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[Post New]09/02/2014 15:45
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Anonymous
I can't' seem to find anything on this topic. We have a nanny - 40 hours guaranteed, etc. Friends are looking to do a share with us but only 2 days week which is perfect for us as we still want all the perks of a full time (few errands, baby laundry, etc). My questions are:

1. Should they have to do guaranteed hours also (i.e. pay for Tues/Thurs whether or not they use her) or do we just pay our regular one child rate on the times they don't use her?
2. We only ever need 40 hours (9 - 5). In the case of them needing more than 8 hours say on a Tuesday, that would push us into an OT rate on Friday. It doesn't seem fair if that is the case so is it legal that whichever family causes the OT have to pay that?


[Post New]09/02/2014 16:00
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I can't' seem to find anything on this topic. We have a nanny - 40 hours guaranteed, etc. Friends are looking to do a share with us but only 2 days week which is perfect for us as we still want all the perks of a full time (few errands, baby laundry, etc). My questions are:

1. Should they have to do guaranteed hours also (i.e. pay for Tues/Thurs whether or not they use her) or do we just pay our regular one child rate on the times they don't use her?
2. We only ever need 40 hours (9 - 5). In the case of them needing more than 8 hours say on a Tuesday, that would push us into an OT rate on Friday. It doesn't seem fair if that is the case so is it legal that whichever family causes the OT have to pay that?




1. Yes guaranteed hours. I believe all nannies should have them, even if it's 1 day a week.

2. There are a couple of ways to handle this, but this way would be pending nanny's agreement. You pick up your kid at 5, other family takes over full pay (ie what she would be paid for a normal hourly wage) for the rest of the time. This is obviously the least complicated way but nanny and other family have to agree to the rate if your kid is not there.

The other way would be for you to keep your DS there later, and then pay OT at the end of the week. The OT pay is then subtracted from what you owe the following week and added onto other family's tab the following week (and however many weeks it takes to make up the difference). Much more complicated and puts a lot of trust into the other family.
[Post New]09/02/2014 19:28
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Anonymous
1) I think you need to discuss if the only family wants all the "perks" of a share or just some drop off care. If they want to be a true share partner, then I think they do need to guarantee hours. If, on the other hand, they just want occasional care, I think thats fine as well. But I think they have to be willing to basically give up having equal say in the plans, scheduling, etc, and just have their kid go with the flow. The latter case would truly be more of a favor from you to your friends, with the nanny getting most, if not all, of anything extra that is paid.

2) This answer is less of an opinion and more just facts! OT rates are on a weekly basis and not attached to any particular hours. In a situation where there is a differential rate, the OT rate is calculated on an "average base rate." Basically, you calculate the entire base rate earned and divide by the amount of hours. You then use this average base rate to calculate the owed OT. In practicality this means that your nanny's OT is now going to be higher than what it is when she just worked for you, no matter whose hours put her into OT. Legally, this OT is what she is owed. As far as who pays it, it would make sense that the family who used the OT would pay the entire OT charge on top of their normal base rate portion.
[Post New]09/02/2014 23:50
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Anonymous
1. Yes, guaranteed hours. Otherwise they could pick and choose which days they use her, and she will have a harder time planning activities.

2. If you only need her 9-5 that day, use her those hours and then take over watching your child (assuming you're hosting). If you do that, it won't affect your OT. She won't be responsible for your child.

Do they think they will regularly need more than 8 hours to their day? If so, maybe they should consider three days instead of two.
[Post New]09/03/2014 15:39
quote
nannydebsays

Member Offline
Anonymous wrote:I can't' seem to find anything on this topic. We have a nanny - 40 hours guaranteed, etc. Friends are looking to do a share with us but only 2 days week which is perfect for us as we still want all the perks of a full time (few errands, baby laundry, etc). My questions are:

1. Should they have to do guaranteed hours also (i.e. pay for Tues/Thurs whether or not they use her) or do we just pay our regular one child rate on the times they don't use her?
2. We only ever need 40 hours (9 - 5). In the case of them needing more than 8 hours say on a Tuesday, that would push us into an OT rate on Friday. It doesn't seem fair if that is the case so is it legal that whichever family causes the OT have to pay that?


1) If the other family plans to set and stick to a 2 day/week schedule for childcare, then yes, they need to offer guaranteed hours. They would pay their half of the nanny's share rate for all the hours they use, 52 weeks a year. I would also suggest that they accept that nanny will make her vacation plans as she has been doing with you as her only employer. Nanny needs to have time off from both families.

If, OTOH, this is more of a "drop in" situation, where days will vary, and some weeks they'll not use her at all, then I would suggest you stick with your current pay scale, and this other family pays an hourly rate completely separate from yours when they use nanny's services.

