Nanny share flex hours?

[Anonymous]

We are interested in a nanny share w another family that has slightly different needs for hours—they may only do 4 days and we want to kick up our child early a few days. We are thinking of paying $20 when it’s 1 kid, $23 when both kids are there. Anyone deal with this similarly or differently? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

So will you pay the full price when your child is the only one?

[Anonymous]

It will be a nightmare to track, and you will be dependent on the other family agreeing that times are correct. The easiest way to do it is to have a sign in/out sheet or app and nanny sends you the week’s total at the end of Friday for payroll.

How do you plan to handle overtime? Nanny gets overtime for anything over 40, doesn’t matter which family uses the time. So, if the nanny has child A for 8.5 hours Monday through Thursday, then overtime starts after 6 hours on Friday, even though it’s just your child.

You may want to consider each paying $11-11.50 per hour for x hours per week (if you are set of a range of $20-23 for 1-2 child rates) to guarantee the full schedule, and guarantee that whole time. So, most likely that would be around 45 hours, say 8-5 m-f. Doesn’t matter if the other child is there Fridays. Doesn’t matter if you pick up at 3 every day. You’re guaranteeing that the nanny is available for the entire 45 hours every week, and you’re guaranteeing that she is happy to stay with your flex schedule versus finding something more consistent.

[Anonymous]

We did this. It's not that big a deal, although what you're describing is not flex hours, assuming you're following a schedule. (For instance, Family A needs M-Th 7-6, Family B needs MWF 8-6 and TTh 8-3.)

You need a set schedule that is in your share contract that will specify which family has which hours and what the shared and solo rates are. Do be mindful of overtime and discuss how or whether you will share that, since with a share you jointly employ your nanny and need to pay OT when she hits 40 hours, regardless of which child she had in her care when. In a situation like the example above, you want to be sure this doesn't fall primarily on Family B just because they happen to use hours on Fridays even though both families have the same number of hours overall.

[Anonymous]

Appreciate the feedback, these are helpful suggestions!

[Anonymous]

I’d review joint employment and blended overtime rules. As a previous poster stated, OT is paid on hours over 4 that the nanny works, even if both families individually use less than 40 hours. OT is also calculated on a blended rate - basically an hourly average of base rate. So, you aren’t just paying OT on the last 6 hours, it’s blended over the entire weekly rate.

[Anonymous]

Where will the share be located with such varying schedules?