Anonymous wrote:Hello,

I would love to hear some advice from both nannies and employers. I am looking ahead to next school year, and we're thinking about hiring a nanny who will pick up our son at his preschool, which is a half hour from our home. We've never had a nanny drive our kids anywhere, so I'd love to know what issues I should be thinking about.

Some questions I have at the outset are:
Should we offer to pay gas / mileage? How does this work? Yes, you should definitely offer to pay whatever the standard mileage rate is at the time. For example I think now it is .53cents per mile. I assume gas is included here.
The nanny would be part-time, afternoons only, and the first real job duty would be picking up our son. To that end, should she report to work (our home) first to start the clock, so to speak? I would start the Nanny’s time at the given hour she needs to be at the preschool.
Is the normal expectation that nannies drive their own car and the family provides the car seat, or that the family provides the nanny the car to drive (which would necessarily involve the nanny starting the shift at our home). Either way is acceptable.

I am sure there are logistics I am not thinking about, and I would really appreciate your advice and feedback!

Oh, make sure your Nanny provides you w/a recent DMV printout.
An excellent driving record is a necessity here.

And your Nanny receives her hourly rate while driving too.

Wishing you the best in your search!

Thank you!

Anonymous wrote:This is an extremely rare need in a haystack situation to secure a candidate that will commit to this schedule long term. You are likely going to attract college students with changing schedules each semester or former au pairs looking to stay in the states and secure a job.

Be prepared to offer a higher hourly rate and benefits.

Anonymous wrote:This is an extremely rare need in a haystack situation to secure a candidate that will commit to this schedule long term. You are likely going to attract college students with changing schedules each semester or former au pairs looking to stay in the states and secure a job.

Be prepared to offer a higher hourly rate and benefits.

Anonymous wrote:You pay nanny mileage if she is using her own car, or you can provide a car instead. You always provide the seats. If nanny goes to pickup your car, then when she gets there, the clock starts. If she uses her own car, I'd start the clock based on distance to the school and getting there a bit before kids get out.

If, for example, the school is 30 minutes drive from her house but only 15 to your house, then it would be 15 minutes added to the clock of paid time. If the school is closer than your house, then no time added. When I did school pickup, my worked hours always included 15 minutes before the kids got out so that I was there and ready for them. Generally you'd show up early so you could park and not be late, so parents always found it fair to pay me for that buffer of time as I'd be more inclined to leave the house earlier.

Be aware that many nannies that do after school only work will be college students. You might need to find 2 nannies to provide coverage for the whole week depending on their availability. Or you might be able to find a nanny that has another morning only position.

Because PT is harder to fill and there is a national nanny shortage going on, your best bet to find candidates and keep them on would be to offer guaranteed hours (pay them for their schedule every week even if you don't need them) and provide some basic benefits like a few days of sick leave and pay for federal holidays off, and offer paid vacation for at least Christmas week. If a nanny does multiple PT jobs to fill a FT schedule for themselves, they will probably require this.

Anonymous wrote:It's hard to find a nanny that only wants to work a half day like that. Be prepared to pay a high hourly rate.

Also think about: What is the expectation for days there is no pre-school--snow day, teacher work day, etc? Would you expect the nanny to work a full day then?