Reply to Is It Legal to Pay 1/2 Rate Overnight Instead of OT?

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[quote=nannydebsays][quote=Anonymous]Trying to use these discussion boards to figure the most fair and LEGAL way to pay nanny. Hiring a 24hr nanny 5 days a week for the next 2 months. I have a 2 & 5 year old. I understand because she is NOT a live-in (she is technically working 24hrs a day/ goes home on her days off) I have to pay her for every hour worked. What I'm confused about is that some on this board say they pay 1/2 the nannies hourly rate or a straight night wage ($50-100). Is reducing the rate technically legal? If she is working 120hrs a week, shouldn't I pay her regular rate for 40hrs, then OT rate for 80hrs? My children sleep well during the night, and [b]nanny probably will have time to sleep- but at the same she will be on duty and working. My husband and I will be out of the house. And children may wake up for many reasons.
[/b]
I am trying to understand the conflicting information I'm reading on these boards. I know nannies are exempt employees and have to paid hourly for all hours worked. And they get time and a half for hours over 40. But I have also read that legally you don't have to pay 8hrs of sleeping hours in a 24hr period.

Then why would a nanny agree to do a job and work tons of extra overtime hours and either not get OT, but actually get half rate or nothing at all for that time worked?

Again my question is, what is the legal way to pay a 24hr nanny?
Of course I would like the least costliest way, but I also want to be fair. I need the services of a nanny 24hrs a day. And I intend to pay for all services rendered.

Option A: 40 Regular Rate, 80 OT Rate
Or
Option B: 40 Regular Rate, 40 OT Rate (if I legally don't have to pay for 8hrs in a 24hr period).

I guess I could also "legally" make the regular rate very low, so I can pay the 80hrs OT rate. This is instead of cutting the overnight hours rate in half.

But another question would be why a nanny would except these positions in the first place??? Work double the hours, and get half the pay. Why is widely accepted that you can buy a nannies time in bulk and save big? It would be odd in any other position to pay different rates at different times of day. An hour worked, is an hour worked.

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If a nanny is working an occasional overnight or long weekend, she is more likely to cut her rate in half or offer the parents an "overnight" rate of 50% of her normal rate. You are looking for someone to work steady hours for a long period of time, so I would definitely follow the laws and pay according to the guidelines a PP linked to.

That said, the bolded statement above makes me think you need to figure out a fair payment to cover nights when nanny does not have [quote]time to sleep[/quote]. If I were a candidate for your job and you said I might not have time to sleep some nights, I would be likely to question you in depth about why you said that, and what sort of night time issues you deal with regularly.

And as far as pay for nights when nanny doesn't get those uninterrupted 8 hours, IMO you should say something like, "If you are woken by our kid(s) in the night, you need to send us a text saying "Awake" once they are settled down, and we will then know that you are owed pay for the full 24 hours for that day." That gives you a record, makes nanny responsible for letting you know what has happened at the time it happens, and keeps everyone on the same page.

So if nanny works a 24 hour day with no interruptions between 10 pm and 6 am, she will be paid for 8 hours straight time and 8 hours OT. If she is woken by the kids between 10pm and 6 am, she gets 8 hours straight time, and 16 hours OT, as long as she texts you when she has been woken up unexpectedly.

As far as pay goes, you'll need to determine what you think is fair, and then see if the candidates you get are who you want to hire. If they aren't up to your standards, you'll need to raise the hourly rate. I am sure you have done some math to see how much this is going to cost, and I would avoid offering minimum wage - it sends a bad signal to terrific nannies, IMO.

Good luck![/quote]

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