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OP, if I am reading your last post correctly, you plan to keep her wage at $780/week, but cut her hours down to 40 from 50?
So her base rate now is $14.18/hour, and she gets $21.27/hour for the 10 hours of OT. You want to shift that to $19.50/hour with no OT.
As a nanny, I would **absolutely** accept that offer, as long as I was made generally aware of the work issues currently affecting your family. IOW, nanny needs to know that you value her work, but just can't manage a raise right now.
You might also want to let her know that once your DH has his job back on track, her hours will go back up to 50, and a raise will be in order, which will actually lower her hourly, but increase her weekly gross pay. I would also suggest revamping your work agreement to reflect the changes and the future expectations.
If she will truly have every Friday off, she can seek out additional jobs to make a little more money or she can simply enjoy 3 day weekends and the ability to schedule her own appointments on Fridays.
So her base rate now is $14.18/hour, and she gets $21.27/hour for the 10 hours of OT. You want to shift that to $19.50/hour with no OT.
As a nanny, I would **absolutely** accept that offer, as long as I was made generally aware of the work issues currently affecting your family. IOW, nanny needs to know that you value her work, but just can't manage a raise right now.
You might also want to let her know that once your DH has his job back on track, her hours will go back up to 50, and a raise will be in order, which will actually lower her hourly, but increase her weekly gross pay. I would also suggest revamping your work agreement to reflect the changes and the future expectations.
If she will truly have every Friday off, she can seek out additional jobs to make a little more money or she can simply enjoy 3 day weekends and the ability to schedule her own appointments on Fridays.
Anonymous wrote:OP here. Not a troll. There are many other factors involved, which I won't get into here in case she reads this forum. I wanted to give the very, very basics and gauge the reaction. Yes, she will get notice. Yes, there will be severance, and I'll help her find a new job. Her inability to meet the kids schedule has threatened their safety on 3 occasions--she knows it's coming.
If you still employ a nanny who has actually threatened your kids' safety (not buckling car seats? not supervising front yard playtime on busy street? leaving in an unlocked car when she went into a store? not keeping toxic chemicals childproofed?) 3 times, then you are in need of all the advice you can get here or anywhere else.
IF you are for real, then you should have fired her after the 2nd incident, if it was indeed potentially a threat to their safety. Any normal person would have done just that.
So, just when do you plan to tell your current nanny that she's being fired? Is this going to come as a complete shock to her, or have you met with her this year at least once and discussed the job performance issues you mentioned?
If you haven't met with her and basically "warned" her that you were dissatisfied with her performance and/or warned her that she was risking her job if she didn't shape up, then you should absolutely pay her her normal bonus, because you never made it clear to her that you were NOT happy.
Yes, you say her performance was lacking somehow, but if YOU don't TELL her that you are not satisfied, how is she supposed to know? Nanny is not a mind reader.
I think you need to tell her today that she is being fired, and then you need to face the mistakes you may have made as an employer and be willing to offer the normal bonus if you screwed up your duty to offer constructive and helpful criticism of poor job performance.
If you haven't met with her and basically "warned" her that you were dissatisfied with her performance and/or warned her that she was risking her job if she didn't shape up, then you should absolutely pay her her normal bonus, because you never made it clear to her that you were NOT happy.
Yes, you say her performance was lacking somehow, but if YOU don't TELL her that you are not satisfied, how is she supposed to know? Nanny is not a mind reader.
I think you need to tell her today that she is being fired, and then you need to face the mistakes you may have made as an employer and be willing to offer the normal bonus if you screwed up your duty to offer constructive and helpful criticism of poor job performance.
Man, it must be exhausting to be omniscient...
OP, generally, there is a "base" rate for nanny care that varies depending on the nanny's experience/education, and that "base" is for a single child. An additional child doesn't mean doubling the nanny's pay.
IOW, a nanny caring for a single child and making $500/week is not going to be able to go find a job caring for 2 kids making $1000/week.
If you're paying a decent rate, and you want to retain this nanny after her year is up, consider a pay increase, additional benefits, or something else to sweeten the pot.
IOW, a nanny caring for a single child and making $500/week is not going to be able to go find a job caring for 2 kids making $1000/week.
If you're paying a decent rate, and you want to retain this nanny after her year is up, consider a pay increase, additional benefits, or something else to sweeten the pot.
