Thinking about traveling with nanny
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Anonymous
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Our DC's nanny and I are from the same area on the West Coast (our hometowns are 10 miles apart) and I'm thinking of asking her to come with us when we go back home later this summer for one or two weeks. I think she would be thrilled; she recently visited her family and I know that she cut the trip short because of her work obligations (i.e., us). Here is the comp/expense reimbursement I am considering and would like feedback on:
* Paid plane ticket * Paid travel time to West Coast * Return travel time paid ONLY IF DH does not fly back with us: DH would not fly with us to the W.C., but hopefully, join us for the back-end of the trip. If he does, then DC would sit with me and DH so nanny would not have to take care of DC. If DH ends up not being able to travel, then DC, nanny and I would sit together and nanny would be paid for her return trip. * Room and board not paid for: Nanny would stay with her family and take meals with them. * Commuting cost not paid for: Nanny's family live < 15 miles/30 minutes from us, which is considered a normal commute for the area. Nanny drives family car. Also, her typical work week is 25 hours/week, she'd probably end up working about the same number of hours (including the paid travel time) although on a slightly different schedule that may include one weekend day. Thoughts? Is there anything I haven't covered? The only areas where I think I could be more generous would be paying for her return trip in the event DH flies with us and paying commute costs. Honestly, I think she would be really happy with the above package nevertheless because she gets a paid trip home and will have plenty of free time to spend with her family and friends. Just want to do a gut-check first, though. |
Anonymous
| As long as you present it as non-mandatory, it's totally fine. The only thing is: are her hours guaranteed? If so, and she says no, won't she essentially get a paid 1 week vacation? Some chance she prefers that to all of the hassle... |
Anonymous
| If she is working, you pay for everything. |
Anonymous
Yes, completely at her option. Her hours are not guaranteed, which is why I think she'll love this opportunity. We hired her knowing that she would work for us for less than a year (she is taking a year off) even though we wanted to hire someone permanent and the trade-off is that she doesn't get any benefits. Having said that, if she ends up not coming with us, I'll probably pay her half-time anyway (like one week if we are gone for two weeks) because I'd feel guilty paying her zero when she has bills to pay. |
Anonymous
Could you be more precise? What, I'm supposed to pay her mom for cooking her dinner? Pay her parents purported rent? |
Anonymous
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I would pay for the miles & gas on the family car
I would also plan in advance what her schedule will be so she can make plans with family & friends |
Anonymous
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MB here.
If this is a young nanny, particularly one with friends back home, this may work beautifully. However, I do think you need to pay for the round-trip ticket, and not feel resentful about it. Otherwise, you're asking her to gamble what will likely be at least $200 on the trip. That's a significant amount of money even for a full time nanny, and she only works 25 hours a week. It might be that the deal is worth it to her for a free plane ticket, but not for a big chunk of the money she'd earn. It also strikes me that you're making a lot of assumptions about her family. For example, you're assuming they will happily house, feed, and provide transportation for her such that she is available to you when you have scheduled her. I suppose you can make the argument that she will have a house available to her, so food should be the same cost as at home, but what about the car? Even if there is an extra vehicle, what if the parents want to lend it to someone else, or another sibling is visiting? Also, if you are there for two weeks, but using her weekend days (even one or two of them), will this mean she doesn't get to see family/friends who work? There are circumstances that would make this trip less enjoyable for her than you seem to think it might be, and that may lead to bad feelings on both ends. Something about this feels exploitative, or at least like you're really trying to "milk" this no-benefit, budget nanny thing for all it's worth. No matter how "fair" you think you're being, you're taking her for your benefit, or, at least, you want your generosity for the free ticket repaid in the form of labor. I think you're going to end up resentful because you will think she should be grateful and effusive about it, and you believe the exchange is even or even skewed to her benefit, and she is likely going to be mostly feeling like she's working when she'd rather be seeing family/friends, and so not particularly grateful or effusive. |
Anonymous
| Pay her her normal salary as she counts on that money for normal hours. You pick her up/drop off or provide a rental to get back and forth. You pay for meals and expenses on work hours. You pay air fare. |
Anonymous
| OP said she was paying for the plane ticket. By the return trip, I think she was referring paying for her work hours during the return plane flight even if she would not be watching the kids since DH would be on the flight. |
Anonymous
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No.
If you want a nanny to travel with you, you pay ALL expenses. Including her lodging and food. You can't expect that her west coast family will be willing and able to host her. She comes with you, works pre-set hours, and can use her off hours to visit with her family. |
Anonymous
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Your nanny should have a daily travel rate regardless of how many hours she works when away from home. And you responsible for 100% of expenses (no, not to pay her mother for cooking her dinner but her uber or car rental to get there).
Ask your nanny what her daily travel rate is. |
Anonymous
| You can't not pay her for travel time home, that's ridiculous! This is a work trip! |
Anonymous
| How can you just assume she has a card available 23/7 for two weeks at your beck and call? You are an awful employer. |
Anonymous
| *24/7 |
Anonymous
| Nanny here- if I was expected to work I'm my hometown I would still expect accommodations. Staying with my Mom for two weeks would be torture. I don't ever go home for more than 3 days. |