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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Found this gem:
Looking for a full time live-in nanny and housekeeper to cook, DEEP clean and keep our home VERY tidy and organized, feed and care for our two dogs and care for our 2 3-year-olds and our 4-year-old from morning until 5:45 p.m. and also get our 6-year-old on the bus at 8 a.m. and off the bus in front of our home at 4:00 p.m. and provide care for her as well. Free room and board plus $400. 00 cash per week, text me to set up an interview.

How in the world is a housekeeper supposed to keep a house VERY tidy, do DEEP cleaning, and still have the time. energy and patience to wrangle 1 6 year old, 1 4 year old and 3 year old twins?  I frequently do extra chores when kids are asleep, but I'm not scrubbing showers or doing anything else that can't be left when kids get up!

And for all of that, $400 cash...[/quote]

Well, let's look at this.

$400 cash per week is $20,800 per year before taxes.  Since the family will not report taxes (illegal, btw), that's about the equivalent of $27,000 salary.

Full board can run $100 per week (bc shopping for one is more expensive than shopping for many), so another $5,200.

Room can run $1,000 per month, depending on location and set up.  So another $12,000.

Adding up all pretax benefits (20,800 + 5,200 + 12,000) equals $38,000 pretax.

That is actually about $50,000 before taxes.

Assuming the nanny works 50 hours a week with a 2 week vacation 1 week sick leave and 2 weeks holiday, that makes $20.83 per hour, before taxes.

That's not even accounting for utilities (gas, electricity, water, sewer, cable, Internet, etc.).  For example, adding $200 in utilities per month would drive the pretax hourly rate up to about $22.06 per hour.

But in order to do those chores, we're probably looking at 60 hours a week, instead of 50.  So that would make an hourly pretax rate of $18.40.

Anyway, the real loser in this deal is the IRS.  But the nanny also loses because no one would pay into her social security, Medicare, and unemployment benefits.

Nannies, unless you're illegal, please don't accept cash.  It may seem like a lot more now, but think about your retirement.  Social Security pays out over decades.  Is that extra $200 per week worth decades in lower social securely payments? [/quote]

OP here.

My issue isn't with the pay (assuming that the employer sticks to 6 a.m. (normal for live-in nannies to start) to 5.45 p.m, Monday-Friday, which is 58.75 hours.  I'm a live-in nanny, I'm well aware that families don't pay overtime (they'll hire someone else in MD if you ask).  However, based on that schedule:
$400/week / 58.75 hours = $6.81/hour

Federal law mandates that minimum wage is higher than that.  Accommodations aren't described, which means it's a shared bath, and the bedroom might be private (but on a different floor) or shared, neither of which is worth $1,000/month.  Employers are also only allowed to deduct room and board if the employee is offered a choice and CHOOSES to live in.  This ad describes the position as live-in, ergo no choice, so no deduction.  Oh, and I feed myself on $50-100 per week without issue, and I'm sure that I can eat everything I buy; I can't be sure how much the family is actually charged for my food unless I purchase it, so I might be able to do it for less, and I never can guarantee that I can eat the family's food, so I usually have to supplement at least $25 per week anyway, which makes board worthless to me.  Utilities that parents lump together are not just the basics, they also include cable/satellite, internet, house phone (which the nanny is only to use for the benefit of the family), yard work, etc.  I only pay for basics when not with a family (I have internet on my phone, and amazon prime works perfectly for what little screen time I want), so the rest is higher than I use.  Finally taxes!  Well, any nanny with sense in that situation would file as self-employed, so it's less per year, not $6k more...

Now that money is settled, let's talk about the duties, as that is what actually made me post it.

Looking for a full time live-in nanny and housekeeper to cook, [b]normal [/b]DEEP clean [b]not normal, that's a housekeeper's job, not even a nanny/housekeeper, unless all kids are out of the house for at 6 hours per day [/b] and keep our home VERY tidy [b] not normal, tidying after self and kids is normal [/b] and organized [b] for kids: normal, for family: normal for housekeeper/house manager[/b], feed and care for our two dogs [b] some nannies will agree, some won't [/b] and care for our 2 3-year-olds and our 4-year-old from morning until 5:45 p.m. [b] This is where it gets outrageous.  The previously listed work might be fine if all of the kids were in school all day, but 3 are home all day! [/b] and also get our 6-year-old on the bus at 8 a.m. [b] 4th child for mornings, no housework then[/b] and off the bus in front of our home at 4:00 p.m.[b] no housework from 4-5.45[/b] and provide care for her as well. Free room and board [b]required if no choice [/b] plus $400. 00 [b]less than legal wages for the number of hours [/b] cash [b]illegal , obviously[/b] per week, text me to set up an interview.[/quote]

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