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Anonymous wrote:OP is here - it's a full time job with a salary and not an hourly rate. If I have to stay late in the office, i am not getting paid extra. It gets reflected on my bonus or some nice perk like dinner in the office or cab ride home. What is bonus for? it's for situations like this - when employee goes beyond his direct responsibilities. Sounds fine, i pay for nights, but no bonus shall be expected or at least not in the amounts we planned. There was nothing extra and beyond.
As for the leaving conditions, I am sure a darker basement is better, than a nice room in the corner with a separate bathroom. we should have thought of that. I am sure should would love walk up the stairs 2 floors all the time, especially at night.
OP, I am going to guess that either this is your very first nanny, OR that you have cycled through about 4 nannies a year, and can't quite grasp why that has happened.
A live-in nanny is an HOURLY employee. That means she is paid for every hour she works for you. She cannot be "salaried. You can offer her (and many many employers do) guaranteed hours, i.e., pay for 52 weeks a year regardless if she works every single day and every single hour. So your $600 for X hours a week does NOT cover overnights, unless you have that written into your original work agreement, in which case, you are likely paying her an illegal wage of $5/hour for 24/5 care.
So, to decide that you'll take her bonus away because YOU are choosing to go away for a week and leave her in charge of your kid 24/7 and she is asking to be paid for all her working time...as I said above, you sound either clueless in the extreme or simply nasty.
You should pay her her hourly wage for all hours she will work while you are gone...that means, if she earns $10/hour working 60 hours a week, you figure out how many additional hours she will be working, subtract 8 hours a day for sleeping hours, and pay her accordingly.
So, if she works 168 hours (24/7), subtract 56 hours (8 x 7) for sleeping time, and pay her her standard hourly rate for 112 hours. At $10/hour, that is $1120 for the week. At $15/hour that is $1680 for the week.
And if you can't afford to pay her those amounts, take your kid with you on your vacation and give nanny the week off.
Taking a class is one of multiple steps to being a **certified** NCS. You also have to log 2000 hours of verified care for newborns, and you can only do 8 hours a day that count toward that 2000. That's a minimum of 250 days of care to get certified.
The NCSA has not gone through any formal process to make their certification "formal", as far as I know.
I would check out the Alexandria School - they are planning to offer on-line classes soon:
http://www.alexandria-school.com/home
The NCSA has not gone through any formal process to make their certification "formal", as far as I know.
I would check out the Alexandria School - they are planning to offer on-line classes soon:
http://www.alexandria-school.com/home
What does your share work agreement say?
Does it indicate that Family A is paying $X for 5 days/Y hours a week, and that Family B is paying $A for 4 days/B hours a week?
If that is the case, your nanny is justifiably upset, IMO. She is paid for 5 days by family A, and for 4 days by Family B. Now Family B wants an additional day of care for no additional money, from her viewpoint.
Let's spell it out with actual dollars and hours: Family A pays $350/week for 5 days/50 hours of care. Family B pays $350/week for 4 days/40 hours of care.
So, in nanny's mind, she is working for no additional money if Family B wants that 5th day.
If this is the case, you need to review your work agreement with her and either find and explain the clause that allows Family B to add in an extra day for no extra money, or you need to figure out a fiscal compromise.
However, if the work agreement already indicates that Family A is paying $X for 5 days/Y hours a week, and that Family B is ALSO paying $X for 5 days/Y hours a week, although they may not regularly use the entire time they pay for, then a simple work agreement review and explanation is needed.
Does it indicate that Family A is paying $X for 5 days/Y hours a week, and that Family B is paying $A for 4 days/B hours a week?
If that is the case, your nanny is justifiably upset, IMO. She is paid for 5 days by family A, and for 4 days by Family B. Now Family B wants an additional day of care for no additional money, from her viewpoint.
Let's spell it out with actual dollars and hours: Family A pays $350/week for 5 days/50 hours of care. Family B pays $350/week for 4 days/40 hours of care.
So, in nanny's mind, she is working for no additional money if Family B wants that 5th day.
If this is the case, you need to review your work agreement with her and either find and explain the clause that allows Family B to add in an extra day for no extra money, or you need to figure out a fiscal compromise.
