Raise question - do you cap salary after a certain point?

[Anonymous]

I know the standard raise is $1/year then $1-2 for an additional child (if say you have one now then have another baby).

But, does it ever end? Otherwise let's say....

Year 1 - $17/hr ($20 including taxes)
Year 2 - $18/hr ($21 including taxes)
Year 3 - $20/hr ($23 including taxes) -- add one child +$2
Year 4 - $21/hr ($24 including taxes)
Year 5 - $22/hr ($25 including taxes)
Year 6 - $23/hr ($26 including taxes)
Year 7 - $24/hr ($27 including taxes)
Year 8 - $25/hr ($28 including taxes)

I mean, should it stop at a certain point? I imagine that if I'm paying my nanny $25/hr by the end, then she will either have to charge that with a new family, or start again at the bottom? Then, with a new family if she does charge the higher end, then how do you go up from there? Is she then making $30-$40/hr?

When older child goes to kindergarten, are you still then paying the higher rate even though now she's back to mainly one full-time? (I do pay for the couple days a week one of both are in preschool)

Just wondering what others do, or if after say $25/hr do you stop giving an annual $1/hour raise?

[Anonymous]

OP here - I also pay overtime

[Anonymous]

We live in a lower COL area, and I feel like $20/hr will be our cap. She is actually at $19/hr now, and I made her an offer this year that in lieu of a raise, we would add dental coverage (we already paid medical), add a holiday (she gets President's Day now), and increase her PTO by 50%, from 12 days to 18.

I can cover her days off at this point, so more PTO costs me less than the rate increase.

We will max out next year, and there aren't too many more perks I can offer either. But, we're military and moving, so we'll start over anyway.

Some people will stay, at least for some time, because they like to have a steady job. Others will decide that they need to move on. I imagine that COL alone means you'd have to give some sort of raise every few years even so, but, no, you don't go on indefinitely.

[Anonymous]

I started at $30/hr and have never gotten a raise and I've been there for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I started at $30/hr and have never gotten a raise and I've been there for years.

And you were smart.

Our nanny has ended up earning less money in total because she were so focused on bonuses and raises that I had to start her lower to be able to add on. If she hadn't made it clear out of the gate that she expected a raise every year, she'd have been making her current rate for the past three years!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know the standard raise is $1/year then $1-2 for an additional child (if say you have one now then have another baby).

But, does it ever end? Otherwise let's say....

Year 1 - $17/hr ($20 including taxes)
Year 2 - $18/hr ($21 including taxes)
Year 3 - $20/hr ($23 including taxes) -- add one child +$2
Year 4 - $21/hr ($24 including taxes)
Year 5 - $22/hr ($25 including taxes)
Year 6 - $23/hr ($26 including taxes)
Year 7 - $24/hr ($27 including taxes)
Year 8 - $25/hr ($28 including taxes)

I mean, should it stop at a certain point? I imagine that if I'm paying my nanny $25/hr by the end, then she will either have to charge that with a new family, or start again at the bottom? Then, with a new family if she does charge the higher end, then how do you go up from there? Is she then making $30-$40/hr?

When older child goes to kindergarten, are you still then paying the higher rate even though now she's back to mainly one full-time? (I do pay for the couple days a week one of both are in preschool)

Just wondering what others do, or if after say $25/hr do you stop giving an annual $1/hour raise?

I know a local nanny earning $65/hr. But even if your friends could afford that, why would they tell you?

[Anonymous]

My salary doesn't have a cap so I cannot imagine imposing one on our nanny. Nanny is at $27 an hour now. This year, in lieu of a raise, we covered her health insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My salary doesn't have a cap so I cannot imagine imposing one on our nanny. Nanny is at $27 an hour now. This year, in lieu of a raise, we covered her health insurance.

OP: I like the idea of offering other benefits too.

Some positions do have salary caps -- like some government jobs, there are ranges and levels.

