Advice for 24/5 full-time live-in nanny compensation

[Anonymous]

Advice needed here:

I am a single mother of two kids, with a full time live-in nanny who I pay 1500 dollars for a 5 day live-in role.

Its a standard fixed 1500 - we don't work on an hourly calculation since its live-in and a fixed system is preferred by her.

She gets 2 days off a week, and any time we need her to stay an extra day/night (in case I travel or if I am unwell) we compensate her for that with the usual daily rate.

We also have a full time live-out housekeeper who does all the cleaning, cooking, laundry, ironing etc, and serves as a second nanny when needed.

At Christmas and Thanksgiving I gave a full weeks bonus both times, however we have never discussed federal holidays, and she tends to stay with us for all of them, and is paid for them like a regular working day.

My question is, am I supposed to give her paid days off for federal holidays? Or let the system continue?

Lastly, what is the annual paid holiday allowance which most families with full time live-in help follow?

Would other nannies reading this think the above is a fair salary? Its essentially approx 6000 a month minimum.

[Anonymous]

So she is on the clock 24 hours a day for those 5 days?
Given that you dont have a standard situation I dont think the " normal" rules apply.
I do however think you should give off the big Holidays like 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving ( Thurs and Fri) and Christmas.
How many vacation weeks does she get?

[Anonymous]

She should be easily getting $4K a month for 24 hour care, if not more. You can afford it if you have a nanny and housekeeper. That's really stingy. So, when do you spend time with your kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She should be easily getting $4K a month for 24 hour care, if not more. You can afford it if you have a nanny and housekeeper. That's really stingy. So, when do you spend time with your kids?

Try again. Maybe start with your reading comprehension, then think about what you are trying to say and why before you proceed.

Most nannies have comprehension and communication skills; I hope people don’t judge nannies based on these few.

OP, if you need her to work holidays, so be it. I think offering at least 1.5 her income for that day. I get paid 2X for holidays, but I would normally get them off, so it makes sense. Does she have vacation time?

[Anonymous]

Its whatever you want/agree to with your nanny. My nanny works on federal holiday Mondays because we work -- but not on 4th of July, Memorial Day or Labor Day, and she gets paid for those.

Obviously she also gets other time off when there are snow days or other things and I'm home.

[Anonymous]

How many hours, on average, would you say she works in a week? Your compensation sounds fair but it really depends on the hours. Standard paid holidays are Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

[Anonymous]

Hi! I’m also a live-in 24/5 nanny, with past 24/7 experience.

As soon as you start talking live-in or 24 hour shifts, most of us prefer talking set salary and daily rates. If I work at all, I get my daily rate. It doesn’t matter how many hours it is, that’s the way it is.

It sounds like she has 24/5 availability, works 24/5 when you travel (in the sense that she can sleep, but she’s the responsible adult in the house), but may only work 60 hours per week?

$1,500 per week equates to $78,000 per year. As a live-in nanny, that’s a great salary for a set schedule. Many 24/5, 6 or 7 nannies make $80-120k per year, but there’s usually heavy travel, language or homeschooling that goes with those rates. If your nanny worked 16 hour days, it would work out to $93/hour; if she’s up with your kids every night, it works out to $12/hour. Because we’re live-ins, the federal overtime requirement doesn’t apply, but certain areas (CA, NY, MD) do require overtime, so make sure your contract covers it. As you can see, whether it’s fair depends entirely on job expectations and requirements.

Most nannies, live-in and live-out, get the big four holidays off: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Independence Day and New Year’s Day. Many also get Memorial Day and Labor Day. Unless nannies work for feds, they don’t usually get any other federal holidays off.

Norm for vacation is two weeks for both live-in and live-out nannies. In practice, state that she can choose one week herself, then you schedule a week at the same time. For the second week, you schedule your vacation and give her at least two months of notice so she can make plans. Most families take more than that, ime, so it translates to extra vacation for your nanny.

Most live-in nannies are provided with access to a vehicle during work hours (including whole kids are at school), and many have exclusive access. It’s one of the many perks we get for having much of our lives revolve around the family.

