Former Au Pair babysitting rate

[Anonymous]

Our former au pair who we love is now married to an American and will be working as our babysitter on occasion. One of the first things she will be doing is staying with our kids in September while dh and I have to travel for work. She will be with them from Sunday midday to Saturday night, so basically a week. I’m going to propose a flat rate overnight plus hourly for all the hours she works. For normal babysitting she makes $20/hr with us (we are doing a guaranteed minimum of 20 hours/week for her but many weeks she will work less but still make $400/week).

Ideas on a fair but not ridiculous rate to pay her for this time?

[Anonymous]

Sorry - meant to add - kids are 8, 10 & 13 and all will be in school 8-3ish all week. They are easy kids and love her and she loves them. Obviously I don’t want to take advantage of her (and she actually volunteered to do this, I had been discussing having grandma come in etc and she said no she wants to do it). But I also can’t afford to spend $3000 for a week of care.

[Anonymous]

I would do the $20hr then a flat rate of $100 overnight. That’s what I charge.

[Anonymous]

At least $300 a day, OP. That for a 24 hour period. If you can’t afford to pay for childcare, don’t go away.

Our nanny would charge you $400. That’s her travel/overnight rate.

[Anonymous]

The standard is $25hr for all awake hours and a flat overnight fee of $100 per night. If a kid wakes and needs tending to in the night, hourly rate goes into effect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our former au pair who we love is now married to an American and will be working as our babysitter on occasion. One of the first things she will be doing is staying with our kids in September while dh and I have to travel for work. She will be with them from Sunday midday to Saturday night, so basically a week. I’m going to propose a flat rate overnight plus hourly for all the hours she works. For normal babysitting she makes $20/hr with us (we are doing a guaranteed minimum of 20 hours/week for her but many weeks she will work less but still make $400/week).

Ideas on a fair but not ridiculous rate to pay her for this time?

That's a lot of time without a break. I would give her $400/day with a $200 tip, making $3000 for the week. If you can't afford this, then call your mother to take care of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our former au pair who we love is now married to an American and will be working as our babysitter on occasion. One of the first things she will be doing is staying with our kids in September while dh and I have to travel for work. She will be with them from Sunday midday to Saturday night, so basically a week. I’m going to propose a flat rate overnight plus hourly for all the hours she works. For normal babysitting she makes $20/hr with us (we are doing a guaranteed minimum of 20 hours/week for her but many weeks she will work less but still make $400/week).

Ideas on a fair but not ridiculous rate to pay her for this time?

$3000 is not ridiculous for 24/7 care for a week. Call grandma because you are too cheap.

[Anonymous]

Just get Grandma because giving up your whole week is worth $3000.

[Anonymous]

Dang that’s a loooong time. $3k would be reasonable and fair. Of course if she’s like family and willing to take less, go for it I guess… is she permitted to work in the US? I know it’s under the table but you might want to make sure you’re not violating some law by employing her???

[Anonymous]

Offer her $20 an hour plus the overnight rate of $100. She’s an adult and can negotiate a higher rate if that’s what she wants. These PPs are pretty harsh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Offer her $20 an hour plus the overnight rate of $100. She’s an adult and can negotiate a higher rate if that’s what she wants. These PPs are pretty harsh.

No. We are fair and do not cheat or use people. Being the sole caregiver of three children for a week is not babysitting! OP wants to cheap out.

[Anonymous]

Op - I am not “cheaping out” but $3,000 for this seems excessive. She’s with the kids “working” when they are with her and awake for about 8 hours a day at most. That times $20 plus $100 for overnight (would be 6 nights) is $1720. Yes she would be on call in case the kids can’t be in school but that is very unlikely and they are all old enough to entertain and mostly take care of themselves. Just not to stay alone.

She has until recently been making $250/week as an au pair. And yes she is allowed to work here.

[Anonymous]

1. She was recently “making” $250 as an Au pair? To be clear you mean her stipend was $250. She was also living with you and avoiding standard household expenses like groceries, rent, utilities, health insurance. Doesn’t she now have to pay for those things as an “ex Au pair”?

2. What visa is she on that she is “allowed to work” here?

3. How many hours is overnight? 12? So she’s getting $100 for an overnight… great if the kids sleep and she sleeps. Doesn’t seem to account if anyone gets up, gets sick, etc.

Honestly it sounds like someone who came here for a green card, can’t legally work so is agreeing to work for you under the table. You do you… I wouldn’t expect a babysitter to watch my THREE KIDS - the youngest being 8 - for an entire week for less than $3k, regardless of how self sufficient they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op - I am not “cheaping out” but $3,000 for this seems excessive. She’s with the kids “working” when they are with her and awake for about 8 hours a day at most. That times $20 plus $100 for overnight (would be 6 nights) is $1720. Yes she would be on call in case the kids can’t be in school but that is very unlikely and they are all old enough to entertain and mostly take care of themselves. Just not to stay alone.

She has until recently been making $250/week as an au pair. And yes she is allowed to work here.

2k sounds about right plus add in the hourly rate for the hours the kids can't be in school for some reason. I would add a 400 bonus at the end to make it $2400 total (400 per night).

[Anonymous]

Give her 1K for the week. She volunteered to do it. She is illegal to work.