Ask nanny reference for pay rate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would it be cool to ask a nanny's reference how much they paid her? Or is that a no-no?

That's what I did. I took the numbers I got and based my offer off of that. I knew she was out of a job for a while and hard up for money so I offered her $2/hr under what I thought she would be happy with figuring she would get there with raises. It's been a year now with her and she seems happy. But I'm going to hold off on a raise unless she says something.

You're an asshole. You're purposefully taking advantage of your nanny.

Yes your ate asshole..I feel my employer are taking my advantage so I am thinking of quiting soon without giving much notice.. I don't need them as references and already found a job .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would it be cool to ask a nanny's reference how much they paid her? Or is that a no-no?

Yes - this is what I did while interviewing nannies and their previous families. All references shared the numbers with no hesitation. There is nothing wrong with it. Most nannies we interviewed were ok with that, and have openly discussed pros and cons of scaling down, in some cases. A typical question from a nanny was: are you going to have a third baby in a year or two? (so the salary would be comparable with their previous jobs). So go ahead and ask, so you know the market, you know your own budget, and you know why nannies accept or refuse your offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would it be cool to ask a nanny's reference how much they paid her? Or is that a no-no?

Yes - this is what I did while interviewing nannies and their previous families. All references shared the numbers with no hesitation. There is nothing wrong with it. Most nannies we interviewed were ok with that, and have openly discussed pros and cons of scaling down, in some cases. A typical question from a nanny was: are you going to have a third baby in a year or two? (so the salary would be comparable with their previous jobs). So go ahead and ask, so you know the market, you know your own budget, and you know why nannies accept or refuse your offer.

No smart woman makes a lateral job change for a reduced compensation package. If you even mentioned such nonsense on the jobs and careers forum, you'd get laughed right off and you know it. Lol.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's a problem. We broached the topic w/ reference families by saying "If you don't mind, can we ask about how much you paid her? This is our first time hiring a nanny and we just want to make sure we're in the right ballpark/have a better sense of how to interpret her negotiating stances." No one seemed offended and 3/4 families just sent us their contracts, which was super useful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would it be cool to ask a nanny's reference how much they paid her? Or is that a no-no?

Yes - this is what I did while interviewing nannies and their previous families. All references shared the numbers with no hesitation. There is nothing wrong with it. Most nannies we interviewed were ok with that, and have openly discussed pros and cons of scaling down, in some cases. A typical question from a nanny was: are you going to have a third baby in a year or two? (so the salary would be comparable with their previous jobs). So go ahead and ask, so you know the market, you know your own budget, and you know why nannies accept or refuse your offer.

No smart woman makes a lateral job change for a reduced compensation package. If you even mentioned such nonsense on the jobs and careers forum, you'd get laughed right off and you know it. Lol.

But nannies actually do this all the time when they start with a new family or families after having gotten a raise (or several) from their previous employers. In our initial negotiations, our nanny wanted to know that we were open to a $1 raise/family after a year if everything was going well, so she'd be back up to the salary she was previously receiving. But she knew that starting at that rate was likely unrealistic and she liked our offer for other reasons (guaranteed 50 hours/week from both families, but we probably use her closer to an average of 40 hours/week).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a perfectly acceptable question to ask a professional nanny or their current/previous employers. The only reason an employer might not answer it is that they are paying under the table for all or a portion of her wages.

+1

[Anonymous]

I always ask what the candidate is making at their current position or made at their last one, and then ask if I can confirm that with their employer when I call for a reference. I have never had a problem with this approach. That doesn't preclude the candidate from asking for a pay increase in the new job.

[Anonymous]

I always ask to speak with the previous caregivers to see what they have to say about the parents paying legally and on time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. It is question that you should not ask. The nanny has a rate that she quoted you - what difference does it make how much she was paid at one point in the past? She is coming to your position with more experience.

As an MB who loved my children's nanny, I would tell you off if you asked me that question.

Agree and I would also let her know that you asked with the hope that this would be enough to let her know that you are a shank.

[Anonymous]

Don't ask, OP. I know this because I did it and, of course, her then-employer told her and the nanny declined our offer. I knew from the tone of the mother's voice as well as her refusal to answer that I had make a mistake. The nanny then turned down our offer and went with another family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

While an interviewer might ask for your salary history, your current employer is not going to verify your current salary without your permission, so it's not really comparable. Just let the nanny offer up whatever information she wants to with regards to her rate.

Not true. Your permission is not necessary to verify salary history.

I don't want nobody to ask me or my older boss how much I get,this is privacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't ask, OP. I know this because I did it and, of course, her then-employer told her and the nanny declined our offer. I knew from the tone of the mother's voice as well as her refusal to answer that I had make a mistake. The nanny then turned down our offer and went with another family.

Never had this happen. Sounds like she was being paid under the table.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't ask, OP. I know this because I did it and, of course, her then-employer told her and the nanny declined our offer. I knew from the tone of the mother's voice as well as her refusal to answer that I had make a mistake. The nanny then turned down our offer and went with another family.

Sounds like she had healthy boundaries, and she wants the same for the nanny's potential employers. Kudos to outstanding people.

[Anonymous]

We had our nanny for nearly 4 years, until our kids didn't need her anymore. A few times during our time together she would look into other jobs to see if something better was out there. When I got calls from people asking about a reference I would always say we paid her much less than we actually did. So either these families passed on her because they felt she wasn't worth as much as she was probably asking or they made her a low offer based on what I said I was paying. Either way it worked out and she stuck around until we didn't need her.

I should point out that at the end when the kids outgrew her I did give her a wonderful recommendation and told people exactly what we had paid her all 4 years. She quickly found new job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had our nanny for nearly 4 years, until our kids didn't need her anymore. A few times during our time together she would look into other jobs to see if something better was out there. When I got calls from people asking about a reference I would always say we paid her much less than we actually did. So either these families passed on her because they felt she wasn't worth as much as she was probably asking or they made her a low offer based on what I said I was paying. Either way it worked out and she stuck around until we didn't need her.

I should point out that at the end when the kids outgrew her I did give her a wonderful recommendation and told people exactly what we had paid her all 4 years. She quickly found new job.

How selfish of you