Also, I have been a nanny for 7 years. I'm not a novice at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will have been with my family for over 4 years when I leave this fall. I've always known my job will end once the child starts full day school. I would never expect severance pay. I knew the job would come to an end. It's not like their situation changed and they are letting me go sooner than planned. We have a good relationship and they understand I will need to start interviewing over the summer and may need to leave sooner than I would like. A goodbye bonus would be generous but I don't expect one. 4 weeks of severance pay for a job I've always known was "temporary" seems outrageous.

4 years is not temporary.

You sound like a novice/newish nanny, because that is a long-term position and 1wk pay/year as severance is common (I won't say expected, although it is) for those kinds of partnerships.

I put temporary in quotes because while I understand 4 years is a long term position, especially for a nanny job, I also went into it knowing there was an expiration date. A nanny job isn't a job where you work for decades and retire. You're there until the kids have outgrown the need for a nanny and if you have a good relationship with your employers, you're aware of that date long before it happens. My employers have always treated me well and been generous but there is no way I'm receiving a 4 week bonus at the end of my employment and I am fine with that. Maybe it's considered the norm in the DC area but I'm in Chicago and I've never heard of a nanny getting that kind of end bonus unless they worked for a wealthy family.

I am grateful my employers are committed to helping me find a new position. That's more than you get with a lot of jobs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will have been with my family for over 4 years when I leave this fall. I've always known my job will end once the child starts full day school. I would never expect severance pay. I knew the job would come to an end. It's not like their situation changed and they are letting me go sooner than planned. We have a good relationship and they understand I will need to start interviewing over the summer and may need to leave sooner than I would like. A goodbye bonus would be generous but I don't expect one. 4 weeks of severance pay for a job I've always known was "temporary" seems outrageous.

4 years is not temporary.

You sound like a novice/newish nanny, because that is a long-term position and 1wk pay/year as severance is common (I won't say expected, although it is) for those kinds of partnerships.

I'm sorry but I simply don't believe the one week severance per year of employment is the norm. If that were the case why would this forum be so full of nannies who are underpaid and undervalued and unhappy in their positions? Why would the same employers who allegedly don't value their nannies, constantly try to hire for the cheapest possible rate, think a nanny will be a full-time housekeeper for minimum wage, etc... then turn around and routinely pay out this level of severance.

The 4 year tenured nanny sounds rational and reasonable and like someone I'd hire. And someone I'd give a parting bonus too. A nanny who thinks he/she is ENTITLED to severance for a job that is guaranteed time limited from day one? Never going to be hired by or retained by me for long in the first place.

Anonymous wrote:I will have been with my family for over 4 years when I leave this fall. I've always known my job will end once the child starts full day school. I would never expect severance pay. I knew the job would come to an end. It's not like their situation changed and they are letting me go sooner than planned. We have a good relationship and they understand I will need to start interviewing over the summer and may need to leave sooner than I would like. A goodbye bonus would be generous but I don't expect one. 4 weeks of severance pay for a job I've always known was "temporary" seems outrageous.

4 years is not temporary.

You sound like a novice/newish nanny, because that is a long-term position and 1wk pay/year as severance is common (I won't say expected, although it is) for those kinds of partnerships.

I will have been with my family for over 4 years when I leave this fall. I've always known my job will end once the child starts full day school. I would never expect severance pay. I knew the job would come to an end. It's not like their situation changed and they are letting me go sooner than planned. We have a good relationship and they understand I will need to start interviewing over the summer and may need to leave sooner than I would like. A goodbye bonus would be generous but I don't expect one. 4 weeks of severance pay for a job I've always known was "temporary" seems outrageous.

Severance in any job, sadly, is pretty rare.

OP, your planned bonus sounds fine and help with securing her next job is even better.

Wow, I think what OP is offering is perfectly fine. A severance is never mandatory so to expect more than what is given is just ott.

