Christmas Bonus

[Anonymous]

I know it's a way in advance, but we have to budget now. What's the typical bonus for Christmas? We pay our wonderful nanny $20/hr plus $200 towards health insurance for one child.

[Anonymous]

one weeks pay.

[Anonymous]

One or two weeks pay.

[Anonymous]

I generally get one week's pay gross plus a gift (last year it was shoes) from one employer - and two weeks from my weekend job with all deductions taken out.

[Anonymous]

You'll get "one week pay" from everyone here OP.

I'm an MB and I've never known any other employer to actually pay that much.

We typically give anywhere from $200-500 in cash as a holiday bonus. The $200 went to a nanny who had just started with us in October, and the $500 went to a nanny who had been with us for 3 years.

We do it under the table. So, for some nannies perhaps $500 is the equivalent of a week's NET pay, but that isn't the measure we use for the decision.

You do what you can, if performance merits a bonus and you are able to give one. As an employee I think a raise matters more than the size of the bonus so if you're going to budget for anything put more towards an hourly rate increase.

[Anonymous]

I give $500 cash.

[Anonymous]

I'm in the Midwest and have always received a weeks pay, sometimes gross, most often net.

[Anonymous]

I'm in MoCO and I have always gotten 1 weeks pay

[Anonymous]

$500 cash here too

[Anonymous]

A gift certificate for a nice dinner out or a favorite store, for about $100-200, and a nice card. This is in a nanny share.

[Anonymous]

Less than $100 feels like you are sending a message. Between $100-500 is fine but nothing to write home about. $500-$1000 is excellent. Over $1000 indicates that they really feel you are spectacular.

(This said, I make ~$1000 per week before taxes)

If you need to be on the lower end, don't sweat it. I don't know any nanny who would quit an otherwise well-paying and satisfying job over a small bonus. It's the jobs that are either already overworking or underpaying or just generally not appreciative/considerate--if there's already issues it can exacerbate.

If you know you can't afford a generous bonus, you could compensate by throwing in extra PTO days around the holidays if your family is in town and can take the kids. You should also be VERY mindful of not pushing extra work onto the nanny during the holiday chaos if you know her bonus will be small. If she spends mid-November-Christmas helping to clean the house for guests, pack for holiday travel, take the kids to get photos done, make cards for teachers, wrap presents for Aunt Edna, etc. etc. on top of her normal workload and THEN is given a small bonus...it definitely makes you look bad. Even if she offers to do XYZ to help out, be mindful of accepting since she won't think, "I am sure they planned to only give me this gift card since last August and that's why they accepted all my help without bumping up my bonus.

[Anonymous]

19:29 here. Let me add that giving gifts, even if you got them on sale and feel like they are worth more than you could have afforded otherwise) are NOT as good as cash. Nannies are hourly employees. Even if you know she loves designer handbags, I guarantee she'd rather think through that purchase on her own and just get a cash bonus.

Best nanny gift=Handwritten, heartfelt expression of genuine appreciation, maybe a drawing by your kids, and cash.

[Anonymous]

This year I received 100. It hurt my feelings. This is the only family I've ever worked for who hasn't given at least 1 week of pay. The year before the same family gave me 300.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You'll get "one week pay" from everyone here OP.

I'm an MB and I've never known any other employer to actually pay that much.

We typically give anywhere from $200-500 in cash as a holiday bonus. The $200 went to a nanny who had just started with us in October, and the $500 went to a nanny who had been with us for 3 years.

We do it under the table. So, for some nannies perhaps $500 is the equivalent of a week's NET pay, but that isn't the measure we use for the decision.

You do what you can, if performance merits a bonus and you are able to give one. As an employee I think a raise matters more than the size of the bonus so if you're going to budget for anything put more towards an hourly rate increase.

We give a weeks pay. Hi! Now you know me. And we give it without taxes in a personal check.

[Anonymous]

Everyone employed by my MB - myself, the housekeeper and the weekend nanny - get two weeks pay.