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"Nanny, you're fired. My daughter who never ever ever lies, fibs, exaggerates, or makes up stories told us you slapped her. Under our expert, non-leading, completely impartial and non-emotional questioning, she continued to testify that you, and ONLY YOU, nanny are the sole person to ever ever slap her. Begone, evil nanny!"
Two weeks later: Your lovely child tells you her teacher slapped her, and daddy kicked her, and the mailman pinched her.
Your decision now is whether to fire your nanny based solely on your 3 year old's story, or to, perhaps, DISCUSS this with your nanny, and figure out what actually happened before potentially firing someone based on inconclusive evidence.
Two weeks later: Your lovely child tells you her teacher slapped her, and daddy kicked her, and the mailman pinched her.
Your decision now is whether to fire your nanny based solely on your 3 year old's story, or to, perhaps, DISCUSS this with your nanny, and figure out what actually happened before potentially firing someone based on inconclusive evidence.
OP, how old are your kids? Where do you live? Will there be a parent home during those hours? If not, when will your employee do the grocery shopping?
Regardless, it sounds like you want to hire "Alice" from The Brady Bunch, and since you are also looking to fill PT hours, you may be looking at closer to $25+ for someone with experience.
Or, as a PP said, you can hire someone and train them for less $$.
Regardless, it sounds like you want to hire "Alice" from The Brady Bunch, and since you are also looking to fill PT hours, you may be looking at closer to $25+ for someone with experience.
Or, as a PP said, you can hire someone and train them for less $$.
Katiee wrote:Believe me - we were very clear about our expectations. We discussed things like honesty in a very detailed way. Your expectations and reality sometimes just don't go together.
Maybe we are not lucky with nannies. However, when I speak to other moms in DC - they have similiar problems. Nannies watching TV instead of working, nannies ignoring crying kids, nannies feeding toddlers with chocolate, etc.
It's an old article but if you have a minute check it out:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/08/17/real.life.nanny.diaries/
The article you posted discusses a mom's failures to hire a good nanny. This quote seems to apply most to your situation:
"Like any relationship, the mom/nanny one can suffer most by inconsistent communication, lack of respect or unfair expectations."
Your nanny, if she is lying in ways large and small to you and your neighbors and their nannies, is providing inconsistent communication, lack of respect AND unfair expectations.
Since you don't detail how you believe she was negligent when your son was injured, I can't comment on that. But if she's lying, it doesn't matter how "good" she is, she needs to be let go for cause.
And if your next nanny lies to you, and you have irrefutable proof, ask her why she isn't telling the truth. Offer that open communication and clear the air if possible so you don't have to search for a new nanny again.
Tell them that based on your hourly rate, you can work X hours for $500/week. Suggest that they make a list of when they will want you to work, so that there are clear expectations and no surprises.
And when they go over their daily hours the first time, remind them that they are only paying for X hours, and ask what day they want to trim an hour from so that they pay you correctly for working while they are on vacation.
You can set firm boundaries without being rude. If they can't respect those boundaries, then continuing to work for them is a bad idea.
And unless you specifically said to them, "Yes, I will go along for $x now that we have worked out all the specifics of my hours and duties." buying your ticket was a great way for them to guilt you into joining them for half price, wasn't it?
Good luck! Hope you come back and let us know how it went.
And when they go over their daily hours the first time, remind them that they are only paying for X hours, and ask what day they want to trim an hour from so that they pay you correctly for working while they are on vacation.
You can set firm boundaries without being rude. If they can't respect those boundaries, then continuing to work for them is a bad idea.
And unless you specifically said to them, "Yes, I will go along for $x now that we have worked out all the specifics of my hours and duties." buying your ticket was a great way for them to guilt you into joining them for half price, wasn't it?
Good luck! Hope you come back and let us know how it went.
OP, the figure I have generally heard is that employer taxes come to about 10% of the nanny's wages. So if you pay nanny $1000/week, your tax liability would be around $100/week.
So she's mad because you won't pay her OT for weekend work.
IDk - if she wants the work and the extra money, she might want to consider compromising and taking her base rate in cash. It's not legal, but it's done an awful lot.
It's like nannies who demand to be paid their full rates plus OT for all hours worked when their employers go out of town. They'd rather turn down an extra $1000 because they could be making $1200.
So much about the nanny profession is negotiable, why not be flexible and take a little more money instead of none at all?
IDk - if she wants the work and the extra money, she might want to consider compromising and taking her base rate in cash. It's not legal, but it's done an awful lot.
It's like nannies who demand to be paid their full rates plus OT for all hours worked when their employers go out of town. They'd rather turn down an extra $1000 because they could be making $1200.
So much about the nanny profession is negotiable, why not be flexible and take a little more money instead of none at all?