However, if the work agreement already indicates that Family A is paying $X for 5 days/Y hours a week, and that Family B is ALSO paying $X for 5 days/Y hours a week, although they may not regularly use the entire time they pay for, then a simple work agreement review and explanation is needed.
To answer your question, the nanny should earn $27/hour. If you are trying to save additional money by adding an infant to the mix, you'll wind up losing your nanny to burn-out because on bad days she will feel woefully underpaid.
The main issue IMO is logistics: Who hosts? Is there room for 3 kids to sleep separately? How about baby toys/playpens/jumpers, and so forth? Will the host family feel swamped with baby stuff everywhere?
What about vacation time for nanny? How many hours will she be working? What will the 3 families choose as their sick child policy? How will you coordinate any variation in the hours each family needs care?
There's an awful lot to this, OP, and I am not sure it can be done long term successfully.
The main issue IMO is logistics: Who hosts? Is there room for 3 kids to sleep separately? How about baby toys/playpens/jumpers, and so forth? Will the host family feel swamped with baby stuff everywhere?
What about vacation time for nanny? How many hours will she be working? What will the 3 families choose as their sick child policy? How will you coordinate any variation in the hours each family needs care?
There's an awful lot to this, OP, and I am not sure it can be done long term successfully.
OP, you have any number of choices depending on your needs (or what you think your needs will be this far ahead of time) and whether you are looking more for an extra set of hands or someone who can help you learn how to best care for yourself or your baby.
1) Mother's Helper - This is someone who may have any amount of experience, but who will assume you are going to direct them and tell them what you want them to do each day. They may not be terrific self-starters, and you may have to manage them all the time. They can be any age from teens on up.
2) Night nanny - She can help you get your baby on a gentle schedule, assist with night feedings, even do baby related chores at night while baby and you are sleeping. She likely has a lot of newborn experience, and would be able to help you as you learn to cope with being a mom.
3) Daytime Nanny - She could be a very "take charge" person, or she may need to be managed - that depends on what you want in an eventual FT nanny. If you hire her to start as soon as baby is born, she might be willing to work PT. Some nannies resent having a boss at home with them, but there are many nannies out there who will gladly work as a team with new mom. Make sure the nanny you hire is willing to do that!
4) Postpartum Doula - She "mothers the new mother". The PPD is there to help you settle into your role as mom, to listen to you when you need to talk, to care for you while you recover from childbirth, and to help you learn to care for your newborn. She may have lactation expertise, and you need to ask her where she trained and if she is certified. (2 major organizations for doula training are CAPPA and DONA.)
5) Newborn Care Specialist - Some have training and even certification (research any programs that the NCS has certification from!), some just have years of experience, and some have both. A NCS will come in and either live with you doing 24/7 care (or less) or will live out. They are there for the baby primarily, and also to educate new parents on everything baby-related. A NCS can work alongside you, or she is fully able to work solo, based on your preferences.
1) Mother's Helper - This is someone who may have any amount of experience, but who will assume you are going to direct them and tell them what you want them to do each day. They may not be terrific self-starters, and you may have to manage them all the time. They can be any age from teens on up.
2) Night nanny - She can help you get your baby on a gentle schedule, assist with night feedings, even do baby related chores at night while baby and you are sleeping. She likely has a lot of newborn experience, and would be able to help you as you learn to cope with being a mom.
3) Daytime Nanny - She could be a very "take charge" person, or she may need to be managed - that depends on what you want in an eventual FT nanny. If you hire her to start as soon as baby is born, she might be willing to work PT. Some nannies resent having a boss at home with them, but there are many nannies out there who will gladly work as a team with new mom. Make sure the nanny you hire is willing to do that!
4) Postpartum Doula - She "mothers the new mother". The PPD is there to help you settle into your role as mom, to listen to you when you need to talk, to care for you while you recover from childbirth, and to help you learn to care for your newborn. She may have lactation expertise, and you need to ask her where she trained and if she is certified. (2 major organizations for doula training are CAPPA and DONA.)
