What to pay nanny when we're out of town

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A MB here - if you had a seat in a daycare you would pay for it even if you were on vacation. I vote you pay her. It is hard to keep a PT nanny, most will take the PT job as they look for more hours. Anything you can do to keep her if you are happy with her you should do. Don't give her a reason to look around.

Daycare and nannies are totally different arrangements.

Yes they are, but the point is you reserved someone's time for a service when you hired a nanny. It is completely unreasonable to expect to maintain the reservation of someone's time without compensation. That is why OP is getting jumped on. If she were actually considerate and decent the answer to this question would be a no brainer. The fact that OP has to ask says she doesn't respect the time commitment she has reserved and she deserves all the outrage she is getting here. Too many parents don't respect their nannies, and that's why we see so many of these nonsense questions.

It is not that everyone is outraged about my question. It's that you specifically are and you keep posting over and over again jumping all over me. Tell me what other job you've ever had that you worked at part-time (specifically less than 20 hours/week) and had 2 weeks PAID vacation plus paid holidays? Tell me one job. I work in corporate America and don't even get that so have no idea why you are so outraged. I am completely willing to pay my nanny her full amount but am just trying to have jobs for her to do while I'm away or have her do extra hours and then she can take the week off. It's up to her. You have obviously been mistreated by past employers and are taking your anger out on me.

This was my first post. Sorry, more than one person thinks you're a selfish MB. To address your points, most part time jobs have very high turnover. Do you want high turnover, and a noncommittal employee when it comes to the care of your children? If so, don't pay her, since the job doesn't matter that much. But if you recognize that the care of your child, even if part time, requires a greater commitment, and greater competency than your average part time "corporate" worker, you will recognize that you can't treat it the same.

To your next point, having her work extra hours or do odd jobs. You hired a nanny. You hired a nanny to do a specific job with a specific schedule at hiring. Everything you are suggesting disrespects the commitment you made to her when you asked her to work for you. You can't just suddenly ask her to do things that aren't her job, or work a schedule she never agreed to because YOU decided to go on vacation. That is why you are seeing outrage from multiple posters. You are selfish, you intend to take advantage of someone who made the mistake of relying on you for their income, and you still want a pat on the back for feigning to be "generous".

No one is taking their anger out on you. I'm hoping you'll see the error of your ways and do better. No one has EVER done this to me because I have standards regarding the type of people I will work with.

Well if there are several people that are outraged, there are also several who are not and have actually had helpful responses, unlike yours. For instance the pp who said have our nanny come over and do a job like organize the kids' closet. That was a great idea. Looks like someone else once had their nanny look after the dog and get the mail. There are other possibilities of making yourself useful when you are getting paid by someone and don't have your typical work to do. No, I did not hire a personal assistant or housekeeper, I hired a nanny. But thank goodness she is multi-skilled, flexible and shows incentive on a job. Unlike you it sounds like. I would never hire someone with your attitude. Every nanny position I ever worked I always helped out with other things besides just watching the kids. Not sure why that thought is such a stretch for you.

Surely you can see the difference between an employee choosing to go above and beyond, versus an employer making above and beyond demands and withholding pay unless those demands are met? If your nanny volunteers to watch your dog while you're away, awesome! She's a generous and helpful person. If you demand that she watches your dog, despite the fact that she is not your pet sitter, just so that she doesn't lose her income, you are an ass. There is a HUGE difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A MB here - if you had a seat in a daycare you would pay for it even if you were on vacation. I vote you pay her. It is hard to keep a PT nanny, most will take the PT job as they look for more hours. Anything you can do to keep her if you are happy with her you should do. Don't give her a reason to look around.

Daycare and nannies are totally different arrangements.

Yes they are, but the point is you reserved someone's time for a service when you hired a nanny. It is completely unreasonable to expect to maintain the reservation of someone's time without compensation. That is why OP is getting jumped on. If she were actually considerate and decent the answer to this question would be a no brainer. The fact that OP has to ask says she doesn't respect the time commitment she has reserved and she deserves all the outrage she is getting here. Too many parents don't respect their nannies, and that's why we see so many of these nonsense questions.