Sorry, didn't see your rate corrections OP!
Anonymous wrote:In-home nanny share, 2 blocks from metro in Columbia Heights. One boy, one girl, both 5 months.
Need a legally working nanny, proficient in English. Full time, year round position. 50 hour weeks (8:30-5:30) planned.
I'd like to offer $20 average rate with 50 hours guaranteed ($825/week). This seems to be in the right range for nanny shares, but the question is - will nannies balk at it, since this technically equates to a base rate of $15 and an OT rate of $22.50?
If we went up a bit on the rate by a few dollars an hour, can we start to expect additional duties beyond the infant care? I'd be primarily interested in something like light cleaning (dishes, laundry), picking up our toddler from aftercare to be coincident with the end of shift/our arrival. Is a quick dog walk with the kids in the stroller totally out of the question?
Before you flame on, just remember...I'm a clueless dad. Educate me.
First, an average rate of $20/hour means you'll be paying $20 x 50 = $1000/week. That's a base rate of $18.18, and an OT rate of $27.27. That's actually a fairly good rate for a nanny share.
If you plan to pay $825/week, you'll be paying an average rate of $16.50, which is low for a share, and your base and OT rate calculations above would be correct.
As far as extra duties are concerned, I would consider what you personally would be able to get done while caring for 2 infants. In addition, will your family be paying more if the nanny is doing extra work for you and only you? I can see that starting to annoy your share partner if you split the bill 50/50, but you get cleaning and dog walking as well.
Most nannies expect to manage housekeeping that directly involves the kids - kid laundry, kid bottles/dishes, and so on, but as I said above, in a share the issue becomes one of "Why does the host family benefit if they aren't paying more?"
School pick-up? Maybe, if the babies aren't napping, and the walk isn't too long, and the babies aren't melting down, and the day went smoothly, and the babies aren't hungry, and the weather is nice...you see my point?
Dog walking with 2 babies...I wouldn't, but maybe some nannies would.
You need to determine your budget, and then start interviewing. Are you getting the quality of candidates you want and need for $825/week? Yes - Great! No - Up the wages and see what happens.
Good luck!
Anonymous wrote:"If a nanny accepts a job involving driving and using her own car, and she agrees to that job requirement, then she absolutely has to have a car to meet her job requirement. If her car dies, she needs to get a new car, for her own life and to meet her job requirements."
Spot on.
Question for you: If a family hires a nanny whose car is capable of driving their 1 or 2 kids safely, and then the family has a 3rd child, are you saying the nanny needs to replace her car to accommodate the family's choice to add a child to the mix? Or do you think in that situation the family needs to choose to either provide an appropriate vehicle to transport 3 kids or choose to let nanny go and find a new nanny with a minivan?
I think it would be far easier for a nanny whose car can hold two kids to find another employer than for an employer to find a nanny who drives a minivan. Therefore, to me, if all is well with the nanny/family dynamic, the family providing a work vehicle is the best and easiest choice if they wind up having more kids than the nanny can fit in her car.
Just to add a little twist, how do you think families would react to having nanny candidates ask them for their shot records and their HIV or HepC test results?
02:05 and 11:46, the issue I see is this:
A family that wants a nanny to have all sorts of tests done is going to only trust THEIR doctor to do the testing and report the results.
A nanny who has no issues with doing the testing might balk at allowing a doctor she doesn't know or trust to administer such tests and discuss the results with potential employers.
So the family wants their doctor to do the testing, and the nanny insists HER doctor be involved. How does that work out?
Personally, I wouldn't allow anyone but my doctor to do the tests and print out a very generic letter with basic results.
A family that wants a nanny to have all sorts of tests done is going to only trust THEIR doctor to do the testing and report the results.
A nanny who has no issues with doing the testing might balk at allowing a doctor she doesn't know or trust to administer such tests and discuss the results with potential employers.
So the family wants their doctor to do the testing, and the nanny insists HER doctor be involved. How does that work out?
Personally, I wouldn't allow anyone but my doctor to do the tests and print out a very generic letter with basic results.
Anonymous wrote:For those of you who have full-time in-home nannies, what healthcare screening did you require before employment? Our pediatrician is recommending HIV, HepC, TB test, and TDAP vaccine. Seems much to me, but I'm a FTM so I'm not experienced in these things.
Also, for those of you who provide healthcare benefits, did you outsource this to a company or have the nanny acquire her own healthcare coverage and contribute $ towards her premium?
Thanks!
If you are willing to pay for all those tests and vaccines, you can try and see if candidates are willing to go along with your wishes. I am not sure how you will be able to trust the results, since I doubt any doctor is going to break HIPPA laws for you and tell you the private test results of another adult that you do not have legal control over.
