No. Making up hours or shorting her pay in ANY case is just rude and wrong to ask of the nanny. If YOU don't need her, you still must pay her for her availability the full salary. Stop being cheapos, MBs.

new mb here. I have been guilty of this with my part-time nanny. she is an angel and never complained. Now, i realize this is hard on the nanny. Would it be fair to pay a nanny half time for the hours you don't need her to come in?

When I tell the nanny I won't need her after 3pm even though she normally works until 5, or until 10 when she normally starts at 8am, then either:

1. If it's last minute I eat the cost and she gets paid anyway, or
2. If we have a little notice this is coming, I say, "We won't need you until noon next Thursday, would you like to work a date night next Friday night?"

I usually have a time rule. If families change times or whatever for the next day, I need to know by 9 or 10 the night before. I would probably miss a text that late due to sleep and would go to work at the normal scheduled time and would expect to be paid.

Tell them you need more notice and negotiate guaranteed hours. I never agree to make up hours because that just never works in favor of the nanny and gives the family too much room to take advantage.

You need to let her know NOW that it isn't okay. If you keep letting it slide, it's only going to be more difficult when you decide to put your foot down.

Op, the mb is taking advantage of your kindness. It happens all the time if you let it.

14:35, I must not be explaining myself very well. I'm going to send her a clear email about it tonight.
14:38, that sounds like a great reply and I wish I had written that. I responded "ok". I don't want to have these sorts of convos through texts if I can avoid that. I was thinking of stating in the email that I can't receive texts after 9pm and all schedule changes must be done in person or through email.

Op here...
I'm new to contracts and such. My last family I worked with for 7 years and they were amazing. I did draft a contract that we signed, stating I need the schedule 1-2 weeks in advance. MB is on maternity leave and starts back to work next week. The hours will (supposedly) be set hours once she returns to work, which is why I haven't referred to the contract yet when discussing this. But she did something similar last month and I stated in no uncertain terms that I can't be told that I can't work hours last minute, I depend on my paycheck, etc.

You have a contract guaranteeing your hours? Remind her of your earlier conversation and that you are available to work and if she opts not to use all of her hours, she must still pay for your availability. If she refuses, it's time to move on and be more clear with your future employers.

I would have responded via text saying, "I'm sorry, as we discussed last week I require two weeks notification of any schedule changes. I'm still available to come in at 8am tomorrow, but if you would like me not to arrive until 10am I'll still need to be paid for those hours. Thank you for understanding that this is my livelihood and I require a set schedule in order to accommodate my other responsibilities."

Nannies (and parents!) need to start speaking up. You are not children anymore.

Do you have a contract or work agreement?

I always have this problem with new parents, so I have a very clear clause in my contract about it. Inevitably the parents don't understand its meaning and then try to make changes like your MB made, so I bring out the paragraph, explain why I have it, explain what it means, and provide the options they have. It's always a little uncomfortable but it doesn't come up again if I've done a clear job explaining my policies.

Tell her no. Then, start looking for new job. Good luck.

OP here, wasn't very clear...she wanted me to come in two hours late today - basically a 12 hour notice. Contract says 1-2 weeks notice.

I started a new job last month and have had some growing pains in regards to last minute schedule changes, but thought we had things smoothed out.

Last night after 10pm I received a text from MB saying she wanted me to come in two hours late so they could visit with family. It was not presented as optional, and they won't pay for the hours (but offered for me to make up time later in week).

How would you handle this? I'm not happy and plan on writing MB an email this evening. She did this before and I told her I can't do this again as I won't always be available to make up hours. I have a tight schedule with young children myself and this throws my family's schedule off.