2) If the other family will use more than 8 hours per day, or otherwise need nanny longer each day than you do, then that pay is on them. As long as you carefully track nanny's hours (and there's likely an app for that!), and make it clear to her that she is "off the clock" after her 8 hours with you, that should be sufficient to keep you out of OT. Now, if the other family needs her 10 hours a day (unless the local/state laws determine OT starts after 8 hours in a day):

a) That should mean nanny and the other child return to the other family's home for the additional time, or
b) the family needs to try to make their hours match yours, even if that means having nanny 3 days/week instead of 2, and
c) that situation would cost them money, not you.
[Post New]09/03/2014 16:56
quote
Anonymous
nannydebsays wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I can't' seem to find anything on this topic. We have a nanny - 40 hours guaranteed, etc. Friends are looking to do a share with us but only 2 days week which is perfect for us as we still want all the perks of a full time (few errands, baby laundry, etc). My questions are:

1. Should they have to do guaranteed hours also (i.e. pay for Tues/Thurs whether or not they use her) or do we just pay our regular one child rate on the times they don't use her?
2. We only ever need 40 hours (9 - 5). In the case of them needing more than 8 hours say on a Tuesday, that would push us into an OT rate on Friday. It doesn't seem fair if that is the case so is it legal that whichever family causes the OT have to pay that?


1) If the other family plans to set and stick to a 2 day/week schedule for childcare, then yes, they need to offer guaranteed hours. They would pay their half of the nanny's share rate for all the hours they use, 52 weeks a year. I would also suggest that they accept that nanny will make her vacation plans as she has been doing with you as her only employer. Nanny needs to have time off from both families.

If, OTOH, this is more of a "drop in" situation, where days will vary, and some weeks they'll not use her at all, then I would suggest you stick with your current pay scale, and this other family pays an hourly rate completely separate from yours when they use nanny's services.

2) If the other family will use more than 8 hours per day, or otherwise need nanny longer each day than you do, then that pay is on them. As long as you carefully track nanny's hours (and there's likely an app for that!), and make it clear to her that she is "off the clock" after her 8 hours with you, that should be sufficient to keep you out of OT. Now, if the other family needs her 10 hours a day (unless the local/state laws determine OT starts after 8 hours in a day):

a) That should mean nanny and the other child return to the other family's home for the additional time, or
b) the family needs to try to make their hours match yours, even if that means having nanny 3 days/week instead of 2, and
c) that situation would cost them money, not you.


The joint employer laws have come up a few times on this board, and this is a perfect illustration of a time when they would benefit the nanny. The OP and her friend, if they do a share, are, without question, joint employers of the nanny. The OP cannot avoid OT payments by "releasing" the nanny, even if she goes to the other parent's home. The nanny is owed OT, not just on her one child rate, but on her blended base rate for the entire week.
[Post New]09/08/2014 14:58
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Anonymous
thanks everyone! Turns out they will actually need her an hour less each day so OT doesn't seem to be an issue and have agreed to guaranteed hours.

I do have one follow up question. How do you handle vacation/sick? For instance, we do 2 weeks vacation, 5 sick days. Since they are using her 40% of the time, that would be 4 vacation days and 2 sick days. But what happens if she ends up using the majority of her sick or vacation on their days - thus exceeding the paid time off for them, but not us? Say their days are Mon & Tues and she ends up taking lots of long weekends or is sick, etc. Would they just trade for another day (say 3 days the following week - it's a WFH situation so they are flexible)? She has yet to be sick once so far but I just want to have everything covered ahead of time
[Post New]09/08/2014 16:07
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:thanks everyone! Turns out they will actually need her an hour less each day so OT doesn't seem to be an issue and have agreed to guaranteed hours.

I do have one follow up question. How do you handle vacation/sick? For instance, we do 2 weeks vacation, 5 sick days. Since they are using her 40% of the time, that would be 4 vacation days and 2 sick days. But what happens if she ends up using the majority of her sick or vacation on their days - thus exceeding the paid time off for them, but not us? Say their days are Mon & Tues and she ends up taking lots of long weekends or is sick, etc. Would they just trade for another day (say 3 days the following week - it's a WFH situation so they are flexible)? She has yet to be sick once so far but I just want to have everything covered ahead of time


Since you already have a one child rate and a two child rate, I'd just have the other family offer the prorated amount of sick/vacation time at the one child rate. So, for example, if the nanny gets 4 vacation days from the other family, and she ends up taking 5 Monday, the first four would be paid out at the one two child rate, and the second one would be paid at the one child rate.
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