That said, I think asking a nanny to get the whooping cough vaccine and the flu shot is not out of line, but some nannies are passionately anti-vaxing.
Healthcare dollars are not taxable, and there is a process you go through to ensure you and your nanny have the proof available to offer the IRS when it comes to avoiding tax on that money. I would assume nanny could manage to find a plan - offering to help is fine, but she may say no.
Anonymous wrote:Hello DCUM and Nannies,
I have been a SAHM for quite some time, but I am going back to school full-time in the fall. We'd like to hire a nanny, but I'd like honest feedback from nannies or parents who've BTDT about this schedule / compensation.
The schedule & responsibilites would be roughly as follows:
M- 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM. One baby (9.5 months when Nanny starts in August) home all day. 3.5 year old in preschool from 9-12, otherwise home. 5.5 & 8 year olds in school 8-2:30 and home in the afternoon. Driving (or walking 2 miles round trip) required for preschool run; elementary school is 3 doors down from our house.
Tu- 7:30 AM - 3:00 PM. Baby & 3.5 home all day, 5.5 & 8 y.o. in school 8-2:30.
We- 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM. Same as Monday, except Nanny would take drive older kids to gymnastics & ballet from 4-5PM.
Th- 7:30 AM -3:00 PM. Same as Tuesday.
There would be no regularly scheduled Fr/Sa/Su hours. Exceptions to this schedule would be:
One week in Sept & one week in Feb- older kids would have fall/winter break & would be home all week.
AND
One month (paid) time off while I am on semester break (mid-December to mid-Jan), and probably shorter hours but paid for a normal week while I am on Spring Break.
The only household responsibilities we'd ask would be normal meal prep (lunch & snacks for kids) & clean up (like, if a kid spills juice or something), plus folding some kid laundry. Any driving would be in our minivan, so no personal car use required.
Compensation: (NOTE- we do not live in the DC area- we are in the Atlanta area)
Starting pay would be $18.00 / hour. In addition to the paid semester breaks, we'd give 8 flex paid days off, to cover sick days or other vacations.
Does this sound doable and adequately compensated? Should we offer to pay more during older kids' breaks? Or should we just put the older ones in camp so Nanny doesn't have to deal with four at once for too long? Am I overlooking anything else?
I'd really appreciate any and all feedback, since we're new to the world of nannies. Thanks!
Since you only need 33.5 hours of care, as a nanny familiar with Atlanta I'd say your rate is actually slightly on the low side. The person you hire might be able to find a Friday only job to supplement her wages from you, but otherwise she'll be trying to live on a gross wage of $603/week ($31, 356/year), which is difficult to do in Atlanta unless you have a SO who is the main income earner. If you can afford to either offer slightly more per hour or make this into a 40 hour week ($720/week), I think you'd have better luck attracting more experienced and enthusiastic nannies. The time off is very attractive, and will help you out, especially if you happen to hire a fellow student who attends classes at night.
I don't think you need to pay more for the weeks she has all 4, but you might consider offering a small "bonus" and sincere thanks after those weeks.
It's likely too early to start looking right now. If you are willing to consider a college student who takes night classes, you might ask about putting your job info up now at local colleges in education, nursing, psychology, social work, etc. class areas in preparation for the fall semester. if you want a more traditional nanny, I think starting to look in June is fine.
If you are going to do the search yourself, give yourself enough time to weed through applicants, phone interview, in-person interview, check references, and have a "working interview" before doing a background check and making offers to your top 2 or 3 candidates.
I would put together a "Family Manual" with info on each child, directions/addresses to schools, activities, local parks, etc. and any and all other info the nanny would need to know, like how baby likes to be put down for nap, what each child's favorite toys/loveys are, family rules, and so on.
Once you choose a nanny and she accepts your offer and you sign a work agreement, have her "shadow" you for 2 or 3 days, with her mainly watching and learning on day one, doing 50%+ of the work day 2, and in charge day 3 while you are in and out of the house.
Before starting your search, you and your SO need to define the "perfect" nanny for your family, and you need to define your parenting style, the forms of discipline you use, and so forth. A nanny needs to feel comfortable with your style, even if she modifies it a bit.
I think if she truly only works 3 10 hour days and 3 6 hour nights, the $1000 is still low, considering she is on duty every night. If she is paid $16/hour, you should offer her about $80 each night in addition to the night work pay, simply because she will be limited so much in her ability to read, use her phone, even shower, once the kids are sleeping.
So to be fair, I would suggest $16 x the total working hours (48 in my example) plus $500 for the night time room sharing.
So to be fair, I would suggest $16 x the total working hours (48 in my example) plus $500 for the night time room sharing.
No. If she continues to no-show, no one will hire her anyway, right?
I'd save the reviews for people you actually meet.
I'd save the reviews for people you actually meet.
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