How many sick/vacation days to offer?

[Anonymous]

We're in the process of searching for a nanny for our daughter, who will be about 6 months old when I go back to work in January. We're offering $20 an hour for a work week of about 44 hours (Mon - Thurs, 11 hours a day). We'll obviously pay overtime for the additional four hours. Before we actually begin interviewing prospective nannies, I'm trying to get a sense of what is expected/fair/reasonable in terms of paid sick days and vacation days. Any guidance would be most appreciated!

[Anonymous]

$20 is a little low for an 11 hour day, especially because it's only 4 days a week. It's all the hard work of long days without the larger paycheck at the end of the week.

I think you would do better offering $24 an hour and be willing to look at a less than experienced nanny.

[Anonymous]

not a nanny, but a MB with a 6 month old. I think $20 is on the high end. We pay $18/hr for 40 hours Mon-Thurs and originally our nanny wanted $17 but realized her paycheck would be less than what she used to be getting (she was working 45- 50 week). Our nanny is not overtired - even does bootcamp before work! There are definitely candidates out there looking for a compressed work week - we had over 70 applicants on care.com

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$20 is a little low for an 11 hour day, especially because it's only 4 days a week. It's all the hard work of long days without the larger paycheck at the end of the week.

I think you would do better offering $24 an hour and be willing to look at a less than experienced nanny.

This is just insane. What do you people think you are doing that warrants $24/hr??? That is what nurses and other SKILLED professionals are making. Just stop with this nonsense. $12-15/hr with benefits and overtime is more than enough for one child.

[Anonymous]

MB here. I agree w/ the other MB - $20/hr is high - you don't need to go that high. But if you do you can/will certainly have your pick of fabulously qualified nannies and you can set your expectations accordingly.

Our nanny is 5 days a week, for a total of 50 hours weekly. She gets 10 vacation days, 5 sick days, and 10 paid holidays each year.

Whether you would want to prorate that at all for a 4 day week is probably worth considering (at least looking at which holidays fall on the days the nanny would/wouldn't be working, how you would handle days around a xmas or New Years break for which the weekdays vary, etc...

Also, just my two cents, we'll be converting all of our nanny's leave time to personal leave starting in January. She'll get the exact same amount of time, but can use it all for vacation if she doesn't get sick, or can use whatever she needs/want to for whatever she needs to do. We've run into some unnecessary hassles with worrying about what kind of leave she's using, what her balances are, etc... and I think that just having one pool of leave time will be simpler for all.

Congrats on your baby!

[Anonymous]

We have a 5-day-a-week nanny, for about 50 hours. We give two weeks paid vacation (one week of our choosing, one week of the nanny's choosing) and four PTO days to use for sick days or floater days or whatever.

[Anonymous]

$20/hr is very high for one child in this area. $15-17/hr is market rate.

As far as PTO, it is typical to offer 5 days of sick leave and 2weeks vacation. One week is your choice and one week is hers.

[Anonymous]

2 weeks vacation of her choosing (I don't get the of our choosing since she has guaranteed hours). 7 sick/personal days. We added an extra 2 because we don't offer all fed holidays off.

[Anonymous]

Nanny here
$20 is absolutely fine ignore the $24 suggestion.
It is a great wage for a four day 44 hour work week and you will be able to find an experienced nanny.

With my current job I have 10 PTO days and 2 weeks of vacation both of my choice.
For my vacation weeks I am supposed to give 4 weeks notice.
Also my PTO didn't kick in until after 60 days of employment.

[Anonymous]

$20 an hour is a great rate for an experienced nanny, $24 is too high. If you go with someone less experienced, you could pay $15-17 an hour.

Typical vacation is 2 weeks, 5 sick days and days off are New Years, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, and Christmas. Don't hire someone who thinks they should be getting every Federal holiday off. That is insane.

[Anonymous]

Agree with others that $20 is an appropriate rate unless you don't need as much experience or any formal training. If that's the case then you can go lower. I make $15 per hour and have only one and a half years experience, but I have a degree in ECE and have a few certifications.

No need to pro rate vacation if she is still doing full time even though it's across only four days. It's still two weeks off at the four day a week rate. Does that make sense? Offer five vacation days but its a good idea to just lump it with vacation time as Pto. The down side of sick days is that they are us scheduled so some nannies take them when they are not sick to avoid losing them. Also, Include a notice period in your contract such as two weeks advance notice for paid leave. Then everybody wins.

[Anonymous]

20 is a great rate a little on the high end for 1 child.
2 weeks paid vacation, fed holidays paid and 3-5 sick days paid is pretty standard

[Anonymous]

"Offer five vacation days but its a good idea to just lump it with vacation time as Pto. The down side of sick days is that they are us scheduled so some nannies take them when they are not sick to avoid losing them. "

Sick days are not intended to be 100% used each year. The goal SHOULD be to give a nanny a bit more than a normal person would need so that if she gets really sick one time she is covered. You are looking at it backwards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Offer five vacation days but its a good idea to just lump it with vacation time as Pto. The down side of sick days is that they are us scheduled so some nannies take them when they are not sick to avoid losing them. "

Sick days are not intended to be 100% used each year. The goal SHOULD be to give a nanny a bit more than a normal person would need so that if she gets really sick one time she is covered. You are looking at it backwards.

I am looking at what actually happens. How you feel about it is not relevant. OP should prepare for reality, not the ideal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$20/hr is very high for one child in this area. $15-17/hr is market rate.

As far as PTO, it is typical to offer 5 days of sick leave and 2weeks vacation. One week is your choice and one week is hers.

This not high,this is the price.