Summer Hours

[Anonymous]

Our part-time Nanny has worked for us for a few months (no contract). She is a local college student.

So far, we have paid her the same amount each week for her guaranteed hours, even if she does not work them (holiday, sick day,we are on vacation, weather, etc). Additionally, if we ask her for more hours during the week, we pay her overtime (even if she did not work all of her guaranteed hours...so if she asked to be off on Monday, and we asked her to come in for an extra hour on Friday, she would get paid for an extra hour that week).

We are torn over what to do this summer. My kids are desperate to go to a certain camp that will occupy their whole day. Initially, I was going to pay our nanny the same amount each week even though we don't need her, but now that I am looking at the cost of camp, I am not sure I want to also pay her for months for work not done. We have also suggested that she apply to work at the same camp and it feels wrong to me that she would collect pay from me and them as well.

What does everyone do over the summer when you send your kids to camp? Is it wrong to push our nanny to seek a summer job?

[Anonymous]

Have you talked to her about it?

She may not be interested in working for you over the summer?

Also she can't be part time if you are paying her overtime. Overtime is for hours over 40 in one week.

Anyway, I don't see the point in straining yourself to keep a part timer.

She's got plenty of time to line up a summer job, and you have enough time to find a new sitter for next school year.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

I have not talked to her, but my feeling is she assumes she will be paid the same over the summer. Before I approach her, I want to get an idea of what other people do....

And I know OT is not required for part time employees, but we do it anyway. We want to be fair and want to keep her happy. She works a guaranteed total of 20 hours a week, spread out over 5 days.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP above -why knock yourself out over a part-time sitter? Jobs end. All babysitting jobs end. If she is available after the summer and wants to work for you - great! If not, find another sitter.

[Anonymous]

The thing with college student sitters is that, no matter how great you treat them, at some point their needs will change and they will no longer work for you. (I mean, that is true for all nannies! But it's sooner rather than later for a college student)

That being said, you could very likely pay her for weeks of PTO this summer, and then have her quit next fall because her class schedule changed, or she gets an internship in her future field, or she graduates, etc, etc

What I would do is set an "end date" for the job as it now stands. Give her plenty of notice. But do not have her work for you in her current status once the camp begins. Tell her you would be thrilled to hire her back, with the same benefits, once fall comes, if that works for her.

[Anonymous]

Don't waste your money! We have a ive-in part-time nanny and she did help us last summer with making kids lunches, prepping dinner and a *tiny* bit of housekeeping, plus picking up and dropping off at camp occasionally. We have specifially told her that her job ends at the end of the school year this year as we can afford better camps for the kids if we don't have to pay her. Now, our situation is different, because we are ok with her not returning to work for us. Also, she did actually do something in the summer (though not nearly enough to justify her pay), whereas it sounds like you would just paying yours to retain her for the school year? She should go get herself a full-time summer job and if she needs a part-time job again in the fall then she can come back to work for you. If you want to make it attractive you can throw in an incentive of some kind and/or give her a bonus at the end of the school year to show your apprecation.

[Anonymous]

Are you sure you won't need aftercare even when the kids are in summer camp? A lot of camps get out at 3pm and charge extra for aftercare.

If you don't need aftercare, but want to keep your nanny because you like her, then approach her with a couple options - (1) you both can take a summer break and she can look for another summer job (as a college student, maybe she should spend her summer doing internships anyway) (2) you reduce her hours to only what you need/want in the summer, with the same hourly rate (3) If she's open to it, you can look for a share family that needs extra coverage in the summer (plenty of families do, since school's out in the summer but parents still have to work), and if you can piece together enough demand via a nanny share, then you'll essentially be supplying her with an income guarantee in exchange for her commitment to still be available in the fall.

[Anonymous]

First of all, you do not need to pay your nanny any overtime since she is not even working over 40+ hours a week at any given time for you. OT pay is anything over forty hours a week. You are already being quite generous by paying her a guaranteed salary even if she doesn't work which I think is a great perk considering she is only part-time.

Also, for the summer, I don't think it would be proper for you to ask her to apply for a job at the summer camp. You can always suggest it + tell her you think it would be a nice idea, but leave it at that.

As for paying her for the summer for hours not worked, that just doesn't make any sense to me. You would be paying for your children to attend summer camp and then on top of that, to pay a non-working nanny would be just too much.

I know you want to retain her for the future, but it would be just too expensive to do so OP.

Let her know NOW your summer plans about camp. After all, that is in six months so she has plenty of notice now to figure things out. Let her know you would love her to return in the Fall, but if she chooses not to, then you will understand.

Sure, you risk losing her for the Fall and having to hire someone else, but that is better than paying her for the summer along w/paying for your children's camp. Esp. when she won't be working. It would be like throwing money away.