My Nanny Quit and I'm Mad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My nanny of two months quit and I'm sad and mad. It was going well, but I know she needed more hours. She works two days a week for 14 hours. We told her we wanted her to stay until he goes to school ( he's 4-months-old). She said a new job came up, and didn't give us more than a days notice. I am so sad how she has treated us. I didn't expect her to treat us like this. Now I have to search for a new sitter all over again.

How dare she want to make enough money to pay her rent, buy food, pay for utilities, etc. What a selfish nanny. Poor you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh c’mon, it wasn’t right to give one days notice and you all know it. Want to be treated like a professional, act like one! And FWIW, I’m a nanny.

For a 14-hour week job there is no need to give notice.

[Anonymous]

You might have better luck in a nanny share or finding a nanny whose family is looking for cost savings with a part time share. I'm sorry you got screwed with only a days notice. That's not cool at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You might have better luck in a nanny share or finding a nanny whose family is looking for cost savings with a part time share. I'm sorry you got screwed with only a days notice. That's not cool at all.

A day's notice for 14 unguaranteed hours a week, isn't exactly screwed. She would change her hours and make her make up hours when she didn't need her. The woman had a chance to start making a decent living. OP is a SAHM.

I cannot see how OP got screwed.

[Anonymous]

She is free to go find any better job

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You might have better luck in a nanny share or finding a nanny whose family is looking for cost savings with a part time share. I'm sorry you got screwed with only a days notice. That's not cool at all.

A day's notice for 14 unguaranteed hours a week, isn't exactly screwed. She would change her hours and make her make up hours when she didn't need her. The woman had a chance to start making a decent living. OP is a SAHM.

I cannot see how OP got screwed.

I'm the person you quoted. I missed the part where OP is a SAHM and juggled the hours around at her whim. You're right. Had I seen that I'd have given a different answer. If OP had a part time job and was depending on childcare to get to that job then she'd be screwed and that's not OK (except maybe in special circumstances.) But, since OP wasn't relying on childcare for work, AND juggled the schedule around then I'm less sympathetic. I get that parents who stay home need a break too, and that's important, but she didn't take the nanny seriously so I'm not sure why she expected the nanny to take the job seriously.

[Anonymous]

If you don’t guarantee the hours, or offer any benefits, or, I’m guessing have a written contract, then you don’t have a nanny. You have a lady who sometimes babysits for you. That is a very casual relationship and she can decide that she’s no longer interested in it whenever she wants, with no need to give notice.

[Anonymous]

I think she should have given more notice.

I worked a job similar to this when my Nanny kids started school. I worked for someone 2 days a week for 5 hours a day. I wasnt trying to " live off" 10 hours a week, it was supplemental income, most jobs that are this few hours are supplemental for people.

If my kids were off school I didnt work and didnt get paid, If she didnt need me one day she told me in advance and I didnt get paid, it was casual babysitting not Nannying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think she should have given more notice.

I worked a job similar to this when my Nanny kids started school. I worked for someone 2 days a week for 5 hours a day. I wasnt trying to " live off" 10 hours a week, it was supplemental income, most jobs that are this few hours are supplemental for people.

If my kids were off school I didnt work and didnt get paid, If she didnt need me one day she told me in advance and I didnt get paid, it was casual babysitting not Nannying.

That nanny owed OP NOTHING. Go back and read what OP wrote.

[Anonymous]

Look I understand that the hours were being switched around so why did the nanny take the job and agree to that in the first place if it didn't work for her? Was she forced to do so by the OP? What am I missing here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look I understand that the hours were being switched around so why did the nanny take the job and agree to that in the first place if it didn't work for her? Was she forced to do so by the OP? What am I missing here?

You are missing the fact that the nanny had a chance to stay a full-time job right away rather than another week of whatever from OP, who is a SAHM.

How much notice do you think the nanny was due to give her?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look I understand that the hours were being switched around so why did the nanny take the job and agree to that in the first place if it didn't work for her? Was she forced to do so by the OP? What am I missing here?