And as a pp wrote, a family that keeps a nanny for 9 years is also doing the nanny a favor, no? Doubt she would have been making the same amount of money if she left after 5 years to work for another family. Stop always thinking of everything with dollar signs.

It's called a visible and bankable expression of gratitude. A nanny who has happily been with a family for 9 years is EXTREMELY rare, and that sort of devotion and longevity should be rewarded.

Its only rare because families don't keep a nanny or the same nanny for 9 years. The love and devotion is probably the other way around. Nannies aren't in jobs for 9 years because most families let the nanny go when the kids enter school and they switch to different care models when they don't need a full time nanny. No nanny enjoys being let go every few years and most would give their right arm to be able to have the job security option of a nine year position.

Our nanny is leaving us this summer after 8 years, of her own volition (she is getting married). We are planning to give her a $2,500 bonus and I think she will be really happy about it. We've given her great bonuses and raises all along the way and it's been a wonderful relationship. However, just because she's been with us for a long time doesn't mean we "owe" her $8,000! A parting gift is just that, a gift.

Anonymous wrote:What??? So, let's say that the nanny makes 800/week. The family should provide 7,000? That seems excessive. I would provide a few thousand, maybe 2-3...

[b]

Well I guess this is why your nanny hasn't stayed 9 years. It's called 'rewarding loyalty'.

Anonymous wrote:Really do not get where this idea of a huge windfall upon letting a nanny to comes from. Op's plan sounds generous Nd sufficient since she is pLnning to give tons of notice. I think a high severance would be needed only if they were for some reason giving her very little notice.

It's called a visible and bankable expression of gratitude. A nanny who has happily been with a family for 9 years is EXTREMELY rare, and that sort of devotion and longevity should be rewarded.

Really do not get where this idea of a huge windfall upon letting a nanny to comes from. Op's plan sounds generous Nd sufficient since she is pLnning to give tons of notice. I think a high severance would be needed only if they were for some reason giving her very little notice.

nannydebsays wrote:OP, while everyone's financial situation is different, I would agree with upping the severance as much as you can.

I got a $1500 year end bonus after 1 year on the job, so...

In addition to whatever you can afford as severance, give as much notice as possible, offer to help her network to find another job, give a letter of reference that will blow the socks off people when she interviews, be available to speak to potential employers, and keep the connection going between her and your family.

Good luck with this big transition!

+10000

(I have also received this size bonus after 1 year - I can't imagine getting the same after NINE years.)

OP, while everyone's financial situation is different, I would agree with upping the severance as much as you can.

I got a $1500 year end bonus after 1 year on the job, so...

In addition to whatever you can afford as severance, give as much notice as possible, offer to help her network to find another job, give a letter of reference that will blow the socks off people when she interviews, be available to speak to potential employers, and keep the connection going between her and your family.

Good luck with this big transition!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone! We love and appreciate our nanny, but I don't think we can afford a week times the years of service. I think I'll go for 1500$ a picture frame with my kid on it plus a thank you card.

Thank you all for responding.

You are one cheap b..ch! She has given nine years to you and you cannot afford to give her three months severance? I hope karma bites you in every possible way and soon. So, I am not a nanny.

Sounds to me like this family and nanny have had the ideal relationship. 9 years is an amazing tenure. The family is offering severance, tons of notice, help finding another job, etc... I hope that we are half as lucky and wish many more nanny/employer relationships were this positive.

To call her a cheap bitch because she doesn't have the ability to pay a quarter of a year's salary as severance is absurd. Do you have 15-20k (minimum!) laying around to give someone else? You certainly aren't an employer with that kind of response. A week's pay per year of employment as severance exists in my world only when someone is being fired and they are being paid to go away quietly. I've negotiated and signed a lot of these kinds of severance agreements - they are NEVER happening because of a natural and happy dissolution of a working relationship.

I wish this family and nanny the best and I hope (and would expect) that they will remain connected to each other for years to come.