I guess my question was more -- does everyone end up paying $35/$40/$40/hr by the end? And then, when nanny gets another job, does she charge that or start over (as a career nanny, if you start at $30/hr -- do you then expect raises every year?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My salary doesn't have a cap so I cannot imagine imposing one on our nanny. Nanny is at $27 an hour now. This year, in lieu of a raise, we covered her health insurance.

OP: I like the idea of offering other benefits too.

Some positions do have salary caps -- like some government jobs, there are ranges and levels.

I guess my question was more -- does everyone end up paying $35/$40/$40/hr by the end? And then, when nanny gets another job, does she charge that or start over (as a career nanny, if you start at $30/hr -- do you then expect raises every year?)

Most people don't keep a nanny that many years. There are a lot of people who only have a nanny for the first two years, and then another chunk to four years old, and another to kindergarten. It's a small, very affluent group that keeps the same nanny throughout their children's childhoods. I do understand how if you have multiple children you could end up with more years, but still, 8-10 years of nanny care is less than most families pay for.

Also, not all nannies stay forever, even with good pay.

So, I do imagine that there are some nannies who continue to get raises every years for a decade or more, but I also think this is such a small segment of the nanny population that you can't say for sure what the norm is.

[Anonymous]

Oops! I meant 8-10 years is MORE than most families pay for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My salary doesn't have a cap so I cannot imagine imposing one on our nanny. Nanny is at $27 an hour now. This year, in lieu of a raise, we covered her health insurance.

OP: I like the idea of offering other benefits too.

Some positions do have salary caps -- like some government jobs, there are ranges and levels.

I guess my question was more -- does everyone end up paying $35/$40/$40/hr by the end? And then, when nanny gets another job, does she charge that or start over (as a career nanny, if you start at $30/hr -- do you then expect raises every year?)

As to your bolded question, it just depends on what they can get. In our market, $15 after tax is a standard starting rate. When I interviewed nannies, a lot of them were making more than this because they had been with their family for a while and had gotten raises, but were willing to accept $15/hr at a new job with the expectation that they would get yearly raises. I also interviewed one nanny who had a lot of families interested in her and she flat out told me that she would not accept a pay cut from her current rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I started at $30/hr and have never gotten a raise and I've been there for years.

And you were smart.

Our nanny has ended up earning less money in total because she were so focused on bonuses and raises that I had to start her lower to be able to add on. If she hadn't made it clear out of the gate that she expected a raise every year, she'd have been making her current rate for the past three years!

[b]

Thank you! I didn't go in to the job with hopes of raises or bonuses. I get a very generous bonus but never asked for that. I let the family know my rate and I'm more than fairly compensated at $30/hr.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My salary doesn't have a cap so I cannot imagine imposing one on our nanny. Nanny is at $27 an hour now. This year, in lieu of a raise, we covered her health insurance.

OP: I like the idea of offering other benefits too.

Some positions do have salary caps -- like some government jobs, there are ranges and levels.

I guess my question was more -- does everyone end up paying $35/$40/$40/hr by the end? And then, when nanny gets another job, does she charge that or start over (as a career nanny, if you start at $30/hr -- do you then expect raises every year?)

As to your bolded question, it just depends on what they can get. In our market, $15 after tax is a standard starting rate. When I interviewed nannies, a lot of them were making more than this because they had been with their family for a while and had gotten raises, but were willing to accept $15/hr at a new job with the expectation that they would get yearly raises. I also interviewed one nanny who had a lot of families interested in her and she flat out told me that she would not accept a pay cut from her current rate.

No one with a brain takes a pay cut for a lateral move. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Raises are NOT $1 per year they are cost of livin which is 3% to 7% per year. Additional newborn is 10% per year. I make over $25 per hour but get less than a dollar raise per year.

[Anonymous]

I worked for a high profile family in the DC area, they paid me $35. I didn't get a raise every year. They just gave me two bonuses per year. I worked for them for eight year.