Anonymous wrote:This is really easy to tease out. Contact three of the larger au pair (live in) programs and ask for the current costs for 40 hr week au pair. You supply room, board, meals and the monthly or weekly "salary".
That's your bar, your comparable, your alternative.
Don't waste your time on Dcum.

That only works if you wish to hire an AP, which OP does not want to do, from what she has posted.

And BTW, an AP makes federal minimum wage for 45 hours/week, and 40% of her wages are held back to cover room and board. OP will NEVER find a decent nanny willing to work for that amount of money. [(7.25 x 45) - 40% = $195.75]

You could always try to con a good experienced nanny into a 40% room/board deduction, but most nannies would laugh so hard they'd cry. For example, if OP wants 30 hours/week at $15/hour, and does the ridiculous 40% deduction, she'd be offering $270/week.

We, like many in the foreign service, brought our nanny back to DC with us to live for 2 years and nanny.
She has our work visa, new US driver' license, lives upstairs, works M-F with our 2 kids (1 in ES) and makes $7 per hour during the week (40 hours, no overtime).

Totally legal, many families do this.

OP, just a word of warning.

I wouldn't do this only because of that story that made national headlines about six months or so ago.

Remember the nanny who accepted a live-in position where she agreed to watch children for room & board ONLY, but no monetary compensation? Well in the end she ended up unhappy w/said arrangement + wouldn't leave the home and legally the parents couldn't evict her due to civil laws.

Do they had the "Nanny from Hell."

Let that be a lesson for anyone who thinks hiring someone out for room and board is such a great idea.

Anonymous wrote:OP, ignore most of the nanny posters here. Room exchanges are normal and desirable, especially among college students and younger nannies. You don't need to pay a premium for a live out p/t nanny, as long as your work hour exchange is fair.

This is where I think your offer has a problem. Most exchanges include 15-20/hrs a week. If you want more than that, then you need to establish a rate to cover those extra hours. If housing is part of the first 15 hrs, then you should probably pay a good market rate for those remaining 15 hrs, which is dependent on duties and number of children.

Hope this helps.

Yes thank you this helps, its similar to the first person I replied to, they said the same thing about 15 hours. I'm working with this and reformulating.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Live in nannies get room and board in addition to their wages of at least minimum wage not in exchange for Childcare.

What your trying to do might be common for your area but it is against the law.

Nannies on this board tend to take their careers seriously so trying to not pay a nanny is seen as very wrong. I can see how a college student might like this arrangement but a true " nanny" would be offended.

Against the law? Do you even know what you're talking about? You can definitely do a room exchange. I make $25 an hour as a ft nanny to a family and live in the full basement apartment. In return for room I give them back 10 hours pay a week. So I effectively 'pay back' $250 a week to cover rent. Perfectly legal and beneficial for all.

Did you even read the original post? That is nothing like OP wants to do!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Live in nannies get room and board in addition to their wages of at least minimum wage not in exchange for Childcare.

What your trying to do might be common for your area but it is against the law.

Nannies on this board tend to take their careers seriously so trying to not pay a nanny is seen as very wrong. I can see how a college student might like this arrangement but a true " nanny" would be offended.

Against the law? Do you even know what you're talking about? You can definitely do a room exchange. I make $25 an hour as a ft nanny to a family and live in the full basement apartment. In return for room I give them back 10 hours pay a week. So I effectively 'pay back' $250 a week to cover rent. Perfectly legal and beneficial for all.

If after the rent is taken out of your pay and you are still making at least minimum wage per hr you work then yes that is legal.

If after the rent is taken out and you are left with nothing or 6 per hr then that is illegal. Google domestic worker laws or live in nanny laws.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Live in nannies get room and board in addition to their wages of at least minimum wage not in exchange for Childcare.

What your trying to do might be common for your area but it is against the law.

Nannies on this board tend to take their careers seriously so trying to not pay a nanny is seen as very wrong. I can see how a college student might like this arrangement but a true " nanny" would be offended.

Against the law? Do you even know what you're talking about? You can definitely do a room exchange. I make $25 an hour as a ft nanny to a family and live in the full basement apartment. In return for room I give them back 10 hours pay a week. So I effectively 'pay back' $250 a week to cover rent. Perfectly legal and beneficial for all.

Your paid 25 per hr very different then minimum wage and then it taken away for rent back to the employer.

