Where did you find her?

I would say in general if we arrange for a sitter for a certain amount of time (9 AM to 5 PM) and I got home early, I'd pay for the whole time, even if I get home early. If it was more open ended than that (come at 9 AM and I'll be gone 8 to 10 hours but not sure exactly when I'll be home) and the sitter was okay with that, I'd pay time worked.

In this case though, I would DEFINITELY not pay for all the hours arranged for since you are coming home early as a direct result of her incredibly unprofessional behavior. Did you agree to a rate in advance? I would probably just let it go and never hire her again but would be very tempted to say, I wouldn't have hired you/agreed to this rate if I knew you were planning on bringing your child along ...

If we are talking daytime hours, then, yes, pay for the entire time. I know with night time sitting, most folks don't expect an exact end time. Normally just a minimum amount and a general idea of when to expect you back.

This is what we do. We don't guarantee night sitting hours, but try to estimate the return time as well as we can. We have never had trouble retaining occasional sitters, so we much be doing something right.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:you expect a babysitter to act professional?

It's crazy for me to expect that she'd inform me that she was bringing along her own kid, right??

WHOA! That's ... ridiculous. How old is her child and how old is your child?

Anonymous wrote:you expect a babysitter to act professional?

It's crazy for me to expect that she'd inform me that she was bringing along her own kid, right??

If you want a sitter to commit certain hours to you, then you commit them to her. It's a two-way street, ladies.

If you do not want to hire her again then pay for hours worked. Also agree that for evening babysitting I view it as normal to pay for hours worked too with some sort of minimum established.

you expect a babysitter to act professional?

OP here.

Thanks for the responses. The babysitter acted unprofessionally this morning when she showed up so I likely won't be hiring her again. I don't believe my child is any danger, or I wouldn't have left her with the babysitter. The situation just left me a little uncomfortable so I'm trying to get home a little early.

If we are talking daytime hours, then, yes, pay for the entire time. I know with night time sitting, most folks don't expect an exact end time. Normally just a minimum amount and a general idea of when to expect you back.

I don't charge for hours I don't work, but if it happens more than once or twice I won't be as available to you and will consider canceling of a more reliable family offers a job. Same goes for people who cancel regularly.

If you hire a sitter for 10 hours, you pay for 10 hours. You *can* only pay for the hours she works if you come home early, but expect do not expect to keep sitters this way. I will give a parent one time to pull that on me, and the next time will be the last I sit for you. If you book her for 10 hours, she has blocked off basically an entire day or evening for you, not allowing her to make any other plans, and not paying her for the whole time she blocked off is really shitty.

If I hire someone for 10 hours but only end up needing them for 8 or 9, do I pay them for the 10 hours? Or do I pay them for what they actually work?