Anonymous wrote:so I offered her $18 an hour (and taxes will be deducted). We are in Loudon. She says that if this does not work out to $15 per hour (for take home) after the first pay check she will want a raise and back pay. This puts us in a tough spot since the accountant can't know until she fills out the forms. I just want to offer her pay and be done with it. If someone else is offering her $15 per hr under the table then so be it.

There are benefits to her to be paid legally as well. I don't want to lose a good nanny, but the job is the job and the pay is the pay. Why isn't she just asking for more money per hr?

You're an idiot. You just upped your offer 20%++.
At $18/hour (the rate for two kids in urban areas) you will effectively be paying $19/hour and she will be netting $17/hour. Way above her previous $15/hour net and you live an hour west of DC!

https://www.care.com/homepay/nanny-paycheck-calculator

This will let your potential nanny figure out approximately what she needs to earn to net $15/hour.

That said, I think you should tell this nanny "Thanks, but no thanks.", and find someone else. And in your ad, make sure you indicate taxes will be TAKEN OUT of the gross pay of $X/hour.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:so I offered her $18 an hour (and taxes will be deducted). We are in Loudon. She says that if this does not work out to $15 per hour (for take home) after the first pay check she will want a raise and back pay. This puts us in a tough spot since the accountant can't know until she fills out the forms. I just want to offer her pay and be done with it. If someone else is offering her $15 per hr under the table then so be it.

There are benefits to her to be paid legally as well. I don't want to lose a good nanny, but the job is the job and the pay is the pay. Why isn't she just asking for more money per hr?

I wouldn't tolerate that OP. I would take this kind of response as an early warning sign and my response would be "I really don't think this will work then. Good luck to you."

If a candidate for a job is talking with you this I would fully expect you to have significant troubles down the line. Go find someone else for whom $18/hr, paid legally, is viewed as a great job.

18:34 here. I don't understand how you wouldn't know. I fill out paperwork my first day (or before); I'm not going to wait to know what the take home is. As I said, my contracts all state gross and net, that way there's no confusion.

Crud, posted too early. With that said, $18/hour is good, she can choose to take it or not, ask for the calculation now of net based on the gross you offered or not. Frankly, it seems like you might want to cut your losses and find someone else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:so I offered her $18 an hour (and taxes will be deducted). We are in Loudon. She says that if this does not work out to $15 per hour (for take home) after the first pay check she will want a raise and back pay. This puts us in a tough spot since the accountant can't know until she fills out the forms. I just want to offer her pay and be done with it. If someone else is offering her $15 per hr under the table then so be it.

There are benefits to her to be paid legally as well. I don't want to lose a good nanny, but the job is the job and the pay is the pay. Why isn't she just asking for more money per hr?

I wouldn't tolerate that OP. I would take this kind of response as an early warning sign and my response would be "I really don't think this will work then. Good luck to you."

If a candidate for a job is talking with you this I would fully expect you to have significant troubles down the line. Go find someone else for whom $18/hr, paid legally, is viewed as a great job.

18:34 here. I don't understand how you wouldn't know. I fill out paperwork my first day (or before); I'm not going to wait to know what the take home is. As I said, my contracts all state gross and net, that way there's no confusion.

Anonymous wrote:so I offered her $18 an hour (and taxes will be deducted). We are in Loudon. She says that if this does not work out to $15 per hour (for take home) after the first pay check she will want a raise and back pay. This puts us in a tough spot since the accountant can't know until she fills out the forms. I just want to offer her pay and be done with it. If someone else is offering her $15 per hr under the table then so be it.

There are benefits to her to be paid legally as well. I don't want to lose a good nanny, but the job is the job and the pay is the pay. Why isn't she just asking for more money per hr?

I wouldn't tolerate that OP. I would take this kind of response as an early warning sign and my response would be "I really don't think this will work then. Good luck to you."

If a candidate for a job is talking with you this I would fully expect you to have significant troubles down the line. Go find someone else for whom $18/hr, paid legally, is viewed as a great job.

Anonymous wrote:so I offered her $18 an hour (and taxes will be deducted). We are in Loudon. She says that if this does not work out to $15 per hour (for take home) after the first pay check she will want a raise and back pay. This puts us in a tough spot since the accountant can't know until she fills out the forms. I just want to offer her pay and be done with it. If someone else is offering her $15 per hr under the table then so be it.

There are benefits to her to be paid legally as well. I don't want to lose a good nanny, but the job is the job and the pay is the pay. Why isn't she just asking for more money per hr?

She really isn't all that bright. Plain and simple.

so I offered her $18 an hour (and taxes will be deducted). We are in Loudon. She says that if this does not work out to $15 per hour (for take home) after the first pay check she will want a raise and back pay. This puts us in a tough spot since the accountant can't know until she fills out the forms. I just want to offer her pay and be done with it. If someone else is offering her $15 per hr under the table then so be it.

There are benefits to her to be paid legally as well. I don't want to lose a good nanny, but the job is the job and the pay is the pay. Why isn't she just asking for more money per hr?

Anonymous wrote:We advertised a job for a nanny for $15 per hr and said taxes would be paid. I have one child. We found someone we like. She said she wanted $15 an hr take home pay. She has never worked for a family that paid legally. Is $15 per hr fair with taxes for one kid?

That depends on your location, OP. In DC, that would be on the low end for one child, but not terribly low. Elsewhere, that may be average market rate.

Anonymous wrote:We advertised a job for a nanny for $15 per hr and said taxes would be paid. I have one child. We found someone we like. She said she wanted $15 an hr take home pay. She has never worked for a family that paid legally. Is $15 per hr fair with taxes for one kid?

I would assume if someone posted an hourly rate it was gross UNLESS stipulated otherwise. Yes, many nannies work for cash or do not pay taxes, that can drive up the rates for those families who want/need to pay taxes and file w-2s.
Yes, many DC area nannies are paid $15/hour gross. That means the family pays the nanny $15/hour and the government ~$1/hour and the nanny pays the government ~$1/hour.
This rate also leaves room for raises, paying for driving, and a raise for additional kids down the road. Assuming the nanny is game for more than one kid, some are not and prefer to hop from single kid job to single kid job and not be longer term (4-6+ years with one family).

$15 an hour is on the bottom end of the scale for a good nanny. If she has always worked illegally before, I would question that she was a good nanny.

I have always thought that the wage offered was gross, not net... Not sure why the nanny would think otherwise.
~Nanny that makes sure the contract is written for salary, with calculations for gross and net included

This link has been posted here before - explains better than I could.

http://www.homeworksolutions.com/knowledge-center/my-nanny-wants-to-take-home-600-a-week-what-does-that-mean/

Anonymous wrote:We advertised a job for a nanny for $15 per hr and said taxes would be paid. I have one child. We found someone we like. She said she wanted $15 an hr take home pay. She has never worked for a family that paid legally. Is $15 per hr fair with taxes for one kid?

Wait, if you said taxes would be paid, you are telling her you will pay her $15/hour PLUS whatever taxes are required on top of that. So she will get $15/hour take home. Not sure what the problem is?

We advertised a job for a nanny for $15 per hr and said taxes would be paid. I have one child. We found someone we like. She said she wanted $15 an hr take home pay. She has never worked for a family that paid legally. Is $15 per hr fair with taxes for one kid?