Overtime for unused hours

[Anonymous]

New nanny here. My new job started this week, in a nanny share. I did a lot of research and learned that it is important to have guaranteed hours each week. When I interviewed I was told they would need me 45 hours per week, therefor I earn 5 hours of overtime each week. Seems straightforward enough.

Next week one of the the kids will be out for one day (vacation) and the other will be out for half a day (doctor appointment). My expectation was that I would make the same amount that week as any other. The families' expectation is that I will only be paid for the first 40 hours, not the additional 5.

This is what my contract says:

Compensation: Nanny will be paid $X per hour for the first 40 hours of service. Additional hours will be paid at 1.5x the regular hourly rate.
Guaranteed Hours: Nanny will be paid for all hours for which she is prepared to work, including days the family chooses not to use her.

It also goes into other details but these seem like the ones that matter. I feel that because I am prepared to work 45 hours, have made myself available to them, then I am to be paid for those hours. Did I read this wrong?

I am also suspicious that NF2 did this intentionally. The appointment is only scheduled for 45 minutes but they are choosing to have DC2 nap at home after the appointment, then drop DC2 to me mid-day.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I think guaranteed hours means you should be paid for those 5 hours but your contract should have been much more specific. Our contract with our nanny states the specific number of hours she is guaranteed and at what rate.

[Anonymous]

Yep. you need to amend the contract to say what your actual hours are each week (8:30-5:30 M-F, for example). Otherwise, you could just say you're prepared to work 50 hours, or 100 hours ... The "prepared to work" part really means "has set aside the time to be available on an ongoing basis." You need to clarify what that means.

[Anonymous]

OP here -- the contract does include my hours. It says what my schedule is for the week. So it has the hours, the pay rate, and the guaranteed hours language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here -- the contract does include my hours. It says what my schedule is for the week. So it has the hours, the pay rate, and the guaranteed hours language.

I think what the PPs mean is that in regards to the guaranteed hours it should say something along the lines of: Nanny will be paid for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, for a total of 45 hours per week, as outlined in the schedule above at the rate previously mentioned above.

If your contract actually says that then they absolutely have to pay you for 45 hours. From what it sounds like you are saying though the contract outlines your schedule and hours but doesn't specifically say you are guaranteed those hours. The guaranteed hours part is a little ambiguous from what you said. FWIW I still think they are wrong but legally I'm not sure.

[Anonymous]

MB here.

Your contract language is too ambiguous. OT is only required to be paid when hours worked exceeds 40hrs. So the NF would be right to only pay you the guaranteed 40hrs/week, no OT.

However, your contract isn't clear about whether you are guaranteed 40hrs or 45hrs. So, your expectation to be paid the additional 5 is very reasonable.

You need to work this out as soon as possible to ensure you and the families are on the same page regarding how many hours they are guaranteeing.

GL.

[Anonymous]

Op again. I don't have the contract in front of me but the language is something close to this:

Hours: Nanny will work 45 hours per week, Monday through Friday from 7:30am to 4:30pm.

I can see now that this is not the most clear language.However, I can't imagine making myself available for 45 hours but potentially only being paid for 40. If I am setting the time aside then it seems reasonable that they need to pay for it. Will update the post after I speak with them again.

[Anonymous]

If they don't pay you, they find another share. Simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op again. I don't have the contract in front of me but the language is something close to this:

Hours: Nanny will work 45 hours per week, Monday through Friday from 7:30am to 4:30pm.

I can see now that this is not the most clear language.However, I can't imagine making myself available for 45 hours but potentially only being paid for 40. If I am setting the time aside then it seems reasonable that they need to pay for it. Will update the post after I speak with them again.

The spirit of guaranteed hours is that you get your regular weekly pay and have a reliable paycheck despite any whims of the family to use fewer hours. So you're exactly right to expect your full pay IMO.

[Anonymous]

Op again. I don't have the contract in front of me but the language is something close to this:

Hours: Nanny will work 45 hours per week, Monday through Friday from 7:30am to 4:30pm.

I can see now that this is not the most clear language.However, I can't imagine making myself available for 45 hours but potentially only being paid for 40. If I am setting the time aside then it seems reasonable that they need to pay for it. Will update the post after I speak with them again.

12:45 again.

You are definitely reasonable in your expectations and frankly, it's on them if the language is ambiguous.

I'd definitely pay you for the 45 hours. I hope they are reasonable when you speak with them.

[Anonymous]

But if overtime wasn't worked- then they should just pay regular time for the 5 hours- right?

[Anonymous]

New PP here. I've always understood it that you only get OT for those over 40 hours if you work over 40 hours. If you have been guaranteed 45 hours but work in actuality 40 or less, those five hours should be at the regular rate. To be honest, though, we've only ever guaranteed 40 hours when we've employed nannies, precisely because it seems silly to guarantee anything over that - nor do most employees, it seems, expect more than 40 guaranteed hours. Perhaps I have a limited sampling on this though, so others might feel differently, I imagine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New PP here. I've always understood it that you only get OT for those over 40 hours if you work over 40 hours. If you have been guaranteed 45 hours but work in actuality 40 or less, those five hours should be at the regular rate. To be honest, though, we've only ever guaranteed 40 hours when we've employed nannies, precisely because it seems silly to guarantee anything over that - nor do most employees, it seems, expect more than 40 guaranteed hours. Perhaps I have a limited sampling on this though, so others might feel differently, I imagine.

Legally, I don't believe OT pay is required. But if you have agreed to guaranteed hours, you have agreed to pay me the same amount every week. So not paying the overtime rate on those weeks where you use fewer hours would not be acceptable to me.

As a nanny, the only time I MIGHT agree to this is if you used a day of vacation earlier in the week, but needed me to work extra hours elsewhere in the week, such that the total number of hours actually worked was less than 40, but the number of hours scheduled was more than 45. In that situation I would expect my standard weekly pay (in this case 45 hours, with those last 5 hours being at an OT rate) PLUS pay for the hours worked outside my usual schedule. I would potentially be willing to accept my standard hourly rate for those extra hours, as long as it was discussed and agreed upon ahead of time.

[Anonymous]

Ok your situation is mine down to the full day and half day out. It is a tad creepy actually. Anyhow, I am working with first time parents so I decided to be more flexible and agreed to only have 40 hours guaranteed. That is also stats in the contract. It was my compromise so I'm not upset but don't think I would do it again

[Anonymous]

Technically: If 45 hours per week is guaranteed, but the nanny is out for vacation, she does not need to be paid the OT rate for those 5 hours.

However, if a family nickle and dimed me on that, I'd be weary about other potential issues.

Agree that your contract is way too vague. I'd be willing to take the loss this time, but I'd want to correct the contract for future instances. Also: if your contract doesn't have anything about snow days, get it in there now!!