5) Newborn Care Specialist - Some have training and even certification (research any programs that the NCS has certification from!), some just have years of experience, and some have both. A NCS will come in and either live with you doing 24/7 care (or less) or will live out. They are there for the baby primarily, and also to educate new parents on everything baby-related. A NCS can work alongside you, or she is fully able to work solo, based on your preferences.
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for all the responses. I think I will hire a live out for 50 hours a week with the occasional sitter. My husband and I will need to tag team the weekends. I posted a 'sample ad' on care.com at 16/hr, and was overwhelmed with responses. I know that does not always equal quality, but I can sift through and find someone good.
One word of caution - if you are offering $16/hour straight time plus $24/hour OT ($880/week) you will be caught in a deluge of responses from "nannies", and you'll need to work very hard to sort out the great from the mediocre - awful. Heck, even if your $16/hour is the "average" rate ($800/week), you'll still get many responses from people with no business calling themselves nannies. Do your homework, find lots of questions to ask, screen once, twice, and then thrice.
Good luck to you!
Anonymous wrote:My husband and I are expecting our first child in early May 2014. We are on a wait list for infant daycare, but we are now leaning a lot more on getting a full time nanny instead. We are both small business owners, but work close to home. Both our families live out of state/overseas, so we will not have family help for the first few weeks.
My friend has the model nanny. Even now that her children are 5 and 9 years old- she still is part of their lives because she genuinely cared about them. I am really hoping we get someone who is professional, but who genuinely cares about children. I also want to be fair and reward the person who is helping care for our family. I want to get a sense for what realistic expectations are.
Here are my questions:
1. If we are looking for someone full time (to come in at 8 a.m. and leave around 6 p.m.)- what should we expect will be a fair pay.
What is your budget for childcare? Determine what you want to pay, than what you can afford to pay, and see what sort of candidates you have responding at the various pay levels.
2. We have the option of providing housing for our full time nanny. We have a complete separate fully stocked/furnished private english basement. If we have a live-in, what should we anticipate the cost will be? We live in Mount Pleasant.
LI nannies may be willing to take $2 or so less an hour, and in many cases a LI does not get paid OT, which makes a much larger difference in your costs. There are many IRS laws regarding what you can "charge" a LI for her quarters, and I would find someone qualified to answer those questions.
3. How do you work around the hours when someone in a live-in.
You use a work agreement, and you specify what hours nanny will be working. If you need nanny to work more than those hours, you specify what sort of notice you must give nanny, what she will be paid for that extra time, and whether nanny has the right to refuse any additional hours. FYI, I can't imagine a nanny willing to be "forced" to work extra, so that clause would be more of a CYA for the nanny in case you got upset that she refused extra work hours.
4. If we live close to parks etc, would we need our nanny to have a driver's license, and drive our LO around?
Unless you are absolutely sure you will never ever need nanny to drive your DC anywhere through the duration of her time with you, I'd look for someone capable of driving if needed.
5. Can we expect that our nanny will also do light housework? Is this extra? We have a housekeeper currently who comes in twice a week.
Generally speaking, nannies are willing to do work that relates directly to the child(ren) they care for - laundry, general toy and living space tidying, some cooking, possibly light kitchen tidying, like dishwasher loading/unloading. Some nannies refuse to do anything other than childcare, some are willing to do more than childcare-related housekeeping. You need to decide what you want nanny to focus on.
6. If we wanted additional help like a night nurse a few nights a week, what should we expect in terms of costs.
$25 - $40, depending on the level of experience of the night nanny or the Newborn Care Specialist.
7. When should I start interviewing for next May?
No more than 3 months in advance, unless you are willing to pay a retainer fee to a candidate. Most quality candidates who are employed will want to give their current families adequate notice, which can range from 2 weeks to 2 months time.
8. Is it better to use an agency?
You still have to do some of the "scut work" to verify references and employment, asking references questions, and so forth, but an agency can do the initial weeding out of unacceptable candidates so that you don't spend hours trying to find someone to interview.
Anonymous wrote:Geez, OP don't listen to the crazy nannies on this board. Nannies do not make 1K a week starting salary for one kid. Ugh.
I suggest budgeting for 50 hours guaranteed @$15-$16 average not base. You can use a wage calculator to determine the actual base and OT rate. If you need additional hours on a weekend you would pay the higher OT rate. You can find someone with great experience, driving and fluent in english for that rate.
