How much to offer in Arlington VA?

[Anonymous]

We are in Arlington seeking a nanny for 50 hours per week for 2 children, a 3 yo who will be in preschool from 9am to 3pm and a baby. The preschool follows the public schools, so there are random days off and early dismissals. We would do 2 weeks paid vacation, one of our choosing and one of nanny's choosing, and all federal holidays off. The only housework required would be meal prep and clean-up for the children, no laundry or anything like that. We have a car for the nanny's use. We are thinking of offering a guaranteed gross salary of $50,000, which breaks down to $16/hour for the first 40 and $24 for the OT hours. Is that too little?

[Anonymous]

Not a bad price. Especially considering most of the time would be one child. Any sick days offered?

[Anonymous]

I'd need more than $16/hr. Maybe a very young person would consider that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not a bad price. Especially considering most of the time would be one child. Any sick days offered?

Actually, I had a question about that. What is standard? We're certainly happy to include that in the package.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd need more than $16/hr. Maybe a very young person would consider that.

Thanks for the feedback. Would it matter to you that you would be guaranteed overtime? In other words, it would never be 40 hours per week at $16/hr. The nanny will always receive $960 per week, or $50,000 per year.

[Anonymous]

OP, you will have tons of qualified, legal, experienced and fluent applicants for that package.

I would consider including 3-5 days of sick leave.

That guaranteed weekly salary will be extremely attractive in today's marketplace.

[Anonymous]

Your setup is more than generous and is the dream job that many nannies look for. It is definitely not too little. You should not offer sick leave on top of vacation leave but instead call it "paid leave."

$50k a year guaranteed on top of having only one child for most of the day, plus car... a great setup indeed.

You can get the top of the line nanny in the DC area for what you are describing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your setup is more than generous and is the dream job that many nannies look for. It is definitely not too little. You should not offer sick leave on top of vacation leave but instead call it "paid leave."

$50k a year guaranteed on top of having only one child for most of the day, plus car... a great setup indeed.

You can get the top of the line nanny in the DC area for what you are describing.

Interesting. Why call it paid leave instead? Is that the norm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your setup is more than generous and is the dream job that many nannies look for. It is definitely not too little. You should not offer sick leave on top of vacation leave but instead call it "paid leave."

$50k a year guaranteed on top of having only one child for most of the day, plus car... a great setup indeed.

You can get the top of the line nanny in the DC area for what you are describing.

Interesting. Why call it paid leave instead? Is that the norm?

Oh, and thanks for the feedback!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you will have tons of qualified, legal, experienced and fluent applicants for that package.

I would consider including 3-5 days of sick leave.

That guaranteed weekly salary will be extremely attractive in today's marketplace.

Thanks! I read elsewhere that 3-5 days was standard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your setup is more than generous and is the dream job that many nannies look for. It is definitely not too little. You should not offer sick leave on top of vacation leave but instead call it "paid leave."

$50k a year guaranteed on top of having only one child for most of the day, plus car... a great setup indeed.

You can get the top of the line nanny in the DC area for what you are describing.

No, top of the line nannies earn more than $16/hr. You're ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your setup is more than generous and is the dream job that many nannies look for. It is definitely not too little. You should not offer sick leave on top of vacation leave but instead call it "paid leave."

$50k a year guaranteed on top of having only one child for most of the day, plus car... a great setup indeed.

You can get the top of the line nanny in the DC area for what you are describing.

No, top of the line nannies earn more than $16/hr. You're ridiculous.

They do if there is 1 child, no housework, no laundry, no car required, stable 50 hours a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in Arlington seeking a nanny for 50 hours per week for 2 children, a 3 yo who will be in preschool from 9am to 3pm and a baby. The preschool follows the public schools, so there are random days off and early dismissals. We would do 2 weeks paid vacation, one of our choosing and one of nanny's choosing, and all federal holidays off. The only housework required would be meal prep and clean-up for the children, no laundry or anything like that. We have a car for the nanny's use. We are thinking of offering a guaranteed gross salary of $50,000, which breaks down to $16/hour for the first 40 and $24 for the OT hours. Is that too little?

$50k/ year for 1 FT kid and 1 PT kid (in school most days 6+ hours) is right in the ballpark and if anything high.
Who will do the Preschool drop in the AM and in the afternoon? Your $50k price could easily cover that too. very fair and generous job spec.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you will have tons of qualified, legal, experienced and fluent applicants for that package.

I would consider including 3-5 days of sick leave.

That guaranteed weekly salary will be extremely attractive in today's marketplace.

Thanks! I read elsewhere that 3-5 days was standard.

This is a great package and you will find plenty of great candidates in Arlington.

Definitely add in the 3-5 sick days, though. Personally, I would offer 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your setup is more than generous and is the dream job that many nannies look for. It is definitely not too little. You should not offer sick leave on top of vacation leave but instead call it "paid leave."

$50k a year guaranteed on top of having only one child for most of the day, plus car... a great setup indeed.

You can get the top of the line nanny in the DC area for what you are describing.

Interesting. Why call it paid leave instead? Is that the norm?

2 weeks paid leave is standard. This includes sick and vacation in one pool so people are not tempted to call in sick last minute when they have a vacation planned. It gives you notice to find another sitter and employees do not have to lie.

You should be weary of offering too much leave (more than standard) based on my experience. I had a nanny go on a 3 week vacation leaving me scrambling and I ultimately had to use weeks of my leave time to accommodate her vacation. When she came back, she gave her 2 week notice.

I know you want to treat your nanny fairly and get off to a great start but you should really be careful before you open your heart and wallet. The nanny industry is filled with some good people but some others who would otherwise be flipping burgers at McDonalds and do not give a flippant care about your situation.

You sound really nice. Just be really careful. Think about maybe having them work to accumulate their leave time. Also, start with less favorable contract and then do 6 month evaluations to make sure the nanny is worth it.

In my experience, the nannies who negotiated higher rates with me were not necessarily the best nannies.