IMO, parents need to determine how much they can (or want) to pay for childcare per week. THEN, they look at the hours they need, and determine the hourly rate, both with and without taking OT into consideration.

Why? Because in my experience, nannies generally fall into 3 main categories:

1) They want the specific weekly rate to be acceptable to them, and either don't know or don't care about hourly and OT. They are "salary mentality" nannies.

2) They want the overall hourly to be acceptable to them, and don't want to hear about OT or "salary".

3) They know exactly how nannies are legally supposed to be paid, and they don't get worked up about a "lower" hourly, knowing that it's a legality, not a judgement of their overall worth.

So, if you want to/can afford to pay $750 per week for 50 hours of nanny care, the response might be:

Nanny Type #1: No, sorry, I want to make $850/week.

NT #2: Ok, $15 is acceptable, but not amazing. Would you consider paying $16/hour? (That's $800 a week.)

NT #3: I'd prefer my base rate to be closer to $14.50, and my OT rate to be closer to $21.75. (That's $797.50/week.) Do you have any flexibility there? Or are you offering guaranteed pay for 50 hours a week with OT specifically outlined as needed?

A lot of parents look purely at "salary", which is where a lot of the issues come from in the wage discussions. A "salary" rate may not offer an hourly that appeals to some, but if the weekly rate is guaranteed, it helps a huge amount.

All that said OP, "going rate" means different things to different people, and your best bet is to look at your budget and search based on what you can/choose to afford. The quality of the candidates you get will show you whether that rate is going to get you a nanny who you feel confident leaving with your children.

Anonymous wrote:As long as you're not doing it yourself, you get your child the best care you can afford. Period.

Isn't that how most parents educate their children?

Anonymous wrote:You can doctor up the math all you want, but it's kind of shitty to acknowledge a nanny is worth $17/hour, but since you need overtime, you'll pay her less so it "works out" better for you.

Excellent point.

Anonymous wrote:You can doctor up the math all you want, but it's kind of shitty to acknowledge a nanny is worth $17/hour, but since you need overtime, you'll pay her less so it "works out" better for you.

+1000 that's not how OT is supposed to work.

You can doctor up the math all you want, but it's kind of shitty to acknowledge a nanny is worth $17/hour, but since you need overtime, you'll pay her less so it "works out" better for you.

As long as you're not doing it yourself, you get your child the best care you can afford. Period.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP Here. In addition to a health care allowance, we plan to offer two weeks paid vacation (plus all federal holidays) and five sick days. How do the total number of hours affect the going rate? Other things being equal, would a nanny accept a slightly lower rate for 45 hours knowing that she will be getting OT for 5 hours?

Yes, exactly. Look at it this way:

$16/hr for 40 hours/week = $640
$15/hr for 40 hours plus 5 OT hours at time and a half = $712.50

If you are willing to guarantee a 45 hour work week (meaning, if for some reason you only need -- for example -- 42 hours one week because you finish early a couple of days, you still pay the nanny for 45 hours), you can negotiate a lower base rate.

I'd say its something like
$16/hr for 40hrs/wk = $640
$15.50/hr (average) for 45 hours/wk = $697.50 (with the true base rate calculated for the contract)

It's a true volume discount. Assuming that you are actually going to guarantee the full 45. The average rate usually goes up the /fewer/ hours you guarentee (like in a part time job) not because you offer more.

I'm the PP you're quoting, and your math doesn't make sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP Here. In addition to a health care allowance, we plan to offer two weeks paid vacation (plus all federal holidays) and five sick days. How do the total number of hours affect the going rate? Other things being equal, would a nanny accept a slightly lower rate for 45 hours knowing that she will be getting OT for 5 hours?

Yes, exactly. Look at it this way:

$16/hr for 40 hours/week = $640
$15/hr for 40 hours plus 5 OT hours at time and a half = $712.50

If you are willing to guarantee a 45 hour work week (meaning, if for some reason you only need -- for example -- 42 hours one week because you finish early a couple of days, you still pay the nanny for 45 hours), you can negotiate a lower base rate.

