Anonymous wrote:The one thing you could do if you know that it will definitely be 3+ weeks of vacation in the summer and you can give those dates up front is say that upon interviewing that they won't be paid. A good nanny should easily be able to find a job to cover three summer weeks if she knows in advance. You might find someone that doesn't mind that arrangement, assuming all else is a good fit.

Because it is so easy to find 3 weeks of work in the middle of summer!
If a potential employer told me that I would be taking a nearly 6% pay cut, I would find a job that wouldnt.
Would you be willing to take a 6% cut in pay OP?

The one thing you could do if you know that it will definitely be 3+ weeks of vacation in the summer and you can give those dates up front is say that upon interviewing that they won't be paid. A good nanny should easily be able to find a job to cover three summer weeks if she knows in advance. You might find someone that doesn't mind that arrangement, assuming all else is a good fit.

My family paid me for 5+ weeks over the summer while they were away plus 4 weeks over Christmas. They did not ask me to perform any duties outside of my job and still gave me a Christmas bonus on top of the 4 weeks paid vacation! I am so grateful for them and obviously they appreciate me and want to keep me around! I am also extremely flexible, have never called in and hardly take off. Pay her while you are away 100% and don't expect her to "make up" hours when you get back.

My employer provides a benefit of 5 days of subsidized back up care. DH's employer also providers 5. So we offer those 10 days as PTO for the nanny's choosing + all Federal Holidays + whatever out of town vacation we take, usually xmax-NYE, black friday, and a few long weekends in the summer so there's the spare paid Friday off in the summer, shortened days before a 3 day weekend, etc.

We actually offer more PTO than we get ourselves.

We travel a lot - partially for work, partially to see family, partially vacations. Sometimes we take the nanny. Sometimes not. When we don't, we pay anyway, because we made the CHOICE not to use their services.

Anonymous wrote:Contrary to what you're hearing, OP, this is not a given. The fact that the nanny has bills to pay isn't really relevant.

This issue is whether you plan to "guarantee hours," which is a perk that must be negotiated by the nanny during the hiring process. If you guarantee hours, you generally must pay the same amount for 52 weeks a year, whether you use the nanny or not. Some people don't guarantee hours, but pay at a competitive base rate with time and a half after 40 hours. A job like that may pay more annually than a job with guaranteed pay for 52 weeks a year. However, the income fluctuations are anxiety-producing for many nannies.

If you pay the nanny while you travel pursuant to guaranteed hours, you can either (a) bring her with you (and pay her travel expenses), (b) have her come in while you are away to perform alternative duties agreed upon in advance, or (c) treat your travel time as additional paid vacation for the nanny and reduce the hourly rate to reflect the above-average PTO package you would be offering.

This is bad advice OP. Guaranteeing hours is not a given, no, but it will be the expectation of any skilled, experienced nanny, so you should be prepared to offer it. If you choose not to offer it, prepare for it to be an issue. A job with fluctuating income is not attractive, especially given that most full time nanny jobs guarantee pay. Also, while you do not have to guarantee hours, paying time and a half after 40 hours is not an option, but a requirement. It is not an either/or situation, as the PP represented it. A nanny with good experience, skills and references (the kind of nanny you want to attract) is going to expect to be paid to maintain her availability for you (like reserving a daycare spot), to not have her income fluctuate without her control, and she will know that she is entitled to both a competitive base rate and OT pay. If you want to find and keep a good nanny, you will need to offer a good package. Please don't fall into the trap of many MBs on this board of trying to offer the least possible, expecting the world, then wondering why your nanny 1) has no loyalty or commitment to your job or 2) is not skilled or experienced enough to do the job or 3) does not have the personal traits of a desire able nanny or employee (late, lazy, disorganized, messy, bad attitude, etc)

Anonymous wrote:Contrary to what you're hearing, OP, this is not a given. The fact that the nanny has bills to pay isn't really relevant.

This issue is whether you plan to "guarantee hours," which is a perk that must be negotiated by the nanny during the hiring process. If you guarantee hours, you generally must pay the same amount for 52 weeks a year, whether you use the nanny or not. Some people don't guarantee hours, but pay at a competitive base rate with time and a half after 40 hours. A job like that may pay more annually than a job with guaranteed pay for 52 weeks a year. However, the income fluctuations are anxiety-producing for many nannies.

If you pay the nanny while you travel pursuant to guaranteed hours, you can either (a) bring her with you (and pay her travel expenses), (b) have her come in while you are away to perform alternative duties agreed upon in advance, or (c) treat your travel time as additional paid vacation for the nanny and reduce the hourly rate to reflect the above-average PTO package you would be offering.

The above poster has no understanding how it works in the real world.

Contrary to what you're hearing, OP, this is not a given. The fact that the nanny has bills to pay isn't really relevant.

This issue is whether you plan to "guarantee hours," which is a perk that must be negotiated by the nanny during the hiring process. If you guarantee hours, you generally must pay the same amount for 52 weeks a year, whether you use the nanny or not. Some people don't guarantee hours, but pay at a competitive base rate with time and a half after 40 hours. A job like that may pay more annually than a job with guaranteed pay for 52 weeks a year. However, the income fluctuations are anxiety-producing for many nannies.

If you pay the nanny while you travel pursuant to guaranteed hours, you can either (a) bring her with you (and pay her travel expenses), (b) have her come in while you are away to perform alternative duties agreed upon in advance, or (c) treat your travel time as additional paid vacation for the nanny and reduce the hourly rate to reflect the above-average PTO package you would be offering.

Anonymous wrote:We just had our first child and are in the process of learning about nanny arrangements.

We will take a few weeks of vacation in the summer far away without the nanny.
- Do families in the DC area usually pay the nanny when the family goes on vacation, even for 2+ weeks?
- How do arrangements typically work when it comes to the family's vacation time?

Let me rephrase that question for you, OP -

"Do nannies still have bills to pay when their employers choose to go on vacation, even for 2+ weeks?"

It blows my mind how often this gets asked.

Anonymous wrote:"Typically a nanny gets 2 weeks of contracted vacation, one of her choosing and one of yours. This means she can choose a week of vacation, and whether you go away that year or not, she is still entitled to a second week at some point. If you use more than your week, any decent nanny with any experience will expect to be paid to maintain her availability."

Agree. OP you should view her pay as a fixed expense same as a daycare charge would be. You use her or not but she has committed to be available to you so it is fair to pay her.

+2

"Typically a nanny gets 2 weeks of contracted vacation, one of her choosing and one of yours. This means she can choose a week of vacation, and whether you go away that year or not, she is still entitled to a second week at some point. If you use more than your week, any decent nanny with any experience will expect to be paid to maintain her availability."

Agree. OP you should view her pay as a fixed expense same as a daycare charge would be. You use her or not but she has committed to be available to you so it is fair to pay her.

If you don't pay her, she'll get herself another paying job.

Typically a nanny gets 2 weeks of contracted vacation, one of her choosing and one of yours. This means she can choose a week of vacation, and whether you go away that year or not, she is still entitled to a second week at some point. If you use more than your week, any decent nanny with any experience will expect to be paid to maintain her availability.

If you still want her when you get back, you pay regular wages.

We just had our first child and are in the process of learning about nanny arrangements.

We will take a few weeks of vacation in the summer far away without the nanny.
- Do families in the DC area usually pay the nanny when the family goes on vacation, even for 2+ weeks?
- How do arrangements typically work when it comes to the family's vacation time?