It is not that everyone is outraged about my question. It's that you specifically are and you keep posting over and over again jumping all over me. Tell me what other job you've ever had that you worked at part-time (specifically less than 20 hours/week) and had 2 weeks PAID vacation plus paid holidays? Tell me one job. I work in corporate America and don't even get that so have no idea why you are so outraged. I am completely willing to pay my nanny her full amount but am just trying to have jobs for her to do while I'm away or have her do extra hours and then she can take the week off. It's up to her. You have obviously been mistreated by past employers and are taking your anger out on me.

This was my first post. Sorry, more than one person thinks you're a selfish MB. To address your points, most part time jobs have very high turnover. Do you want high turnover, and a noncommittal employee when it comes to the care of your children? If so, don't pay her, since the job doesn't matter that much. But if you recognize that the care of your child, even if part time, requires a greater commitment, and greater competency than your average part time "corporate" worker, you will recognize that you can't treat it the same.

To your next point, having her work extra hours or do odd jobs. You hired a nanny. You hired a nanny to do a specific job with a specific schedule at hiring. Everything you are suggesting disrespects the commitment you made to her when you asked her to work for you. You can't just suddenly ask her to do things that aren't her job, or work a schedule she never agreed to because YOU decided to go on vacation. That is why you are seeing outrage from multiple posters. You are selfish, you intend to take advantage of someone who made the mistake of relying on you for their income, and you still want a pat on the back for feigning to be "generous".

No one is taking their anger out on you. I'm hoping you'll see the error of your ways and do better. No one has EVER done this to me because I have standards regarding the type of people I will work with.

Well if there are several people that are outraged, there are also several who are not and have actually had helpful responses, unlike yours. For instance the pp who said have our nanny come over and do a job like organize the kids' closet. That was a great idea. Looks like someone else once had their nanny look after the dog and get the mail. There are other possibilities of making yourself useful when you are getting paid by someone and don't have your typical work to do. No, I did not hire a personal assistant or housekeeper, I hired a nanny. But thank goodness she is multi-skilled, flexible and shows incentive on a job. Unlike you it sounds like. I would never hire someone with your attitude. Every nanny position I ever worked I always helped out with other things besides just watching the kids. Not sure why that thought is such a stretch for you.

Surely you can see the difference between an employee choosing to go above and beyond, versus an employer making above and beyond demands and withholding pay unless those demands are met? If your nanny volunteers to watch your dog while you're away, awesome! She's a generous and helpful person. If you demand that she watches your dog, despite the fact that she is not your pet sitter, just so that she doesn't lose her income, you are an ass. There is a HUGE difference.

I think it depends what the job is. A nanny making a special trip over to your house to walk your dog and a nanny rearranging the kids closets and tidying up their rooms while they are away is a HUGE difference. As others have stated to the irate pp, there are other ways to do this that both work for the nanny and employer. She's already getting a quite a bit of paid vacation time for a part-time employee. I'm sure she likes her gig and would be willing to fill in other places while the kids are gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A MB here - if you had a seat in a daycare you would pay for it even if you were on vacation. I vote you pay her. It is hard to keep a PT nanny, most will take the PT job as they look for more hours. Anything you can do to keep her if you are happy with her you should do. Don't give her a reason to look around.

Daycare and nannies are totally different arrangements.

Yes they are, but the point is you reserved someone's time for a service when you hired a nanny. It is completely unreasonable to expect to maintain the reservation of someone's time without compensation. That is why OP is getting jumped on. If she were actually considerate and decent the answer to this question would be a no brainer. The fact that OP has to ask says she doesn't respect the time commitment she has reserved and she deserves all the outrage she is getting here. Too many parents don't respect their nannies, and that's why we see so many of these nonsense questions.

