Getting really sick of parents who won't compensate for gas when driving is required

[Anonymous]

I saw a job posted on care.com recently. I live in a smaller city than DC, nanny rates here are just slightly lower. The job basics as described in the care.com post: pick up two kids from school (car and safe driving record required), watch for two hours, $15/hr. I reached out and MB scheduled a phone interview with me. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: please tell me more details about the position
MB: well, my son goes to preschool in X neighborhood, and my daughter goes to elementary school in Y neighborhood...
Me: oh, I didn't realize that much driving was required!
MB: it's not so bad, it's only about 20-25 mins from his school to hers
Me: and then how far from her school to your home?
MB: ten minutes max
Me: okay. Please tell me more about the exact hours and other duties you are looking for
MB: my son needs to be picked up by 4:30, so you can get my daughter by 5. You are to take them home and get them settled, put away shoes and coats, wash hands, help DD start with homework, and prepare dinner, making sure to wash all pots and dishes from dinner. My husband arrives home every day between 5:30 and 6pm
Me: oh, I'm a little confused, I thought your ad said you needed care for two hours each day
MB: no, it's 1-1.5 hours.
Me: okay, how are you planning to compensate for gas and mileage?
MB:....that is built into your pay already
Me:....
MB: well, we would be willing to pay you for 1.5 hours every day you work, regardless of if my husband comes home early and you only work one hour.
Me: so, that's about $22 per day? Are you willing to offer guaranteed hours?
MB: ....well, yes, we'd guarantee 1.5 hours of pay on days you work.
Me: I'm confused again. On care.com it looked like you need help five days per week.
MB: we need help Monday's, Wednesday's, and Fridays. But we won't need you on school holidays, teacher work days, or if someone in the family stays home sick.
Me: guaranteed hours mean you would pay me the same rate (1.5 hours) for every day of the week I am normally scheduled, even if you don't need me that particular day.
MB: I've never heard of that. No, no if you don't work I don't see why we should pay you.
Me: so...you're looking to pay $22 per day, $66 per week on weeks you need me every day, for 30-40 mins of driving each day and 1-1.5 hours of care, including preparing dinner and washing all dishes, with no additional compensation for gas?
MB: yes, we've seen ads on care.com for positions at $10-$12/hr so we feel this is a competitive rate
Me: Thank you anyway, I don't think we are a good fit after all.

Honestly, I don't know what these parents are thinking! I mean, maybe they'll find a high school or college student willing to do it, sure, but it's definitely beneath any experienced, educated nanny. Also, it sounds like I would potentially have less than 30 mins after we got home to get the kids settled, help with homework, cook and serve dinner, and wash all dinner dishes before DB got home, which is a little crazy, too. I guess reading over it all it doesn't sound SO terrible, but I think what bothered me the most was how the mom clearly thought she was being the patron saint of generosity by offering 1.5 hours of pay at $15/hr for two kids when there was the /potential/ to get off after only one hour. (Which wouldn't have been so bad if the position didn't require so much driving, cooking, dishes, and no guaranteed hours!) And this is the third family I've discussed after school care with in the past two weeks who thought it totally acceptable to not pay for gas or guarantee hours!

End vent.

[Anonymous]

Oh, I forgot to mention that as soon as I said we aren't a good fit I heard MB huff into the phone and hang up. I know she was upset/frustrated but a "thank you anyway" or a "goodbye" would've been more polite. Oh well....

[Anonymous]

You go girl!!!! Honestly I think you dodged a bullet. They need to understand that they are also paying for the wear and tear of your vehicle. "Built in with your pay". That's a first. She certainly tried it lol

[Anonymous]

Maybe it's included in your spectacularly high rate?

[Anonymous]

Wow. She really expects you to get a lot done between 5:10 and 5:30 while simultaneously watching a preschooler.

[Anonymous]

Lol. As a MB even I think the requests are crazy.

[Anonymous]

As an MB, I think the parent was completely clueless. His can you expect someone to commit hours to you and then you tell them, oh no we don't need you today, crazy. When I have to hire for aftercare, we will guarantee hours and pay for the full week, regardless of holidays, teacher work days etc. it's simply not fair to do this any other way.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like she decided what she wanted but didn't think through whether it was reasonable.

