Wow and good grief, the OP is just asking a question. Not everyone phrases themselves the best and I am sure this employer is not trying to say she owns her nanny. They are looking for help, not snarky answers.
To answer your question OP: The best thing is to communicate with your nanny. Do you have an agreement that states if she is paid when not needed? If yes then it is a good idea to stand by it, you could ask however if she might be willing help out someone, and perhaps just make that a nanny share time. If she does not want that kind of arrangement, and you really like her and want to keep her on I would just pay her for the time and have her do other things for you.
I hope that helps a bit.

From Nanny Sherri

This thread started off so depressing and has turned so eloquent! Well said, PPs!

Nannies are classified as hourly employees by law because they are covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA was designed to protect workers by entitling them to overtime pay from which executive and other such positions are exempt.

You may not be trying to be snarky, but your implicit point that salaried employees are somehow superior to hourly and deserving of benefits that some nannies "seem to think" they can "reap" is as condescending and insulting as it is arrogant and ill-informed. Your nanny's hourly IRS status, when coupled with the appropriate contract designating her minimum number of work-hours (this being the basic definition of a salaried position), actually entitles her to MORE benefits than your FLSA-exempt salary. If you find a nanny's requirement of a set minimum number of hours unpalatable, you are certainly able to find some that don't have one. However, given the obvious need to not have your employer take an impromptu month-long vacation during which you will not be paid generally means that most committed, career nannies are going to require a contract with that minimum.

Where the hourly status becomes relevant is not in whether or not a nanny has a set minimum and is therefore entitled to "reap the benefits" of a salary (and this is not a salary, incidentally, it is just that - a minimum number of hours, each of which she is paid for on an hourly basis). Instead, hourly status matters because, in keeping with the FLSA, nannies are legally allowed to, and should, track overtime hours. All those times your employers come home late? The US Department of Labor has designed free apps that use the GPS on your cell phone to track the days and hours you work, and many states have free hotlines you can call to consult on any grievance, including unpaid hours and overtime, and through which you will be assisted in filing formal complaints. In New York, over 75% of those complaints have settled for cash payments.

I find it, first and foremost, fundamentally bizarre that so many people are able to reconcile under-valuing and dehumanizing another person who, in the same breath, is in their life specifically to care for their children. But, beyond that, it is a profoundly disturbing remnant of our history that parents associate "employing" their nannies with "owning" their nannies. Fortunately our laws have progressed ever-so-slightly more efficiently than our mentality on this issue, and there is adequate protection out there that, yes, includes being defined as an 'hourly employee' by law.

Anonymous wrote:And when your spouse wants to have sex, but you don't, are you going to offer up the nanny to take your place?

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The laws that apply here are very simple: per The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, human beings are no longer considered the legal property of other human beings.

I know such progressive agendas can be difficult to fully understand, but your nanny is a self-employed or contract worker with whom you have what is ideally a mutually-beneficial exchange of goods and services. As such, you and your nanny should have an agreed-upon work contract that you both signed at the beginning of his/her employment. Believe it or not, that contract does not exist solely to provide you with a list of your entitlements. It is also in place to protect your nanny, who not only has a legal right to be compensated for the time she has set aside for you (whether you ultimately need her services during that time or not), but who also has the legal right to make her own decisions about where and for whom she works. So, no, you can not legally "loan out" your nanny like a power tool.

You can, however, ask her to sign an addendum to your contract if you anticipate this issue occurring again. One week with a new family is a rather small price, and I have no doubt your nanny would take advantage of the legal right to periodically loan out your child in exchange for one not being raised around a sociopathic sense of entitlement.

Aren't nannies 'hourly employees' by law? I don't understand that part. If nannies are legally hourly then why do some also seem to think they can reap the benefits of a salaried employee? I'm not trying to be snarky I would really like to know.

The IRS has defined nannies as hourly employees for tax purposes, but in a lot of ways nannies could fall into either category. Hourly employees get regular breaks, change their availability, etc. and generally viewed as replaceable. A nanny does not get regular breaks, is expected to maintain her availability for the duration of her employment, and while replaceable is often asked to make a long term commitment to a family. When you hire a nanny you are paying for her services AND her availability, similar to paying for a daycare slot, or school tuition. If you decide not to pay when your kid is out, you lose your slot. The nanny industry is a strange almalgamation of hourly, salary, and contracted services. Hence the constant disagreements and difficulties reaching an understanding of what is fair/appropriate.

Anonymous wrote:The laws that apply here are very simple: per The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, human beings are no longer considered the legal property of other human beings.