It is not that everyone is outraged about my question. It's that you specifically are and you keep posting over and over again jumping all over me. Tell me what other job you've ever had that you worked at part-time (specifically less than 20 hours/week) and had 2 weeks PAID vacation plus paid holidays? Tell me one job. I work in corporate America and don't even get that so have no idea why you are so outraged. I am completely willing to pay my nanny her full amount but am just trying to have jobs for her to do while I'm away or have her do extra hours and then she can take the week off. It's up to her. You have obviously been mistreated by past employers and are taking your anger out on me.

This was my first post. Sorry, more than one person thinks you're a selfish MB. To address your points, most part time jobs have very high turnover. Do you want high turnover, and a noncommittal employee when it comes to the care of your children? If so, don't pay her, since the job doesn't matter that much. But if you recognize that the care of your child, even if part time, requires a greater commitment, and greater competency than your average part time "corporate" worker, you will recognize that you can't treat it the same.

To your next point, having her work extra hours or do odd jobs. You hired a nanny. You hired a nanny to do a specific job with a specific schedule at hiring. Everything you are suggesting disrespects the commitment you made to her when you asked her to work for you. You can't just suddenly ask her to do things that aren't her job, or work a schedule she never agreed to because YOU decided to go on vacation. That is why you are seeing outrage from multiple posters. You are selfish, you intend to take advantage of someone who made the mistake of relying on you for their income, and you still want a pat on the back for feigning to be "generous".

No one is taking their anger out on you. I'm hoping you'll see the error of your ways and do better. No one has EVER done this to me because I have standards regarding the type of people I will work with.

Well if there are several people that are outraged, there are also several who are not and have actually had helpful responses, unlike yours. For instance the pp who said have our nanny come over and do a job like organize the kids' closet. That was a great idea. Looks like someone else once had their nanny look after the dog and get the mail. There are other possibilities of making yourself useful when you are getting paid by someone and don't have your typical work to do. No, I did not hire a personal assistant or housekeeper, I hired a nanny. But thank goodness she is multi-skilled, flexible and shows incentive on a job. Unlike you it sounds like. I would never hire someone with your attitude. Every nanny position I ever worked I always helped out with other things besides just watching the kids. Not sure why that thought is such a stretch for you.

Surely you can see the difference between an employee choosing to go above and beyond, versus an employer making above and beyond demands and withholding pay unless those demands are met? If your nanny volunteers to watch your dog while you're away, awesome! She's a generous and helpful person. If you demand that she watches your dog, despite the fact that she is not your pet sitter, just so that she doesn't lose her income, you are an ass. There is a HUGE difference.

I think it depends what the job is. A nanny making a special trip over to your house to walk your dog and a nanny rearranging the kids closets and tidying up their rooms while they are away is a HUGE difference. As others have stated to the irate pp, there are other ways to do this that both work for the nanny and employer. She's already getting a quite a bit of paid vacation time for a part-time employee. I'm sure she likes her gig and would be willing to fill in other places while the kids are gone.

And I'm sure you'd like to do it for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A MB here - if you had a seat in a daycare you would pay for it even if you were on vacation. I vote you pay her. It is hard to keep a PT nanny, most will take the PT job as they look for more hours. Anything you can do to keep her if you are happy with her you should do. Don't give her a reason to look around.

Daycare and nannies are totally different arrangements.

Yes they are, but the point is you reserved someone's time for a service when you hired a nanny. It is completely unreasonable to expect to maintain the reservation of someone's time without compensation. That is why OP is getting jumped on. If she were actually considerate and decent the answer to this question would be a no brainer. The fact that OP has to ask says she doesn't respect the time commitment she has reserved and she deserves all the outrage she is getting here. Too many parents don't respect their nannies, and that's why we see so many of these nonsense questions.

It is not that everyone is outraged about my question. It's that you specifically are and you keep posting over and over again jumping all over me. Tell me what other job you've ever had that you worked at part-time (specifically less than 20 hours/week) and had 2 weeks PAID vacation plus paid holidays? Tell me one job. I work in corporate America and don't even get that so have no idea why you are so outraged. I am completely willing to pay my nanny her full amount but am just trying to have jobs for her to do while I'm away or have her do extra hours and then she can take the week off. It's up to her. You have obviously been mistreated by past employers and are taking your anger out on me.

