Nanny Pay ?
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Anonymous
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DC Area here - We hired a full time (40 hrs + guaranteed overtime every week, on the books, 25/hr + time and a half overtime) nanny in January for our 2yo. She has been wonderful and we all love her. When it became evident that she would have to take on the care of our other child (4yo)when COVID shut down their school, we asked her if she would be expecting a higher rate per hour for two children. She assured us she was just thankful for the job. We are very flexible with her, provide paid time off and paid sick leave as well. We do not ask her to and she does not do anything except take care of the kids - no laundry, No errands, No cleaning except messes made by kids during their day, etc.
Asking here because I want to know if we’re right to be a bit put off or not...is 35/hr too much for two kids now 3 and 5? We have seen the 35-40/hr rate from others and friends with 3-4 children and laundry/cleaning included as well. This is also a 40% raise (with same hours) and we’ve learned most increase by 10-15% after a year. We really want her to be happy and feel content, but we think this may be too large of a jump. That being said, we understand that a higher rate is justifiable due to the immense change COVID has brought on. We have offered to provide compensation in other ways i.e. paying for her health insurance (since she is currently uninsured and this makes us uncomfortable due to her health situation) as well as Increasing her pay by 10%-15%/hr but that is not an attractive option to her. She is purely interested in more money/hr. On a side note- we are aware that she has many personal reasons for wanting more money (because she has sometimes shared too many details with us) but also do not feel like it is our responsibility to “cover the gap” in her expenses. Looking for advice on nanny rates and what is not enough/too much in these crazy times! TIA |
Anonymous
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Wait? You are paying her $25/hr., she said she doesn’t expect a raise, and you want to know if $40/hr. is too much?
Just keep paying her $25/hr. and give her a normal raise after 1 year. And in a few minutes a bunch of people will jump in and say she’s worth $50/hr. |
Anonymous
| $25 is a fair wage for one child. If it's been more than one year since she has gotten raise offer her a fair COL% and see what she says. I will tell you this-nannies don't leave good families solely over money. Is she saying she will leave if you don't give her a raise? |
Anonymous
OK OP I apologize I just reread your post and you are saying you hired her in Jan and she is asking for a $10 per hour raise? |
Anonymous
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Hi OP,
I am a nanny and earned $35/hr at my last pre-pandemic nanny job. I would never ask for a $10/hr raise. I was always offered increased in $5 increments. Most of the jobs I held in the $30-$35/hr range, all included other tasks in addition to childcare, such as laundry, meal prep, and/or dishes. All families had regular housekeepers come at least once a week, so no major household cleaning. A lot of jobs pay $25+ for one child, so I do think a raise would be nice especially given the unusual, pandemic circumstances. However, I think the increase she is asking for is unrealistic and most $30-$35/hr jobs I've taken/interviewed for want someone who can pitch in with childcare, household stuff, etc. or there is some unique circumstance. She might be able to make the rate she is asking for in a pod, but that would be more children/more families to navigate. I would make your best offer and see where that leads. If she really wants more money, and you want to keep her, can you look into decreasing other benefits (vacation/sick time, etc.) to get closer to her rate? Honestly, I think the increase she is asking for is far too much. |
Anonymous
| $25 is reasonable. |
Anonymous
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I would counter with $30/hr.
She's been with you since January. She was hired to care for one child, but she's had 2 kids for over 6 months. You asked ONCE at the beginning of covid if she wanted extra pay to care for the second child as well. Most rational people assumed that covid would blow over quickly, and when it didn't, they increased compensation for nannies who were not only caring for more children, they were dealing with quarantine and distance learning or coming up with learning activities. Many nannies who initially agreed to stay at the same rate increased their rate within 1-2 months; you got away with SIX months at the same rate. So, you have a couple choices. You could pay the $35/hour for a finite time, dropping back down to $30/hour after an equivalent amount of time that she worked at $25/hour with 2 during covid. You can try to bargain for $30/hour, health insurance and extra vacation. You can agree to the $35/hour. Or you can try to find another nanny. But at this point? Nannies are worth a great deal to families struggling with no childcare (and possibly distance learning). Your nanny won't have a hard time finding a new family, but you may have a very difficult time replacing her, especially at $25/hour. |
Anonymous
| My friend doesn't have a ton of nanny experience and is making $30 an hour for two kids, no cleaning, no laundry in NoVa. |
Anonymous
You hired her for one kid, she said taking on two was fine (not knowing what it would entail and probably thinking it was short term) but after having done so for awhile she knows sees what she's actually worth. If she's asking for $35 for two kids then counter with $30. done. |
Anonymous
Is she responsible for DL? If so, then you pay the extra and be grateful that she did not take advantage of you when her job changed with Covid. I will never understand why people are so cheap when it comes to the care of their most precious possesdion--their children! |
Anonymous
THIS. |
Anonymous
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If you are increasing her duties you should increase her compensation. In these days I think $30 to keep her happy is worth it.
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Anonymous
+1. |
Anonymous
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Wait... she said she didn’t expect a raise but you’re “put off” by a $10 an hour increase? Who put you “off”? Who said $35 an hour?
Yes, your nanny deserves a raise after a year for cost-of-living plus merit. However the addition of a second child is problematic as eventually the older child will go back to school and no one wants a pay cut. I would give sizable bonuses at the end of each month she had the second child, in cash, plus her usual raise for one child. |
Anonymous
No, you won't have a hard time replacing her at $25/hour. That is ridiculous --former nanny, former nanny agency owner, and current nanny employer |