Anyone else paying $24 per hour?

[Anonymous]

Our long-time wonderful nanny is moving on to a new full-time opportunity we are shifting to part-time care for our 3 kids (the youngest of whom is in kindergarten). We had paid her $24/hour, which we thought was pretty good. (We lived in Bethesda.)

Our nanny has recommended a friend of hers to take our new part-time position. The new prospective nanny seems great, but she balked when I offered to pay $22/hour. I am reluctantly OK to pay $24/hour, but I always thought I was on the high end of things. I'm thinking I should look around becasue it seems like there are a lot of great nanny candidates who would do a great job for $22/hour.

I do salute both our current nanny and our prospective nanny for being such good negotiators. It's good for women to advocate for themselves! I just find it's gobbling up most of my income to write their checks.

[Anonymous]

You're right. Post the job for $18 and let the new person negotiate up to $20 after their probationary period ends. That leaves you room to give raises and will make them feel good about their negotiating skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're right. Post the job for $18 and let the new person negotiate up to $20 after their probationary period ends. That leaves you room to give raises and will make them feel good about their negotiating skills.

+1

[Anonymous]

Absolutely. No reason to start at the top of the pay scale with a new person, particularly with older children. If you can pay $22-$24/hr to start, I would be thinking along the lines of a nanny/housekeeper, instead. More bang for your buck.

At your kids' ages, it's really a babysitter/chauffeur/homework help job. You don't need super nanny anymore anyway.

[Anonymous]

$24 is quite high but your current nanny had been with you for a long time and had proved her value to your family. There's no way her friend should expect to be paid close to or the same wage just because she knows what your current nanny made. Open up your search and you will be able to find someone great who fits your needs and wallet.

[Anonymous]

20 seems very fair.

[Anonymous]

No, not paying $24/ hr for my three kids, most of whom are in ES or half day preschool.
Obviously your nanny told her friend to expect $24/hr or something, which is extremely high even for 5 hours/day of after school stuff.
My colleagues and I pay $75-100/day for after school nanny housekeeper/pickup/laundry/meal prep work now that the kids are in school.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I do pay $25 an hour for three elementary school aged children. She is worth every penny. (And it wasn't easy to find someone who would work from 3 to 7, pick-up the kids, shuttle them to various lessons and practices, help with homework and then start dinner for them). She also makes herself available for sick days and school holidays.

She is legal and a college graduate with elementary teaching experience. We could not function without her. Expensive? Yes. Worth the cost? HELL YES.

[Anonymous]

I pay $25 and my 2 kids are both in school full time.

[Anonymous]

I live in Minnesota and I just had a 26 yr old nanny job seeker quote me a rate of $25-$30/hr for a full time position, because she's giving up her 2+ year HR career and wants compensation commensurate with her experience and education. I wishes her luck and told her she may have challenges finding a job given that there's a crop of experienced nannies, many with elem ed degrees and other grad work, all asking $15/hr.

All this is to say: high rate does not equal best candidate. You could likely find someone good for less. Your former nanny probably shared her rate with friend and friend just wants the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I do pay $25 an hour for three elementary school aged children. She is worth every penny. (And it wasn't easy to find someone who would work from 3 to 7, pick-up the kids, shuttle them to various lessons and practices, help with homework and then start dinner for them). She also makes herself available for sick days and school holidays.

She is legal and a college graduate with elementary teaching experience. We could not function without her. Expensive? Yes. Worth the cost? HELL YES.

I would pay $25 an hour for a former elementary school teacher in a heartbeat! We pay a tutor $75 an hour for our 2nd grader and that is a bargain in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I do pay $25 an hour for three elementary school aged children. She is worth every penny. (And it wasn't easy to find someone who would work from 3 to 7, pick-up the kids, shuttle them to various lessons and practices, help with homework and then start dinner for them). She also makes herself available for sick days and school holidays.

She is legal and a college graduate with elementary teaching experience. We could not function without her. Expensive? Yes. Worth the cost? HELL YES.

Right, so four hours at $25 is $500 a week.
Is that what OP is talking about or does she need 30-40+ hours a week?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Minnesota and I just had a 26 yr old nanny job seeker quote me a rate of $25-$30/hr for a full time position, because she's giving up her 2+ year HR career and wants compensation commensurate with her experience and education. I wishes her luck and told her she may have challenges finding a job given that there's a crop of experienced nannies, many with elem ed degrees and other grad work, all asking $15/hr.

All this is to say: high rate does not equal best candidate. You could likely find someone good for less. Your former nanny probably shared her rate with friend and friend just wants the same.

Babies always try to get a part-time rate for a full-time position. They just look silly doing so.

[Anonymous]

I am pretty sure the reason the new nanny balked is because your previous nanny told her how much you paid her.

So she probably feels like you should pay her the same amount per hour.

Why would you pay her less when you paid her friend $2 more per hour? I do not get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're right. Post the job for $18 and let the new person negotiate up to $20 after their probationary period ends. That leaves you room to give raises and will make them feel good about their negotiating skills.

+1

Another MB in agreement.

Clearly your nanny told her friend what she was paid so the friend doesn't want to accept less. But hiring someone new, for a revised/part-time position, is not hiring someone to replace your long-term nanny who was at such a high rate. They are not equivalent jobs and you don't need to pay the same.

So you lose out on an easy hire, and the candidate loses out on an easy gig - but there are LOTS of people out there in the $18-20 range.