Your other options if you think you will need frequent weekend hours and have room would be to look for a live in. A live in nanny is around $10-$12.
Any LI who has suffered through an unpaid "on call" job will insist on specific hours for her work times being listed in her work agreement, and will also insist on the right to refuse extra hours and will name her price for extra hours as well. PP, a live in is not a 24/7 employee unless she is being PAID 24/7.
Anonymous wrote:I am in Cleveland Park area. Looking for a full time nanny. Likely from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and maybe one day during the weekend. Looking for a quality nanny with good experience and great references. This position will be to care for our baby from the time they are born on. I will be heading back to work full time in 3 months. What would a fair rate be?
Regarding the Au Pair program, I believe Au Pairs are not allowed to do solo care for infants under a certain age, and you need too many hours to consider an AP in any case.
Frankly, OP, a "fair rate" is whatever your budget will allow that matches up with the rate your preferred candidate requests. If you choose to budget $600/week to cover childcare and the concurrent expenses, you will need to find a candidate you like willing to work for slightly more than minimum wage. If you choose to budget $1200/week for all childcare expenses, you will have far more candidates to choose from, and the likelyhood is that with careful screening you'll find a terrific nanny happy to work for you for around $17/hour.
When it comes to nanny wages, the parents need to determine their budget. That budget determines what candidates will respond to ads, and if there are no decent candidates at the parents chosen budget level, they must either up their budget or find other forms of care.
So, if you skip paying for 8 hours of the 24 nanny works, you're looking at 8 hours of base rate, plus 8 hours of OT. At $10/hour, that winds up being $200 for 24 hours of work.
Or you pay $10/hour for 8 hours, OT for 6 hours, and half pay for 10 sleeping hours, which is $80 + $90 + $50 = $220.
Is an additional 10% of pay per 24 hour period worth having a happy nanny to you?
Or you pay $10/hour for 8 hours, OT for 6 hours, and half pay for 10 sleeping hours, which is $80 + $90 + $50 = $220.
Is an additional 10% of pay per 24 hour period worth having a happy nanny to you?
P.S. In the above example, X should be LESS THAN Y.
IOW, if she makes $12/hour for her normal hours, you should offer $13+ for any reserved hours.
Or you could find a few sitters and keep your nanny from burning out.
IOW, if she makes $12/hour for her normal hours, you should offer $13+ for any reserved hours.
Or you could find a few sitters and keep your nanny from burning out.
If you need her to be available, you need to offer to pay her for the hours you want her to "save" for you. That way, if you don't need her, she hasn't lost any additional income because she reserved that time for you.
So, discuss with nanny, and if she is agreeable, re-write your work agreement:
Nanny will regularly work 7 am - 6 pm M - F. Nanny will be paid $XXX for those 55 hours a week.
Nanny is also required to reserve additional hours on the following specific nights for family's use, and nanny will earn $Y/hour for these specific reserved hours. If nanny is not needed for the reserved hours, she will still be paid $Y/hour for those hours. If nanny is not needed, she is free to offer her services to others with no wage penalty from family.
(List of specific reserved hours for each day of the week)
So, discuss with nanny, and if she is agreeable, re-write your work agreement:
Nanny will regularly work 7 am - 6 pm M - F. Nanny will be paid $XXX for those 55 hours a week.
Nanny is also required to reserve additional hours on the following specific nights for family's use, and nanny will earn $Y/hour for these specific reserved hours. If nanny is not needed for the reserved hours, she will still be paid $Y/hour for those hours. If nanny is not needed, she is free to offer her services to others with no wage penalty from family.
(List of specific reserved hours for each day of the week)
Heck, your nanny might be sleeping with random women. Regardless, it's not your business unless she is unable to arrive at work ready to do her job.
That said, you've hit on the reason I wouldn't ever be (or hire) a LI nanny. Is it possible you just aren't able to handle having a LI?
If having a LI is essential for your family, you will need to speak with your nanny, apologize for not having had the foresight to establish ground rules before she started her job, and discuss your expectations, her expectations, and then determine if your work relationship can continue.