I'd say its something like
$16/hr for 40hrs/wk = $640
$15.50/hr (average) for 45 hours/wk = $697.50 (with the true base rate calculated for the contract)

It's a true volume discount. Assuming that you are actually going to guarantee the full 45. The average rate usually goes up the /fewer/ hours you guarentee (like in a part time job) not because you offer more.

No. Why would your average rate be lower? If anything you could say if an appropriate rate for 40 hours would be $16/hour, then for 45 hours you could negotiate a $16/hour average rate, which comes out to a slightly lower base rate. I am a nanny but I can do math. I'm not going to work 45 hours for only slightly more than what I'd make working 40.

Sure, maybe the average rate will stay the same for just a five hour difference. I was just trying to point out that it definitely wouldn't be higher! In general, though, the more hours you are paying for, the lower the average rate will be... all else being equal. There's definitely a higher average rate for jobs that offer less than 30 hours/wk.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP Here. In addition to a health care allowance, we plan to offer two weeks paid vacation (plus all federal holidays) and five sick days. How do the total number of hours affect the going rate? Other things being equal, would a nanny accept a slightly lower rate for 45 hours knowing that she will be getting OT for 5 hours?

Yes, exactly. Look at it this way:

$16/hr for 40 hours/week = $640
$15/hr for 40 hours plus 5 OT hours at time and a half = $712.50

If you are willing to guarantee a 45 hour work week (meaning, if for some reason you only need -- for example -- 42 hours one week because you finish early a couple of days, you still pay the nanny for 45 hours), you can negotiate a lower base rate.

I'd say its something like
$16/hr for 40hrs/wk = $640
$15.50/hr (average) for 45 hours/wk = $697.50 (with the true base rate calculated for the contract)

It's a true volume discount. Assuming that you are actually going to guarantee the full 45. The average rate usually goes up the /fewer/ hours you guarentee (like in a part time job) not because you offer more.

No. Why would your average rate be lower? If anything you could say if an appropriate rate for 40 hours would be $16/hour, then for 45 hours you could negotiate a $16/hour average rate, which comes out to a slightly lower base rate. I am a nanny but I can do math. I'm not going to work 45 hours for only slightly more than what I'd make working 40.

Anonymous wrote:13:28, Please explain why you believe that it's only the nanny profession that does not have a price range?

Every profession has a range. 16-18 may be an "average" rate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP Here. In addition to a health care allowance, we plan to offer two weeks paid vacation (plus all federal holidays) and five sick days. How do the total number of hours affect the going rate? Other things being equal, would a nanny accept a slightly lower rate for 45 hours knowing that she will be getting OT for 5 hours?

Yes, exactly. Look at it this way:

$16/hr for 40 hours/week = $640
$15/hr for 40 hours plus 5 OT hours at time and a half = $712.50

If you are willing to guarantee a 45 hour work week (meaning, if for some reason you only need -- for example -- 42 hours one week because you finish early a couple of days, you still pay the nanny for 45 hours), you can negotiate a lower base rate.

I'd say its something like
$16/hr for 40hrs/wk = $640
$15.50/hr (average) for 45 hours/wk = $697.50 (with the true base rate calculated for the contract)

It's a true volume discount. Assuming that you are actually going to guarantee the full 45. The average rate usually goes up the /fewer/ hours you guarentee (like in a part time job) not because you offer more.

Anonymous wrote:

OP Here. In addition to a health care allowance, we plan to offer two weeks paid vacation (plus all federal holidays) and five sick days. How do the total number of hours affect the going rate? Other things being equal, would a nanny accept a slightly lower rate for 45 hours knowing that she will be getting OT for 5 hours?

Yes, exactly. Look at it this way:

$16/hr for 40 hours/week = $640
$15/hr for 40 hours plus 5 OT hours at time and a half = $712.50

If you are willing to guarantee a 45 hour work week (meaning, if for some reason you only need -- for example -- 42 hours one week because you finish early a couple of days, you still pay the nanny for 45 hours), you can negotiate a lower base rate.