Anonymous wrote:Op here - I'm sorry. I wasn't clear. Do most people pay the agreed upon rate (let's say 600.00 a week) which is before taxes, or do most people pay the 600.00 rate plus whatever taxes are required (thus making the out of pocket rate for the employer much higher).
We will have the service take care of the withholding of the taxes - I just don't know if we should cover the expense of the taxes or have the 600.00 a week be the gross salary.
You need to pay nanny a gross rate and have her taxes withheld from that fixed weekly amount of money.
It's *possible* to "pay her taxes" as her employer, but it's 100 times more complex and it's really not worth it. Speak to any of the nanny tax companies and get the scoop.
If the candidate is asking to "take home" a certain amount each week, it's possible to work backwards from that (her NET income) and find the corresponding gross hourly rate and weekly pay.
Anonymous wrote:nannies also burn out working 45 hours a week or more. if you can prevent that, i'd do so
Can you detail how a 2 career couple, both working high-level jobs, can manage to work 40+ hours a week and not employ a nanny for 45 - 50 hours?
OP, a nanny with a bit of common sense will understand that she will be working long enough for you to leave the house, go to work, work, travel home, and arrive home. I've never worked less than 50 hours a week, and I've managed to avoid burn out for more than 15 years.
Anonymous wrote:nannydebsays wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:DC will only be an infant for a few more months. Are you sure this nanny will meet your needs going forward?
OP here: I understand where you are coming from but the pool of applicants I have interviewed is so small that I don't have much choice. I am of course willing to pay more if the right person comes along but haven't met anybody yet. I have seen people ask for more, but they are career nannies and out of my price range $20+
OP, maybe if you posted your ad here (with identifiers of any kind eliminated) we could offer more help. From what you're saying it sounds like you're possibly missing out on candidates with better qualifications because of your ad and where you're advertising. If you are getting lower-end candidates, there has to be a specific reason, right? If you are willing to pay $14 or so gross to a less than stellar candidate, you should be able to find a better candidate unless something specific is turning those people off before they apply or during the screening/interviewing process.
Hmm..you have a point. The ad I am posting is very much along these lines:
"Seeking FT nanny to take care of X month old infant in Y location. CPR training required. No driving required. Regular hours between 7-5. Guaranteed 45 hours per week. Must be able to provide references. Legal to work in the US"
Too little detail? My initial pool of applicants is small and the only ones that I have turned away are folk who either want $20+, or want to work on a student visa, healthcare workers with no prior nannying experience. There were one or two with very poor English. One who we almost decided on but backed out when we suspected a fake reference.
IMO, your ad is a bit brusque. You don't want to write a huge essay, but you could add a bit more detail. For example:
****Dual career couple in X location is seeking a nanny for their feisty and loving X-month-old daughter/son. There will be no driving required, but we live within walking distance to X, Y, and Z, so there are plenty of opportunities for outings. We need someone who is available to work 45 - 50 hours a week, starting around 7 am and ending around 5 pm. We are looking specifically for someone who is CPR trained, and who has at least 3 references to share with us during the interview process. You also MUST be legal to work in the US, and we will need to verify that information.****
I would strongly suggest that you do as a PP suggested and set your hours a little higher than you think you'll need. If you want to have time to run an errand on the way home, give yourself that cushion of an extra hour each day. That will prevent you from feeling frantic if you get caught in traffic, and will keep your nanny from getting upset with you for "always being late". Nannies burn-out and quit over employers being perpetually tardy.
I think you should make a list of activities that you forbid your nanny to do with your children. That way she will know upfront (when you interview her) what her boundaries are.
Of course, nannies you present said list to will also know you are cray-cray, but that might be best for all involved.
Of course, nannies you present said list to will also know you are cray-cray, but that might be best for all involved.
Well, when you hire your next nanny, you could have a list ready for her of all the crafts she will need to do for you through the year, and make sure it's also in her contract that she produces X amount of crafts for every holiday.
Or you could do the crafts with your own child on the weekends? I bet you might even have fun and enjoy yourself!
Or you could do the crafts with your own child on the weekends? I bet you might even have fun and enjoy yourself!
