How much of a raise should I expect?
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Anonymous
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My 1 year anniversary is coming up soon and MB is having baby #2 a few months later. I want to get an idea of what I should expect for an increase. I started at $15/hour with 3 weeks PTO.
My thinking is $1/hour at the anniversary and $2/hour when I'm responsible for the new baby. Then maybe adding 1 or 2 PTO days. Any insight? Thanks in advance! |
Anonymous
| Don't ask anything after the one year....leave it to them to make the offer but after baby comes ask for 18/h and keep the PTO at 3 weeks. In the mean time be extra great. You catch flies with honey and sugar looool. |
Anonymous
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I agree with the PP above.
Do not say anything about the raise. Wait until mother has new baby and then negotiate a fair hourly salary with her. |
Anonymous
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I think that if your baseline assumption is that you'll be getting a 20% raise and increased time over over the next few months you are likely to be disappointed.
Previous posters are giving you good advice. |
Anonymous
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I completely disagree. I've been with two families in similar scenarios. The first family was very up front with me. My contract specified a one year review, which the parents initiated. They told me they'd be giving me $1/hr raise at that time, plus another $1/hr raise when the baby arrived, so $2/hr increase total, which I thought was fair.
The second family decided to completely screw me over instead: I had been with them two years. I'd been given the $1 raise at my one year review, bringing me to $16/hr, but baby #2 was due to arrive mere weeks after my second year anniversary. I felt uneasy because MB was getting so hard to talk to; she obviously was busy preparing for the new baby's arrival, but I barely had three minutes with her a week, she always seemed preoccupied, and wasn't feeling well, so I didn't want to push her to do the review or discuss money at that time. I discussed with other nannies who said "don't worry, they'll give you a raise when new baby comes." Well, new baby came, and now MB (on maternity leave) was even more difficult to talk to. I asked her to clarify my role; was I expected to step in and help with baby when needed? Was I expected to do baby's laundry? I figured once any additional responsibilities of mine were elucidated, it would make sense to ask for additional compensation. MB said no, just take care of the toddler, I can handle the baby while I'm home. I worked for the first two months of her maternity leave, then, three months after my two year anniversary had come and gone, I sent an email requesting my two year review. She responded by giving me three weeks notice, saying she had decided to become a stay at home mom. I know I'm just one nanny and that was just one family, but I've heard from other nannies that that same situation has happened before. I think in some instances it has to do with money (for example, if MB makes $20/hr and pays nanny $15/hr for one, maybe paying nanny significantly more than that just doesn't make sense and being a SAHM is more appealing financially), but in my case, that family was so incredibly wealthy that I doubt it was a financial decision. I'm pretty sure MB was just having fun bonding with her baby and probably felt guilty for working through her older child's infancy (I started when he was 3.5 months old). I'm quite sure that it wasn't because of me, as MB did ask if I would continue working with them part time (though she said she would only guarantee 8 hours per week), and I'm still their "go-to" sitter for evenings and weekends. So, my advice is: DO NOT WAIT to ask for your raise! Especially since baby #2 isn't coming until a few months later. You never know what will happen and you have to look out for yourself! Ask for the one year review. If they say "we will be giving you a raise when new baby arrives" that's fine, then you can discuss all that (maybe they can do part of the raise now based on your performance, and the other part later based on additional baby related duties, etc). It's MUCH better to discuss their and your expectations NOW, before MB is about to pop, and before a newborn is in the picture. Lastly, I think you might have your hopes set a bit high. Nanny raises (both cost of living/annual, and new baby raises) have already been discussed thoroughly on this forum, and the consensus I've seen is it's usually $1/hr for COL/annual, and $1-2/hr for new baby, but honestly being bumped up to $18/hr from $15/hr in a couple months is a pretty big jump. I'm not saying that you don't deserve it, and if you are a qualified nanny and this is in DC then you would be making under market if you're not making $18/hr with a newborn and older sibling. But, I do think it's a big leap, and I'd be surprised if your NF was planning to bump your pay up that much in the coming months. I think it's fine to ask for $3/hr more for the COL/annual performance based raise plus the new baby, but be prepared for the fact that they likely aren't expecting to pay that much, and that they might not be able to afford it, and will probably counter offer (hopefully they offer at least $2/hr more total when all is said and done). I've been a nanny for many years and, short of newborn twins or triplets coming into the picture, I've never known of any nanny who received a $3/hr increase in a short timeframe. |
Anonymous
$18/an hour then two kids is ridiculous. You should get a minimum raise of $1/hr on your anniversary and a minimum Of $3/he for new baby, plus another two days PTO. This is a job and it is a damn difficult job taking care Of two kids. Do not sell yourself short. |
Anonymous
| Op can get greedy but let me tell u a bird in the hand is worth more than a thousands in the sky. Do you know her life to suggest she plays the price is right with her job? Her livelihood? |
Anonymous
Having 1 isn't worth more compensation than haivng 2. You are still getting up and coming in to work the same amount and still (i assume) being active and "working" the whole time you are at work. Why would you get more $$? You can't do MORE work than possible. You just split the work between 2 kids. |
Anonymous
| $15/he is what she was hired to take care of ONE child. Add another and she should get $5.00 but DCUMers are so cheap that they have to be screwed into their pants, so she should get at least $3 more. Babies and toddlers are hard work. Personally, I want people working for me to be happy and paying a living wage is the main way to keep them happy. |
Anonymous
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On here. Thank you for all the insight. Regarding people saying that's a huge raise in just a couple months time...this is not the case. There will be 7-8 months between my anniversary and MB returning to work after leave.
Actually, I'm beginning to wonder about my 2nd year. I would be due for my 2nd yearly review 4 months after the new baby raise. Would it be out of line to expect $1 at each event bringing me to $18/hour by my 2nd anniversary? |
Anonymous
Yes. It would be out of line. 3 raises in the span of a year? At close to 15% each? |
Anonymous
| If this is in the Washington DC area, $18/hr for 2 including a newborn, is dirt cheap. People I know get $30/hr for one baby. |
Anonymous
Timeline that OP laid out: 1st year's review: +$1 new baby raise at end of mom's maternity leave (in 7-8 months): +$1 2nd year's review: +$1 Given that OP started at $15/hour, that sounds quite reasonable to me. She's been with them for a year, so she gets $16/hour until the end of mom's maternity leave. She could ask that she get $17/hour when the baby is born, because there's no doubt that she'll be dealing with mom, baby and the toddler during maternity leave; however, OP proposed $17 at the end of maternity leave, which is wonderful for the family. Second year raise to $18/hour certainly seems reasonable to me, she'll be starting her third year with the family. |
Anonymous
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Lots of nannies simply move on as soon as they discover they're being grossly underpaid. It certainly is much easier to get a much higher paying job, then give notice.
At least this nanny wants to give the family an opportunity to rectify their mistake of underpayment, but I'd have a new job lined up just in case they don't get it. |
Anonymous
Your math is off. Each raise would be about 6.5% not 15% |