Part time help as live in

[Anonymous]

Hi all. My neighbor's live in nanny has been working for us here and there when she has free time -- recently about 4 hours a day, 2 days a week, for laundry, dog walking, and light housekeeping (dishes, making beds -- we have a housekeeper who does the more heavy duty cleaning). My neighbor is moving out of state and no longer needs her so she is looking for more work and a home. We like her a lot and have a spare bedroom she could use, and we could probably use more hours that she is happy to provide such as evening babysitting, meal prep, etc., but there probably isn't more than 15-20 hours of help needed, max, as my kids are in school (and camp this summer), she doesn't drive (and I need someone who can do school pickups and take them to their sports and activities, etc.) and I'm not ready to part with my housekeeper (who comes every other week). I've never had someone live in with us so not sure how this works. As part time live-out help I have been paying her $20/hour. If she lived with us and did about 15-20 hours a week, how much should I pay her? Do I continue paying her hourly or do I pay her a flat amount for an amount of hours? She would likely also continue part time work for other neighbors (like she did when working for my neighbor).

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I don’t think you need to pay a lot but I think you need to be super flexible so she can find other regular work for the other 3 days a week.

[Anonymous]

I would charge her a monthly rate for the room and then pay her hourly for any work she does for you.

[Anonymous]

Part-time live-in help only makes sense when you need to cover on call hours, overnights or a weird schedule that flexes. In all of those cases, you would need a live-in; you don't need a live-in. She needs to find a full-time family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would charge her a monthly rate for the room and then pay her hourly for any work she does for you.

This - separate the two things. Figure out what a monthly rate would be (I imagine she has her own room and own bathroom but shared kitchen, tv space, dining space). So it is more like a room rate in a group home - maybe 400-500 a month depending on where you live and what rental market is like.

Then, pay her what you have been paying her for her home help tasks and pick up a few more hours. Then she can work for other people too and to get to 40 hours and is not 100% relying on you.

But also think deeply about if you want to share your house and kitchen and den with someone else. As a renter, she should be able to use the house. Do you want her having a dinner party? Do you want her to have overnight guests? What about watching r rated movies at 2pm in the living room?

It may be way more hassle than your want