Anonymous wrote:OP here,

Yes I definitely need to just get over it and talk to them. As far as benefits I actually don't get any. I just get paid for the hours I work. No paid time off for any reason (when I'm sick I don't get paid, same with holidays or if I request a vacation day.) I pay my own insurance, etc. They give me $20 every other week for using my car to take the little one to activities but that's it.

I'm thinking I need to just email them or write up a short list of the holidays I feel I should be paid for and ask them to consider a merit raise as well since it's been one year. Ugh. Thanks everyone.

OP,

Are you in the DC area? MB here and while we don't pay for our nanny's health insurance, we give her all federal holidays and two weeks paid leave (her choosing, so she ends up with more days off since we don't necessarily coordinate our vacation times w/ hers). We haven't had to deal w/ too many sick days but lately she's had dental and medical appointments which we've let her take paid. Also, when her daughter got married overseas, we let her carry over her vacation so she could take 3 weeks straight. When we've had snow days, I've let her stay home. (I figure if the federal government shuts down b/c they say it's unsafe for us then it's equally unsafe for her. The one thing where I disagree however, is the automatic pay raise every year. We've given our nanny bonuses in the years where we did not get raises ourselves.

As or gas, we compensate her .50 per mile and I always round up.

You will fall in love with almost every child you care for so learn to say goodbye now. Schedule a meeting and have a contract ready with everything you deserve and be prepared to find another job if they aren't willing to give you most or all of what you request. Of course they tell you they love you and appreciate what you are doing because they got one hell of a deal by not offering benefits with such long hours. You can find a good with more benefits and less hours, you just have to look and demand what you want from the beginning. Think of nannying as a consulting job where you set the pay and benefits. Because the more you allow people to take advantage the more they will.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, you deserve a cost of living raise. They get theirs.

Not everyone gets cost of living raises. My husband has never gotten one. The only time he can get a raise is to find a new job. Recently he had a big pay cut. We didn't tell our nanny or decrease her pay but I know for us increasing is not an option. (she has no clue even though we had to make changes like cut the cable and a few other things)

What fields are you each in?

IT/contractor - there are huge pay cuts and layoffs right now. We've been lucky so far but we don't know when our luck will run out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, you deserve a cost of living raise. They get theirs.

Not everyone gets cost of living raises. My husband has never gotten one. The only time he can get a raise is to find a new job. Recently he had a big pay cut. We didn't tell our nanny or decrease her pay but I know for us increasing is not an option. (she has no clue even though we had to make changes like cut the cable and a few other things)

What fields are you each in?

Np here. DH is an executive at a small company. This past year was his first raise in 3 years. I worked in healthcare for 6 years. I Received a
Raise my first year, and then boss did away with raises.

Also, you deserve a cost of living raise. They get theirs.


Not everyone gets cost of living raises. My husband has never gotten one. The only time he can get a raise is to find a new job. Recently he had a big pay cut. We didn't tell our nanny or decrease her pay but I know for us increasing is not an option. (she has no clue even though we had to make changes like cut the cable and a few other things)

Very true.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, you deserve a cost of living raise. They get theirs.

Not everyone gets cost of living raises. My husband has never gotten one. The only time he can get a raise is to find a new job. Recently he had a big pay cut. We didn't tell our nanny or decrease her pay but I know for us increasing is not an option. (she has no clue even though we had to make changes like cut the cable and a few other things)

What fields are you each in?

Anonymous wrote:Also, you deserve a cost of living raise. They get theirs.

Not everyone gets cost of living raises. My husband has never gotten one. The only time he can get a raise is to find a new job. Recently he had a big pay cut. We didn't tell our nanny or decrease her pay but I know for us increasing is not an option. (she has no clue even though we had to make changes like cut the cable and a few other things)

Also, you deserve a cost of living raise. They get theirs.

OP here,

Yes I definitely need to just get over it and talk to them. As far as benefits I actually don't get any. I just get paid for the hours I work. No paid time off for any reason (when I'm sick I don't get paid, same with holidays or if I request a vacation day.) I pay my own insurance, etc. They give me $20 every other week for using my car to take the little one to activities but that's it.

I'm thinking I need to just email them or write up a short list of the holidays I feel I should be paid for and ask them to consider a merit raise as well since it's been one year. Ugh. Thanks everyone.

What are the benefits you do and don't have?

Just curious

Anonymous wrote:PLEASE, OP - talk to your employers and ask for a raise and the benefits you need. This will not be the only type of job you will have where you have to ask/demand what you want from your employers so you may as well get used to doing it now.

I love being a nanny. I love the work of childcare and teaching little ones. I look forward to seeing my charge on Monday morning and I have never in any other type of job looked forward to seeing my boss on Monday morning!!

But I hate the negotiating and confronting of employers - but it is what I have to do and I do it.

+1.
I even get some parents who clearly enjoy the back and forth negotiating. They don't want to deal with you if you deprive them of having fun. One guy in particular, was a hedge fund millionaire. Obviously, that was a few years ago.

PLEASE, OP - talk to your employers and ask for a raise and the benefits you need. This will not be the only type of job you will have where you have to ask/demand what you want from your employers so you may as well get used to doing it now.

I love being a nanny. I love the work of childcare and teaching little ones. I look forward to seeing my charge on Monday morning and I have never in any other type of job looked forward to seeing my boss on Monday morning!!

But I hate the negotiating and confronting of employers - but it is what I have to do and I do it.

Schedule a meeting. You have worked hard and deserve to be paid accordingly.

Congratulations on your one year anniversary, OP!
I'm sorry they ignored it.

Request your raise yourself and negotiate the benefits you need. I do like being a nanny but it is hard work. You deserve to be compensated.

I want to quit my nanny job sometimes, but when I think about saying goodbye to the little one I feel so guilty. I've been taking care of him for just over a year, since he was only a couple months old. On one hand I love my job because I'm not stuck at a desk all day. I get to dress comfortably and go out to the park, to swim with him, and other fun places. On the other hand this job requires me to work 10-1/2 hours a day, 5 days a week, that's just what their schedule demands. My best friend of many years is moving to my city from out of state in the coming months and it bugs me that I will still hardly see her because I work such long hours during the week.

My one year anniversary with the family was a few weeks ago and they totally ignored it. They are good about dates, I know they didn't forget and are just avoiding it to avoid talking about a raise. They regularly tell me how I do so much for them and how they want me to stay forever and they appreciate me so much, yet they don't give me some of the basic benefits so many other jobs offer, including nanny jobs. (Yep that's my fault too for not negotiating, I know). Just wish I knew what to do. I don't want to go back to working in an office all day but I also can't see working these long hours as a nanny and earning no benefits until the little one outgrows the need for a nanny.