Other than considering whether you could swing $100-300 per month for healthcare or whether your kids’ sleep patterns might make $12/hour more realistic for the way your nanny’s salary averages out, you sound great. I especially love that you cane here to get nannies’ points-of-view about whether it’s fair.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thank you to the person above for the detailed reply. I appreciate it so much. I really value her and I want to be sure we are paying her correctly.
My kids are 2 and 4 years old so there is no major schooling besides learning through play, crafts, storytelling and fun excursions. I would say the the daily work averages about 10-11 hours, with breaks in the middle since both kids are in preschool, this gives her time to workout, get her appointments done and/or whatever she wants. My kids sleep straight through the night and video monitor stays with me. She doesn't know how to drive, nor wants to learn so I have as additional car and driver to transport everyone around all day. We also have the housekeeper who works a 12 hour day, so there is plenty of support for our nanny. i will start offering the federal holidays to her or pay her x1.5 or x2 the daily rate. We agreed on 2 weeks holiday, one of her choice and one of mine. These obviously include paid round-trips home. My embassy covers her healthcare.

And to the poster who said I am stingy and asked when I spend time with my kids, I try to whenever I can. I work from 9-6 officially but then have engagements every night. I am a foreign diplomat, single mother working here away from home with my kids. My nanny is happy with us, she is on my diplomatic visa (she is European) and doesn't have to pay any income or federal taxes (not a cent). In the end, she gets to keep every dollar she is paid by me, and I have never tried to reduce her pay because she is not required to pay taxes. Its the enormous perk of working for diplomats. Hope that answers your question.

[Anonymous]

I think your nanny is being very generously compensated and has an enviable working conditions. Clearing $1500 a week, health care covered, driver, full-time housekeeper who cooks—amazing! I wouldn’t worry about a few more holidays, OP.

[Anonymous]

nice!

[Anonymous]

It makes no difference who prefers a set salary because NANNIES ARE HOURLY EMPLOYEES AND MUST BE PAID FOR EVERY HOUR WORKED!!!!

A live-in nanny is paid straight time for all hours over 40 with the exception of the states where live-ins are paid OT.

OP, both of you are breaking labor laws.

[Anonymous]

OP here - Actually, you are wrong. Unless you can post a link that says live-in full time employees are paid per hour, I wouldn’t create confusion here for other people reading this thread.

Also, I have to ask : what is a right per hour salary? From what I have seen, hourly rates vary nanny to nanny. I am certain she is earning more with my fixed rate than if we were to pay her for every hour worked.

I have met with part timers who have set rates from anywhere between 15,16,19,20,25,26 and 35 per hour! In my 8 years of hiring ONLY live-in candidates, I have NEVER met a nanny who asked for an hourly rate for a live-in role. I have never met an agency who supplied live-ins to me per hour. My nannies always negotiated an attractive lump sum to cover their bases for hours worked or not, and then they are responsible for anything which may come up and -“are available. I am a parent who will pay well for someone who can offer me that flexibility because I work, don’t have a husband and am away from my native country and my family. Our contract covers a few nights of babysitting. I have a housekeeper who also works full time and between them they are professional and get their work done like a team.

My original post asked for help on deciding on additional public holidays, and whether she is being compensated fairly at THOSE times . I care about her and am asking for opinions on one area. Please don’t twist it into something this is not. It will only be an issue in your head because for some reason you are the sort of poster who reads a thread and assumes the worst about people.

[Anonymous]

OP, your package looks fabulous. Good job.

I'm foreign and I'll give you a foreign perspective on American holidays. Some of them don't mean anything to me. Some do. The best thing to do is that you ask your nanny if she would like them off, or if she doesn't mind treating them as regular workdays. Since she's European, she may not really care about Columbus Day or President Day. Just sayin'.

[Anonymous]

Per IRS regulations, nannies are all hourly employees. Since you’re a diplomat, I’m not sure how the taxes work. I believe you are still subject to hourly wage laws. For your own protection, it would be good to have a written schedule, and rates for regular and overtime hours. If she’s responsible for the kids 120 hours a week, then her hourly rate is a little over $11/hr, and OT rate is time and a half. Many people pay a salary and call it “guaranteed hours.” You still need to have an hourly wage and overtime rate sorted out. You’d be wise to pay the overtime rate for additional weekend hours.

If she is happy with the arrangement, then do what works for you. A common split for vacation is 2 weeks paid, with one week of nanny’s choosing and one week of employers’ choosing. I get 10 paid holidays per year, but you should do what works for you.

[Anonymous]

Oops, regular rate is roughly $9.50/hr.