[Anonymous]

So you signed up for and after school driving position and want a full wage plus a la carte gas money.

It's a flat rate here in Chevy chase for that thing.

[Anonymous]

While I agree with you that the pay and other details are ridiculous, I'm not sure what she needs requires an "experienced, educated nanny." Whoever she hires will be spending such minimal time with the kids.

[Anonymous]

While obviously the pay is too low to attract anyone if she hasn't found anyone, like she said, she is offering to pay for gas, it's just rolled into the hourly rate. She's offering $15/hour, when she's seen a lot of other jobs $3-5 an hour lower than that. 45 minutes of driving wouldn't be more than $3-5 in gas.

She's also not looking for anyone professional - it's a short period of time and she basically just wants someone who can drive and keep the kids alive.

Granted, she's obviously not finding anyone, so clearly what she's asking isn't worth it to most people. But I don't think it's quite as exasperating as you think it is.

[Anonymous]

MB here and it will bite her in the butt. I need limited hours, but need reliability. I also need someone from 530am-7:30am whrn she drops thr kids off at school. Foe this I pay $25/hr. I pay $250/we no matter what. It actually automatically comes out of my bank account and into hers every Friday.

I had a lot of applicants and the one I chose comes faithfully and has never missed. This mom you interviewed with will find someone and that person will not be reliable. Guaranteed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MB here and it will bite her in the butt. I need limited hours, but need reliability. I also need someone from 530am-7:30am whrn she drops thr kids off at school. Foe this I pay $25/hr. I pay $250/we no matter what. It actually automatically comes out of my bank account and into hers every Friday.

I had a lot of applicants and the one I chose comes faithfully and has never missed. This mom you interviewed with will find someone and that person will not be reliable. Guaranteed.

This exactly, but sometimes it takes a little bit of having to deal with the frustrations of someone who doesn't feel it's worth it to show up for $22 a day before you get it. I've heard this time and time again - people who are offering slightly higher than a typical hourly rate for these odd short hours. They probably think they're offering something attractive because it's a higher than typical rate, not realizing that you really have to pay someone $40-50 a day at least just to incentive them to show up. If you pay higher, you'll get tons of candidates, but you'll be able to find one that will be reliable.

We're another family that needs 1.5 hours in the morning, but I'm not willing to pay $250 a week for that, so we don't use nanny care in the morning. There are other options that are cheaper, and since we don't need an "experienced, educated nanny" to make sure the kids brush their teeth, we use those.

Don't worry, OP, she'll find that out soon enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MB here and it will bite her in the butt. I need limited hours, but need reliability. I also need someone from 530am-7:30am whrn she drops thr kids off at school. Foe this I pay $25/hr. I pay $250/we no matter what. It actually automatically comes out of my bank account and into hers every Friday.

I had a lot of applicants and the one I chose comes faithfully and has never missed. This mom you interviewed with will find someone and that person will not be reliable. Guaranteed.

This exactly, but sometimes it takes a little bit of having to deal with the frustrations of someone who doesn't feel it's worth it to show up for $22 a day before you get it. I've heard this time and time again - people who are offering slightly higher than a typical hourly rate for these odd short hours. They probably think they're offering something attractive because it's a higher than typical rate, not realizing that you really have to pay someone $40-50 a day at least just to incentive them to show up. If you pay higher, you'll get tons of candidates, but you'll be able to find one that will be reliable.

We're another family that needs 1.5 hours in the morning, but I'm not willing to pay $250 a week for that, so we don't use nanny care in the morning. There are other options that are cheaper, and since we don't need an "experienced, educated nanny" to make sure the kids brush their teeth, we use those.

Don't worry, OP, she'll find that out soon enough.

I could find cheaper options, but there is no way in hell I'm waking my kids up at 5am. I leave the house at the ass crack now dawn so I can be home when they get out of school

[Anonymous]

Us, too. While my husband is deployed, I need help from 5-7 in the evenings. I knew no one decent would commit for even 6 months for those hours, so I'm paying for 3-7 every day. Some days I have stuff for her to do, and some days she's just sitting around. But I need reliability, so I'm paying for it.