then perhaps you will have a little more perspective about what " no one would do".

+1. Guaranteed hours means just that--the nanny is guaranteed pay for a certain number of hours per week. It does not mean that her schedule won't change. Plenty of jobs, including nanny jobs, require scheduling flexibility. Of course, nanny should be told up front that she needs to be available for whatever block of time she may be needed. For example, she may be told that she has to be available M-F from 8 am to 7 pm unless the parent are notified in advance, but that she will only be guaranteed 45 or 50 hours a week to be scheduled according to the parent's work demands. If nannies want to be treated as professionals, they need to get comfortable with professional expectations, which include being flexible enough to accommodate a variable workflow.

Not necessarily. My work agreement specifies the exact hours that are guaranteed. It doesn't say "45 hours per week," it says "Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm." The scenario you describe is overkill! I don't mind being available for half an hour before and after work, but more than that? Nope. They can ask, but the answer might be no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just so you know, sock puppet, people disagreeing with you is part of the internet. Reporting someone for not having opinions you like will do nothing, so you can stop that threat.

No, I'm not the PP you are threatening. I'm an NP on this thread.

Come back when you learn what a sock puppet is.

[Anonymous]

"LOL - so working for the "government" and your one job as a sales clerk is "the way of the world"!!! Please - you were given a schedule when you worked for the government which included an on-call schedule. Go peddle your nonsense to someone else. I've worked in various industries all in corporate America and NONE call you and tell you you don't need to come into work from your scheduled shift/hours AND you won't get paid for it."

Hunh? This is the standard practice for hourly workers. I worked in restaurants as a hostess and waitress and agree that they would start cutting people loose if it was slow. And I only was paid for hours worked. Some weeks I was scheduled lots and others less. The problem is that many MBs did do hourly work when young and so are aware of the fact that that most hourly jobs pay you for when you work. So it is not at all "common sense" that you would need to pay your hourly worker nanny for hours not worked.

That said I do guarantee hours in the normal sense of that because once I learned about it it made sense to me to offer this as a benefit to help retain a long term nanny. It is the smart this to do. But that does NOT mean that MBs that pay an hourly worker for the hours worked are evil - more likely they are not aware of the industry standard.

Or for a very PT nanny it could be that they would be ok with having to replace her. I do not guarantee my house cleaner hours since I pay her for coming to clean. If I am away her normal day I try to "shift those hours" but if I cannot then I do not pay her. If she does not like this though I would not be heart broken to have to replace her. My nanny is a different story so for her she gets guaranteed hours, PTO, sick, holidays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I am guaranteed a certain number of hours a week and have a set schedule - does this mean I must make up the hours when the parents decided they don't need me for the arranged schedule?

My employers have set a schedule for my working hours - same every week. When they take the baby to the doctor or take a few hours off during my scheduled hours, they offer to have me work late to make up for the time. My understanding was that I was guaranteed pay for those hours regardless of whether or not they needed me to work.

I have other commitments during my usual off hours and can never stay late to make up for hours lost.

Please don't attack - if it is generally understood that I am expected to make up those hours or lose the pay, I'll understand. This is an honest question.

No, there is no general understanding here. If you expect to be guaranteed pay for a certain schedule rather than for a certain number of hours per week, you need an agreement that says that. I personally would never agree to that, because I am not going to let my nanny go two hours early with full pay one day then pay time and a half b/c I need her to work late the next night. However, I'm very clear during the hiring process that we need flexibility re her departure time and she must be available to work late as needed. If she has a night where she needs to leave at a certain time due to something special, she lets us know and we accommodate that. We also try to predict late nights at the beginning of the week as best we can. Beyond that, we guarantee a fixed weekly sum for a set number of hours and we have a typical weekly schedule, but our only guarantee re that schedule is that she won't be required to work weekends or past an agreed-upon time during the week.

[Anonymous]

This is actually quite true. It is only because my nanny cares for my most cherished objects that she is spared this approach.

Objects?

[Anonymous]

My employers who treat me with the most respect, are the ones who get just about whatever they need.
Amazing how that works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This is actually quite true. It is only because my nanny cares for my most cherished objects that she is spared this approach.

Objects?

That was not a parent who wrote that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is actually quite true. It is only because my nanny cares for my most cherished objects that she is spared this approach.

Objects?

That was not a parent who wrote that.

Sadly, I suspect it was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is actually quite true. It is only because my nanny cares for my most cherished objects that she is spared this approach.

Objects?

That was not a parent who wrote that.

Sadly, I suspect it was.

I'm pretty sure it was a nanny trying to say that's what a parent would think, only no parent would actually say that. Not just the "object" part, the whole thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No nanny, you are delusional. I work for the government. My hours are FREQUENTLY changed to accomadate the needs of the community. And I know this May seem shocking to you, but I don't get paid just because they scheduled me. I have to, you know, work if I want to be paid.

Secondly, I worked in retail in college. The retail industry employees millions of people. And it is very, very common for a manager to approach his/her employees during a slow period and pick a few to send home because they are not needed. It happens everyday in all kinds of industries.

Nanny, please take a break from the nanny world, go out into corporate America and get an actual job. Then perhaps you will have a little more perspective about what " no one would do".

So, you don't think being a nanny is an "actual job"? You mean a job that has the lives and well being of your children in their hands day in and day out? Horrible that you think so little of your own children to put them in the care of such an amateur worker.

Yeah, she's the delusional twit here. If she keeps up her insanity, we should start reporting her garbage.

I'll address both of these questions:

By "actual job" I mean one that is not a contract position to work for one person (or family) inside their home, as nannying is. I'm not saying being a nanny is not work, of course it is. But being the only employee working inside the home of a single person for what is typically only a few years is a very different work experience than what most of us (in the US) are doing. If this is the only type of employment you have experienced, you would be very ignorant of the way in which most jobs operate. For example, my nanny answers only to me and does what I desire. She is not required to make me a profit, gain me business, improve my reputation with my customers, represent me to others, or do any of a number of things the typical employee is required to do. It is just an entirely different animal than a normal job, the kind most of us do and are familiar with. The kinds that certainly do not "guarantee hours" or pay us when we don't work.

And to the second poster, what in the world would you report me for? Especially when you called me a "delusional twit". Strange.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is actually quite true. It is only because my nanny cares for my most cherished objects that she is spared this approach.

Objects?

That was not a parent who wrote that.

Sadly, I suspect it was.

I'm pretty sure it was a nanny trying to say that's what a parent would think, only no parent would actually say that. Not just the "object" part, the whole thing.

Hahaha, I wrote that and I am indeed a parent, and I also thought the word sounded wrong; even googled trying to think of another, but "cherished person" is not a phrase. I finally decided that they are the "object" of my affections and therefore, while clunky, it's technically sound. Anyway, here's the definition:

anything that is visible or tangible and is relatively stable in form.
2.
a thing, person, or matter to which thought or action is directed: an object of medical investigation.
3.
the end toward which effort or action is directed; goal; purpose: Profit is the object of business.
4.
a person or thing with reference to the impression made on the mind or the feeling or emotion elicited in an observer: an object of curiosity and pity.
5.
anything that may be apprehended intellectually: objects of thought.