I know such progressive agendas can be difficult to fully understand, but your nanny is a self-employed or contract worker with whom you have what is ideally a mutually-beneficial exchange of goods and services. As such, you and your nanny should have an agreed-upon work contract that you both signed at the beginning of his/her employment. Believe it or not, that contract does not exist solely to provide you with a list of your entitlements. It is also in place to protect your nanny, who not only has a legal right to be compensated for the time she has set aside for you (whether you ultimately need her services during that time or not), but who also has the legal right to make her own decisions about where and for whom she works. So, no, you can not legally "loan out" your nanny like a power tool.

You can, however, ask her to sign an addendum to your contract if you anticipate this issue occurring again. One week with a new family is a rather small price, and I have no doubt your nanny would take advantage of the legal right to periodically loan out your child in exchange for one not being raised around a sociopathic sense of entitlement.

Aren't nannies 'hourly employees' by law? I don't understand that part. If nannies are legally hourly then why do some also seem to think they can reap the benefits of a salaried employee? I'm not trying to be snarky I would really like to know.

Anonymous wrote:The laws that apply here are very simple: per The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, human beings are no longer considered the legal property of other human beings.

I know such progressive agendas can be difficult to fully understand, but your nanny is a self-employed or contract worker with whom you have what is ideally a mutually-beneficial exchange of goods and services. As such, you and your nanny should have an agreed-upon work contract that you both signed at the beginning of his/her employment. Believe it or not, that contract does not exist solely to provide you with a list of your entitlements. It is also in place to protect your nanny, who not only has a legal right to be compensated for the time she has set aside for you (whether you ultimately need her services during that time or not), but who also has the legal right to make her own decisions about where and for whom she works. So, no, you can not legally "loan out" your nanny like a power tool.

You can, however, ask her to sign an addendum to your contract if you anticipate this issue occurring again. One week with a new family is a rather small price, and I have no doubt your nanny would take advantage of the legal right to periodically loan out your child in exchange for one not being raised around a sociopathic sense of entitlement.

+10000000000000000

The laws that apply here are very simple: per The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, human beings are no longer considered the legal property of other human beings.

I know such progressive agendas can be difficult to fully understand, but your nanny is a self-employed or contract worker with whom you have what is ideally a mutually-beneficial exchange of goods and services. As such, you and your nanny should have an agreed-upon work contract that you both signed at the beginning of his/her employment. Believe it or not, that contract does not exist solely to provide you with a list of your entitlements. It is also in place to protect your nanny, who not only has a legal right to be compensated for the time she has set aside for you (whether you ultimately need her services during that time or not), but who also has the legal right to make her own decisions about where and for whom she works. So, no, you can not legally "loan out" your nanny like a power tool.

You can, however, ask her to sign an addendum to your contract if you anticipate this issue occurring again. One week with a new family is a rather small price, and I have no doubt your nanny would take advantage of the legal right to periodically loan out your child in exchange for one not being raised around a sociopathic sense of entitlement.

Anonymous wrote:We have some awfully sick people here.

Agree. Loan out your nanny? Do you own her? What does her contract say? If she has guaranteed hours, you need to pay her.

We have some awfully sick people here.

Anonymous wrote:And when your spouse wants to have sex, but you don't, are you going to offer up the nanny to take your place?

+1

She is not an object that can be loaned, she is a person. For the love of... OP, what, you want to loan her out, pay her, and have the other family pay you? No.

You can legally let her know whether this week will be paid or unpaid (should have been determined upfront in your work agreement/contract) and then let her know you have friends who need care and ASK her if she is interested in taking the job.

I can't believe you've even asked if you can loan out another human being...

Anonymous wrote: My nanny get 2 weeks paid vacation, however I have an extra week vacation in September for labor weekend,( her year ends in October and she has already used up her two weeks vacation) I was wondering can I legally loan out my nanny to another family during my week vacation to cover her pay for that week since I will not be needing her?
What are the laws on that ?
Is it acceptable to offer your nanny services when she is not needed by my family?

You could have avoided this if your nanny agreement stipulated one of her two weeks be mutually-agreed upon and the other her choice. You cannot loan her out to another family but she can take in the mail, water your plants, feed your pets, etc., during her regular hours that week.

And when your spouse wants to have sex, but you don't, are you going to offer up the nanny to take your place?

If you don't offer guaranteed pay, you can tell her that this week is unpaid but that you have a friend who needs temporary care. She can decide whether to take the time without pay or take the other job.

My nanny get 2 weeks paid vacation, however I have an extra week vacation in September for labor weekend,( her year ends in October and she has already used up her two weeks vacation) I was wondering can I legally loan out my nanny to another family during my week vacation to cover her pay for that week since I will not be needing her?
What are the laws on that ?
Is it acceptable to offer your nanny services when she is not needed by my family?