I would predict that if you try to set boundaries now, your nanny will leave. Then you'll need to discuss your house rules during the hiring process with prospective nannies to find someone who is willing to abide by your rules.
That said, you've hit on the reason I wouldn't ever be (or hire) a LI nanny. Is it possible you just aren't able to handle having a LI?
If having a LI is essential for your family, you will need to speak with your nanny, apologize for not having had the foresight to establish ground rules before she started her job, and discuss your expectations, her expectations, and then determine if your work relationship can continue.
I would predict that if you try to set boundaries now, your nanny will leave. Then you'll need to discuss your house rules during the hiring process with prospective nannies to find someone who is willing to abide by your rules.
Anonymous wrote:I am in Cleveland Park area. Looking for a full time nanny. Likely from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and maybe one day during the weekend. Looking for a quality nanny with good experience and great references. This position will be to care for our baby from the time they are born on. I will be heading back to work full time in 3 months. What would a fair rate be?
So are you looking to have nanny work 6 days a week, 10 hours a day? If so, you'll be narrowing your candidate pool and you will likely wind up with lots of turnover due to burnout. I would strongly suggest that you hire a FT nanny and find a weekend sitter to cover those additional hours.
A fair rate seems to be about $18/hour for the first 40 hours plus $27/hour for the 10+ OT hours. That's $1000/week gross. That would be for a nanny with middle of the road experience. A novice nanny would be cheaper, an extremely experienced nanny will be more expensive. You'll need to offer standard benefits, and guarantee the nanny will be paid 52 weeks a year.
Let's see:
Full childcare (playing, feeding, dressing, diapers/toilet training, logging daily activities, etc.)
Transport to activities and school (4 or 5 days a week)
All child related cooking and meal prep, including packing school lunches
Weekly grocery shopping, using comprehensive list I created
Research on child related activities and classes
Dishwasher duty daily
Kid laundry 2 - 3 x per week
Empty trash/diaper genies
Other errands, from Target runs to returns of parent purchased items
Let dog in/out
Feed and water dog if needed
Keep house generally tidy
Manage housekeeper and other service providers
Sort through and manage the toy mountain
Keep kid clothes seasonally appropriate and help with purchasing new items as needed
Vacuum main kid area 2x a month
Doctor visits for kids as needed and prescription pick-ups
Volunteer at kids school
I probably left some things out, but generally speaking this is what I do weekly. And I still manage to have a good 1.5 - 2 hour break during naptime every day!
I consider my job to be mostly childcare, with a generous side dish of making the family's life run more smoothly. My employers have always been loving parents who work long long hours and want to be able to focus on their kid(s), not on doing dishes and laundry, when they aren't working. Frankly, I see nannies without that sort of "pitch-in" attitude cycling through jobs every year, and that doesn't appeal to me at all.
I try to be the sort of nanny I would want to HIRE if I were the high-powered executive seeking childcare.
Full childcare (playing, feeding, dressing, diapers/toilet training, logging daily activities, etc.)
Transport to activities and school (4 or 5 days a week)
All child related cooking and meal prep, including packing school lunches
Weekly grocery shopping, using comprehensive list I created
Research on child related activities and classes
Dishwasher duty daily
Kid laundry 2 - 3 x per week
Empty trash/diaper genies
Other errands, from Target runs to returns of parent purchased items
Let dog in/out
Feed and water dog if needed
Keep house generally tidy
Manage housekeeper and other service providers
Sort through and manage the toy mountain
Keep kid clothes seasonally appropriate and help with purchasing new items as needed
Vacuum main kid area 2x a month
Doctor visits for kids as needed and prescription pick-ups
Volunteer at kids school
I probably left some things out, but generally speaking this is what I do weekly. And I still manage to have a good 1.5 - 2 hour break during naptime every day!
I consider my job to be mostly childcare, with a generous side dish of making the family's life run more smoothly. My employers have always been loving parents who work long long hours and want to be able to focus on their kid(s), not on doing dishes and laundry, when they aren't working. Frankly, I see nannies without that sort of "pitch-in" attitude cycling through jobs every year, and that doesn't appeal to me at all.
I try to be the sort of nanny I would want to HIRE if I were the high-powered executive seeking childcare.
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