OP, is the $15/hour her "average" rate, or does she make $15 for the first 40 and then $22.5 for the rest of the hours she works?

I'm going to assume that she makes $15/hour **average**. if that's not correct, then my answer would change a bit.

I think a 3% raise of her gross now, and then a 10% raise of her gross when baby comes would be adequate. Yes, that will put her hourly at $15.45 now, then at $17 after the baby comes.

But if you are then done having kids, and you give her 3% per year thereafter, you won't hit that $19/hour average wage for several years. (2014, $17.51. 2015, $18.03. 2016, $18.59. 2017, $19.17.) At that point, both your kids may be in some sort of preschool program half days for several days or more per week, and you can re-evaluate.

OP, do you use her 50 hours per week? The OT pay completely changes things.

Instead of a big salary increase, could you work out extra vacation days for the nanny?
Say, raise her to $16 or $16.50 an hour, and instead of 2 weeks vacation, give her 2.5 or 3 weeks paid?

OP here - my first child will be 2 when the baby is born. I do think we hired a very experienced nanny at a lower rate ($15) from what I've heard, mostly because she is a humble person who just doesn't demand a lot of money and probably because she had long-term relationships with previous families that likely didn't pay her a ton of money. She loved them to death, but when I gave her a $1K bonus for Christmas she was shocked and said in her 20 years of being a nanny, no one has ever given her that much.

So I believe she could have been hired at $17/hour for one kid in Bethesda/similar areas to more well-to-do parents who were willing to pay that. For instance, one family who she knows has repeatedly tried to steal her away from us by offering her $17-18/hour fo rone kid (she is loyal and stayed with us). Certainly many nannies who we interviewed asked for $16-18/hour for one child when we hired her.

But yes I am concerned about salary ceilings. We want to retain her long-term but don't want to outbid ourselves, especially since she is not a demanding person. We aren't wealthy, so we can't be getting into $19/hour when we both work 50 hours a week.

Anonymous wrote:

I would give her a $1/hour increase now and then another $1/hour increase when the baby comes. $17/hour for 2 young kids is pretty market.

No its not. $17 an hour for 2 kids is very high for a nanny who just one year ago was marketable at $15. There isn't much of cost difference between 2 kids and 1 kid for new jobs. If the OP wants to give the nanny more money, no problem, but this is over market.

OP you also need to consider expectations for next year. Next year, she will be $18 which is now 30% over her market value. If you are looking to keep her for several years, think now about salary ceilings.

How can you say this nanny would not have commanded 17/hr a year ago for 2 children? She very well might have. In that case getting a bump to $17 merely puts her exactly where she should be- especially since she now has more experience.

Neither one of us knows any thing about this nanny- so you can't possibly comment on what her services are worth.

$1-2/hour for new baby and 3-5% for yearly raise are pretty standard.

Anonymous wrote:

I would give her a $1/hour increase now and then another $1/hour increase when the baby comes. $17/hour for 2 young kids is pretty market.

No its not. $17 an hour for 2 kids is very high for a nanny who just one year ago was marketable at $15. There isn't much of cost difference between 2 kids and 1 kid for new jobs. If the OP wants to give the nanny more money, no problem, but this is over market.

OP you also need to consider expectations for next year. Next year, she will be $18 which is now 30% over her market value. If you are looking to keep her for several years, think now about salary ceilings.

PP i agree with your comments. I'm not the OP but am in a similar situation and am not sure how to handle it. Any advice?

How old is your current child? Will he/she be attending preschool?

I would give her a $1/hour increase now and then another $1/hour increase when the baby comes. $17/hour for 2 young kids is pretty market.

No its not. $17 an hour for 2 kids is very high for a nanny who just one year ago was marketable at $15. There isn't much of cost difference between 2 kids and 1 kid for new jobs. If the OP wants to give the nanny more money, no problem, but this is over market.

OP you also need to consider expectations for next year. Next year, she will be $18 which is now 30% over her market value. If you are looking to keep her for several years, think now about salary ceilings.

I would give her a $1/hour increase now and then another $1/hour increase when the baby comes. $17/hour for 2 young kids is pretty market.

I would suggest doing 5% for each event. This is actually pretty generous and even though it puts her over market as her ability to command an extra 10% on the market isn't likely in one year, it doesn't put her way over market.

I think you can hold off on the annual raise, explaining to her that you plan on giving her an increase when the new baby arrives.
Bumping her up to $17/hr when the new baby arrives would be great.

$1-$2/hour raise for a new baby

OP here - we're totally good with the 3-5% annual raise now, but what is the price increase on a new baby? $2 extra an hour? $1 extra? $3?

Anonymous wrote:I think a standard raise is 3-5% and then a raise for the new baby once he/she arrives. I would not do both at the same time. You shouldn't be paying for the new baby that isn't here yet.

Agree with this but also don't short her on the annual raise just to soften the blow on the new baby raise. Treat them as if they are unrelated, since they are but happen to be occurring close together.

I think a standard raise is 3-5% and then a raise for the new baby once he/she arrives. I would not do both at the same time. You shouldn't be paying for the new baby that isn't here yet.

We live in Bethesda and hired our nanny at a rate of $15. She's been with us a year and my husband and I don't know what is standard as an annual raise (3% like in the job industry?). We are also expecting number two in August, so this should factor into her annual raise versus what will happen in August.

Thanks so much for the advice.