Your thinking is too narrow. There are credentials for being an early childhood education professional, for example, and those are the credentials that pay higher rates. You may be looking for a nanny and mean just a person who will hand you your baby in one piece at the end of the day. Another parent may search for a nanny and mean they want them to meet educational criteria for a certain private schools. Maybe the problem is that you are, and many people in the childcare arena, using the term nanny as a crutch. It make sense. I can't imagine hiring a nanny just to nap and feed your child and hiring someone else to do activities. Unless, are you one of those people with so much dough your baby has an entourage? Maybe that is why you do not understand?

Anonymous wrote:No college or university in this country gives a degree in Nannying. There are no licenses given in order to be a nanny. Nannies are hourly employees and are looked upon as domestic employees. It makes no difference whether you have a Ph. D. In early childhood education or you only have a GED. Yes, all parents want college degrees but only want to pay for GED education.

All professionals, e.g., lawyers, doctors, nurses, engineers, architects, teachers, etc., must take a state board and receive a license which allows them to practice their profession.

http://www.nanny-governess.com/home.html

And there also have been other nanny schools and programs in the past.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the real reason nannies are distinguished as hourly workers is a matter of protection. Can you imagine the widespread abuse if nannies were legally allowed to be paid a salary? These MBs already skirt OT. If they were allowed to simply not pay us for each hour worked they wouldn't.

I know plenty of nannies paid on salary. If they have to stay late they do, if they get to go early they do. There is no OT.

Your point? We were talking about the legal definition of nannies as hourly workers, which they are, and someone indicated that it is because they aren't considered professionals. What happens over in ignore the rules land doesn't really have any bearing on the conversation. Nannies are paid hourly because their job is based on the amount of time spent performing it, not on deliverables. There is no point in the day where the nanny can say, well I've finished my tasks for the day, so I'm going home. She is contracted for a period of time. Salaried workers have certain tasks and deadlines to meet, and the amount of time spent doing so is generally irrelevant (beyond a reasonable minimum usually). None of this means that a nanny cannot be a professional. The reason we aren't professionals, and what I'd like to see change, is because there is no licensing body, no industry standards, and no across the board standard definition of what qualifies someone to be a nanny. Anyone can call themselves a nanny, and that is the issue.

Anonymous wrote:I think the real reason nannies are distinguished as hourly workers is a matter of protection. Can you imagine the widespread abuse if nannies were legally allowed to be paid a salary? These MBs already skirt OT. If they were allowed to simply not pay us for each hour worked they wouldn't.

I know plenty of nannies paid on salary. If they have to stay late they do, if they get to go early they do. There is no OT.

I think the real reason nannies are distinguished as hourly workers is a matter of protection. Can you imagine the widespread abuse if nannies were legally allowed to be paid a salary? These MBs already skirt OT. If they were allowed to simply not pay us for each hour worked they wouldn't.

I do not want to be rude or snarky since there is enough of that already on here, but what is the point of this paragraph?

Did I miss something on here.....??!!

The fact is that if you work in a profession you are a professional. What do you declare as your occupation on you tax return?

The profession of nanny has changed and is changing all the time. Go back to the turn of the century and they had governesses. Thirty years ago the nanny was the housekeeper who just kept an eye on the children. Now it is generally accepted that the nanny care for the children only and have college degrees or at least some college. I do wish there was a licensing for nannies - make sure they are not child molesters or criminals and make sure they have passed basic child safety and CPR/First Aid classes - but you don't even have that requirement for private school teachers.

Anonymous wrote:What about a Professional Artist, OP?

What distinguishes a Pixar animator from the guy drawing caricatures in the park? Probably education in their field, skill in their field, salary earned in their field... There is a difference between being in a "professional field" (like the ones you named) and being a professional in YOUR field.

NP here. Actually, the U.S. labor law defines certain artists as "creative professionals" based mostly on the amount of personal invention, imagination, originality, and talent they bring to their work. Nannies are non-exempt from OT laws (meaning must be paid for every hour worked) specifically because they are not considered professionals who are qualified to perform their jobs by advanced education or invention, imagination, etc. The good nannies behave like professionals, but they are no more professionals than the person bagging groceries at Giant is a professional. Anyone who pursues an occupation in order to earn a living is, strictly speaking, a professional in that field.

What about a Professional Artist, OP?

What distinguishes a Pixar animator from the guy drawing caricatures in the park? Probably education in their field, skill in their field, salary earned in their field... There is a difference between being in a "professional field" (like the ones you named) and being a professional in YOUR field.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No college or university in this country gives a degree in Nannying. There are no licenses given in order to be a nanny. Nannies are hourly employees and are looked upon as domestic employees. It makes no difference whether you have a Ph. D. In early childhood education or you only have a GED. Yes, all parents want college degrees but only want to pay for GED education.

All professionals, e.g., lawyers, doctors, nurses, engineers, architects, teachers, etc., must take a state board and receive a license which allows them to practice their profession.

Feel better, OP?

Lol. I wonder what her point was.

Anonymous wrote:No college or university in this country gives a degree in Nannying. There are no licenses given in order to be a nanny. Nannies are hourly employees and are looked upon as domestic employees. It makes no difference whether you have a Ph. D. In early childhood education or you only have a GED. Yes, all parents want college degrees but only want to pay for GED education.

All professionals, e.g., lawyers, doctors, nurses, engineers, architects, teachers, etc., must take a state board and receive a license which allows them to practice their profession.

Feel better, OP?

No college or university in this country gives a degree in Nannying. There are no licenses given in order to be a nanny. Nannies are hourly employees and are looked upon as domestic employees. It makes no difference whether you have a Ph. D. In early childhood education or you only have a GED. Yes, all parents want college degrees but only want to pay for GED education.

All professionals, e.g., lawyers, doctors, nurses, engineers, architects, teachers, etc., must take a state board and receive a license which allows them to practice their profession.