This was my first post. Sorry, more than one person thinks you're a selfish MB. To address your points, most part time jobs have very high turnover. Do you want high turnover, and a noncommittal employee when it comes to the care of your children? If so, don't pay her, since the job doesn't matter that much. But if you recognize that the care of your child, even if part time, requires a greater commitment, and greater competency than your average part time "corporate" worker, you will recognize that you can't treat it the same.

To your next point, having her work extra hours or do odd jobs. You hired a nanny. You hired a nanny to do a specific job with a specific schedule at hiring. Everything you are suggesting disrespects the commitment you made to her when you asked her to work for you. You can't just suddenly ask her to do things that aren't her job, or work a schedule she never agreed to because YOU decided to go on vacation. That is why you are seeing outrage from multiple posters. You are selfish, you intend to take advantage of someone who made the mistake of relying on you for their income, and you still want a pat on the back for feigning to be "generous".

No one is taking their anger out on you. I'm hoping you'll see the error of your ways and do better. No one has EVER done this to me because I have standards regarding the type of people I will work with.

Well if there are several people that are outraged, there are also several who are not and have actually had helpful responses, unlike yours. For instance the pp who said have our nanny come over and do a job like organize the kids' closet. That was a great idea. Looks like someone else once had their nanny look after the dog and get the mail. There are other possibilities of making yourself useful when you are getting paid by someone and don't have your typical work to do. No, I did not hire a personal assistant or housekeeper, I hired a nanny. But thank goodness she is multi-skilled, flexible and shows incentive on a job. Unlike you it sounds like. I would never hire someone with your attitude. Every nanny position I ever worked I always helped out with other things besides just watching the kids. Not sure why that thought is such a stretch for you.

Surely you can see the difference between an employee choosing to go above and beyond, versus an employer making above and beyond demands and withholding pay unless those demands are met? If your nanny volunteers to watch your dog while you're away, awesome! She's a generous and helpful person. If you demand that she watches your dog, despite the fact that she is not your pet sitter, just so that she doesn't lose her income, you are an ass. There is a HUGE difference.

I think it depends what the job is. A nanny making a special trip over to your house to walk your dog and a nanny rearranging the kids closets and tidying up their rooms while they are away is a HUGE difference. As others have stated to the irate pp, there are other ways to do this that both work for the nanny and employer. She's already getting a quite a bit of paid vacation time for a part-time employee. I'm sure she likes her gig and would be willing to fill in other places while the kids are gone.

And I'm sure you'd like to do it for her.

What?? This response doesn't even make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a part-time nanny who works about 15 hours/week. She just recently took a one week vacation which I paid her for. Two of my kids and I are about to go on our first vacation in a long time. What do I pay her while we're gone? She will still drop in a bit to take care of DS that is staying behind with DH but will not come close to the 15 hours she normally works. Do I give her more hours the week before and after our trip to make up for it? Do I have her come in and do housekeeping while we're gone? Or what have others done in this situation?

Do you have a contract with guaranteed hours for your P/T nanny, OP? Your question would seem to suggest you do not. It is not unusual for P/T jobs to have no benefits such as PTO and guaranteed hours. That said, it is my experience that guaranteed hours are a great way to retain a good P/T nanny (as are other benefits such as PTO and holidays off).

If that is the case, that you do *not* have guaranteed hours you have two choices. The first is you just pay her the hours worked caring for your DS next week. Your second choice is to offer her additional nanny duties that, with the hours caring for your DS, would allow her to earn her normal pay. I think it's important that the extra duties are nanny duties, reorganizing child's closet or room, or child laundry. If you want to offer duties like dog walking and such, fine, but understand if she declines as they are not normal nanny duties.

If you do have guaranteed hours, you must pay her full 15 hours, even if your DH will use far fewer for your DS while you're gone. In return for guaranteed hours, your nanny guarantees to be available for her regular scheduled work, so should not take another job during these hours while you're gone. If you are paying her full salary for the week, and she is honorable, she has no reason to try and get another job for the week you're gone.