Because she needed work.

OP will find NO ONE, except maybe some retired person looking for a little extra cash, who will agree to be on call whenever for 14 hours/wk.

OP, sign up with an agency, and have them find people for you. I used to use Seeking Sitters; I don't know if they're still around. Sometimes you can get the same person, but most of their sitters were good, and they always had someone available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: If you don’t guarantee the hours, or offer any benefits, or, I’m guessing have a written contract, then you don’t have a nanny. You have a lady who sometimes babysits for you. That is a very casual relationship and she can decide that she’s no longer interested in it whenever she wants, with no need to give notice.

This is accurate and if you don't change the way you treat your sitter you will go through this a lot.

[Anonymous]

If you don't guarantee hours and pay, you don't get a guarantee that someone will be there when you need them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP if you want your next nanny to stick around, here are some things you should do:

1. Make sure the schedule NEVER changes, so nanny has the flexibility to fit in other jobs. So if you agree to Tues & Thurs 8am-3pm (or whatever hours) make sure you are NEVER late to relieve her, so if she has an after school job at 3:30pm she can make it on time.

2. Guarantee those hours. This means if you don't need her one day, for ANY reason (including illness, vacation, grandma's in town, etc) she still gets paid for the full hours. And DO NOT under any circumstances try to switch her hours "Oh I don't need you on Tuesday this week so can you just do Friday night instead since I'm already paying you for those hours this week? *NO!*

3. Offer paid holidays, best to include all federal holidays. They may not fall on days she works but if they do, she needs to know she has them off with full pay. Offer her TWO WEEKS PTO of her choice, plus 3 paid sick days. Don't skimp on a Christmas bonus.

4. Pay a premium. One reason for this is, if nanny had a full time job of over 40 hours a week (most nanny jobs are 45-60 hours a week, so overtime is generally a given in this industry) she'd be getting overtime pay. Since you're taking up 2 of her days she can't get overtime pay with another family. The other reason for this is simply incentive to stay. If you have one child, and want your nanny to stay, you need to be paying a MINIMUM of $22/hr. And the higher up you go from there, the more likely your nanny is to stay long term. Sure, you can probably find someone willing to accept ther job at $18/hr, but will they stay more than 8 weeks? Unlikely. Pay the same nanny $26/hr and she may stick around until preschool.

5. Make her WANT to come over. Make sure that when she arrives the house is clean. No dirty dishes in the sink. No bottles from last night for her to wash. Ask her what her favorite foods and beverages are and keep them on hand for her in the kitchen, make sure she knows to help herself. Let her have time during naps to relax. Encourage her to rest and recharge during that time.

6. Ask around among your neighbors, acquaintances, etc. See if you can find others who would be willing to use her for a chunk of time that works with your schedule. If you need Tues & Thurs 8-3, maybe a neighbor could use her the same days after school. Or maybe a neighbor with a young child could use her Mon & Wed full dates. Try to help her find other jobs to give her more hours while working around your schedule.

You don't have to do these things, but if you only need 14 hours a week, I don't think you'll find anyone who will stay long term if you don't. If you simply can't afford these things, at 14 hours a week, then you simply can't afford a nanny.

Op here. We have set days and hours but I sometimes need to move it around. I am SAHM. We do not offer anything but a good hourly rate. If we don't need her, she can make up the hours. We won't offer any benefits because it's only 14 hours a week.

What I don't like is the way she treated us. She tossed is aside after basically treating her well.

The bolded above: You did not treat her well, OP. You should have guaranteed hours (no make up!) and a set schedule with no changes. If you needed her on a different day it is in addition to her guaranteed hours.

Learn from this or you will be looking for a new babysitter every three months.

- signed, an MB

Yes! And honestly, OP, you can't imagine she will turn down or risk losing a 40 hour a week job for a 14 hour a week job.