Anonymous wrote:My family will be going back to our home state soon and will be gone for a minimum of 2 weeks and possibly the first week of January. I plan on paying my nanny for all of the time that we will be away and only ask that she gets our mail and water a couple of plants when she is around. I don't expect her to come out of her way but she stays 5 miles from us and often comes this direction to go into the city. We have really been trying to cut back on expenses this year and I know she didn't choose to be off but should I still give her an extra weeks pay as a bonus like I've done with other nannies in the past? Or will the up front paid time off suffice? I hate that I'm feeling so conflicted about this. She works hard and never calls in, but at the same time she is pretty much on a paid vacation for at least half a month.
Thoughts?
If she were on vacation, she could go elsewhere. However, you want her to check on your house, fetch the mail, water the plants, etc. That means that you are *not* allowing the nanny to be on vacation, you are simply giving her a short list of tasks which she should be able to accomplish in about 5-10 minutes per day. So, since you are electing to have her work, albeit very short shifts, yes, a bonus would be appropriate.