Nanny for a teachers schedule.

[Anonymous]

First time hiring a nanny. I'm a teacher so obviously get a generous amount of time off. I don't expect the nanny to work on my vacations. And maybe only one to three days a week during summer break (just to keep a small amount of consistency). It would be for two kids (3 yo and 11 mo). I'm having trouble trying to figure out how to negotiate this. I have no problem paying her for my vacations. Do I pay her the same rate for the summer as well? (I don't have a problem doing that). Just wondering if the amount of time off would allow me some wiggle room on negotiation the gross pay?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Some nannies would be interested in more time off for less pay. Some will not; all you can do is look and see

If you are going to try to negotiate a lower rate for more time off, then you need to guarantee that time off, not just say it's going to happen. So think it through carefully. Are you, for example, willing to guarantee the nanny a 4-day-weekend all summer? That's more attractive than saying "we'll probably just need you 2-3 days a week in the summer," because no one will be able to be 100% sure that when summer rolls around, you'll actually make it happen.

If you guarantee pay for 52 weeks a year, and include a lot of GUARANTEED, scheduled time off, I am sure you can find someone wiling to give you a break on the rate.

[Anonymous]

That sounds like a schedule that might appeal to someone who has older (don't need "care") children --maybe middle school or high school age.
They might appreciate the opportunity for a reduced schedule in the summer so they can spend more time with their kids/schedule a vacation/bring them to swim team.

[Anonymous]

I am a career nanny. I plan to stay home with my kids when that occurs. When my children go to school I will be open to a school schedule. This is probably what you need.

[Anonymous]

You might be able to find a sahm or a Nanny with her own kids that wants to work for you. I think its ideal if you have your own kids because you can be off when your kids are off.
I would say up front that you will pay for all days worked. If you have a day off mid week I would pay for that too, but let it be known that big breaks like summer, Christmas etc they will be off and not paid.

[Anonymous]

If you have a set schedule, I think you can try to negotiate a bit of a lower salary. If the nanny knows in September that she will have two weeks off in December and April and all of the summer she will have Wed-Thu-Fri off, she will be able to secure a job for those days and not mind that her overall rate is a bit less.

[Anonymous]

I am a teacher and this was our schedule. We hired an older nanny with upper ES aged kids. Here is what worked
1. Before starting we checked her kids schedule and ours. On days her kids were off school, she got to bring them:
2. We paid a constant- albeit slightly lower rate throughout the school year- but it remained constant even during breaks. That helped with the financial planning ect.
3. Spell out your policy about snow days/two hour delays. Seems like a no brainer, but I'm happy we did.
4. Talk about off days- like PT conferences where hours are different ect. Once we started taking this into account- you begin to see that a teacher schedule is not as constant as you might have thought.
5. Treat her like gold. You should anyway- but finding one nanny to fill this is tough- finding a replacement if things go south is even harder

[Anonymous]

6. Will also add, that our school year ended early June, however our contract gaurenteeed payment through the entire month, as a built in incentive to honor the contract.

It worked great! All told- she had about 5.5 weeks paid off, plus regular sick days ect. Our kids got along great & played well together.

If I were to do it again- I'd add one day for xmas break, so I could go in and prep my classroom ect. And I'd ask for a mutually agreeeded upon 3-4 random days in the summer so I could attend pds/workshops

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:6. Will also add, that our school year ended early June, however our contract gaurenteeed payment through the entire month, as a built in incentive to honor the contract.

It worked great! All told- she had about 5.5 weeks paid off, plus regular sick days ect. Our kids got along great & played well together.

If I were to do it again- I'd add one day for xmas break, so I could go in and prep my classroom ect. And I'd ask for a mutually agreeeded upon 3-4 random days in the summer so I could attend pds/workshops

PP, you can likely offer your nanny time and a half to cover scheduled breaks, such as a day during Christmas break. And you could likely ask her for a couple days during the summer for a higher rate. I say a higher rate bc you lowered the rate to cover the paid breaks through the school year. I'm sure she'd be happy to help if it's also beneficial to her.