Dogs are great, generally speaking, for brief periods of time. Your dogs may be poorly behaved and/or extremely needy. I second a PP's suggestion that you ask some friends to tell you the truth about your pets, so that you can gauge just how much of an issue they TRULY are.
You either need to find an extremely dog friendly nanny and pay her what a nanny makes PLUS what a pet sitter makes, or you need to hire a nanny who will tolerate your dogs and then hire a "dog sitter" to come in to play with/walk/feed your dogs daily.
Good luck in your search for either an amazing dog/child nanny, or for two people who can do those 2 jobs.
You either need to find an extremely dog friendly nanny and pay her what a nanny makes PLUS what a pet sitter makes, or you need to hire a nanny who will tolerate your dogs and then hire a "dog sitter" to come in to play with/walk/feed your dogs daily.
Good luck in your search for either an amazing dog/child nanny, or for two people who can do those 2 jobs.
What you want is a professional nanny who is capable of flexibility in her job duties (although she'll want said duties spelled out in a contact), and who may very well consider herself a "career nanny" (but isn't too full of her own self-importance to work as your employee), who has a lot of experience (but isn't unwilling to listen to your needs/desires and follow your lead, although she'll want you to listen to her ideas) and has stayed with families long-term (and has the glowing references to prove it) while still continuing to expand her knowledge base (so that her theories on infant care aren't 5 years old) and who fits your specific childcare budget.
This mythical creature may call herself a sitter, a nanny, a professional nanny, a career nanny, or the Queen of All Things Kid. The title doesn't matter, the attitude, and the fit with your family, and the way she relates to your kid(s) is what matters.
Don't listen to the bitter PP's. They got burned. That doesn't mean you will.
This mythical creature may call herself a sitter, a nanny, a professional nanny, a career nanny, or the Queen of All Things Kid. The title doesn't matter, the attitude, and the fit with your family, and the way she relates to your kid(s) is what matters.
Don't listen to the bitter PP's. They got burned. That doesn't mean you will.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:DC will only be an infant for a few more months. Are you sure this nanny will meet your needs going forward?
OP here: I understand where you are coming from but the pool of applicants I have interviewed is so small that I don't have much choice. I am of course willing to pay more if the right person comes along but haven't met anybody yet. I have seen people ask for more, but they are career nannies and out of my price range $20+
OP, maybe if you posted your ad here (with identifiers of any kind eliminated) we could offer more help. From what you're saying it sounds like you're possibly missing out on candidates with better qualifications because of your ad and where you're advertising. If you are getting lower-end candidates, there has to be a specific reason, right? If you are willing to pay $14 or so gross to a less than stellar candidate, you should be able to find a better candidate unless something specific is turning those people off before they apply or during the screening/interviewing process.
Anonymous wrote:nannydebsays wrote:When you talk net wages it's virtually impossible to accurately answer whether the GROSS wage will be fair, because we have no idea of what sort of taxes nanny will be having taken out.
Regardless, I think $13 net for the candidate you describe is inflated no matter the location. Even if you will only be withholding SS/Med, that adds about $1 to the net wage, and $14 gross is too much for the nanny you describe.
Just Medicare and SS. Interesting that you think this is on the higher end. Very frustrated that I can't find somebody with he right qualifications. Is it the location, perhaps?
What qualifications are you looking for OP? I am not in the DC area, so I can't help you with whether your location is a partial cause of your issue.
OP, I completely overlooked that this nanny hasn't worked legally before. In that case, she has no past tax returns, and she does need to just figure the "normal" amount of deductions to take and then next year she can adjust things.
So forget about the tax adviser at this point.
There are numerous tax services that can handle the entire thing for you. My employers use HomeWork Solutions. My understanding is that there is a very minimal cost increase to add withholding of Fed/State taxes to the SS/Med withholdings, and as long as nanny does indeed INTEND to pay taxes, I would strongly suggest you withhold everything. That will make life MUCH easier for everyone.
Good luck to you!
So forget about the tax adviser at this point.
There are numerous tax services that can handle the entire thing for you. My employers use HomeWork Solutions. My understanding is that there is a very minimal cost increase to add withholding of Fed/State taxes to the SS/Med withholdings, and as long as nanny does indeed INTEND to pay taxes, I would strongly suggest you withhold everything. That will make life MUCH easier for everyone.
Good luck to you!
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