Anonymous wrote:Live in nannies get room and board in addition to their wages of at least minimum wage not in exchange for Childcare.

What your trying to do might be common for your area but it is against the law.

Nannies on this board tend to take their careers seriously so trying to not pay a nanny is seen as very wrong. I can see how a college student might like this arrangement but a true " nanny" would be offended.

Against the law? Do you even know what you're talking about? You can definitely do a room exchange. I make $25 an hour as a ft nanny to a family and live in the full basement apartment. In return for room I give them back 10 hours pay a week. So I effectively 'pay back' $250 a week to cover rent. Perfectly legal and beneficial for all.

This is really easy to tease out. Contact three of the larger au pair (live in) programs and ask for the current costs for 40 hr week au pair. You supply room, board, meals and the monthly or weekly "salary".
That's your bar, your comparable, your alternative.
Don't waste your time on Dcum.

Live in nannies get room and board in addition to their wages of at least minimum wage not in exchange for Childcare.

What your trying to do might be common for your area but it is against the law.

Nannies on this board tend to take their careers seriously so trying to not pay a nanny is seen as very wrong. I can see how a college student might like this arrangement but a true " nanny" would be offended.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Live in nannies do not pay rent. They make 10-15 per hr. ( less then live out) They are paid on the books and receive benifits. You can't then say ok I paid you x now you pay me y for rent.

The least you can legally get away with paying then is 7.25 per hr which is the federal minimum wage. Rent can't come out of that.

That's not actually true. I'm not saying it's market or even right, but you can deduct the reasonable value of provided housing, board, utilities, etc from wages. That's why a work exchange is legal. (I'm the post, btw, who said usually a work exchange is in the 10-15 hour/wk range, so I'm definitely not advocating paying less than minimum wage for what is approaching a full time job)

If you pay your live in nanny 7.25 per hr for 10 hrs a week you can not take money out of that for room and board. That's illegal . I'm not saying you have to pay her 10 per hr but legally you have to pay 7.25 per hr and she gets to keep it not hand it back.

OP, ignore most of the nanny posters here. Room exchanges are normal and desirable, especially among college students and younger nannies. You don't need to pay a premium for a live out p/t nanny, as long as your work hour exchange is fair.

This is where I think your offer has a problem. Most exchanges include 15-20/hrs a week. If you want more than that, then you need to establish a rate to cover those extra hours. If housing is part of the first 15 hrs, then you should probably pay a good market rate for those remaining 15 hrs, which is dependent on duties and number of children.

Hope this helps.

You sound cheap and awful op, good luck to your future slave. She's going to need it.

Anonymous wrote:I am looking to hire a live-in nanny in exchange for the rent of her living with us. I am wondering what is fair to charge. I have seen a lot of places around NW that are basement apartments being listed for $1400-$1600. So, would it be fair to ask for ~30 hours a week for a nanny in exchange for a basement?

That is about $12 an hour, we don't need anything fancy or a degree or 20 years experience plus she won't have to commute and spend all that money on gas and will have no other house bills (gas, elec, cable, etc....) so we were thinking that seems really fair for both of us.

Any guidance DCUM?

Here's the problem with your plan, OP.
If the nanny is required to work for you for "about" 30 hours per week, and receive no pay, how will she buy food? How will she pay her cell phone bill? What about shampoo/conditioner/toothpaste etc? What if she wants to go out on the weekends? What if she has student loans?
If you're trying to hire a college student, how will she manage her class schedule around the work schedule you need her for?

In NW DC, I'd be very surprised if you could find a nanny for one infant at $12/hr. Do you even live in NW, or are you only looking at basement apts there?
Also, you never really explained what the living situation you have to offer is. Is it a full basement apartment? Kitchen? Full bathroom? Living room? Private space that is entirely hers....meaning you won't pop down there to do laundry?

Anonymous wrote:Live in nannies do not pay rent. They make 10-15 per hr. ( less then live out) They are paid on the books and receive benifits. You can't then say ok I paid you x now you pay me y for rent.

The least you can legally get away with paying then is 7.25 per hr which is the federal minimum wage. Rent can't come out of that.

That's not actually true. I'm not saying it's market or even right, but you can deduct the reasonable value of provided housing, board, utilities, etc from wages. That's why a work exchange is legal. (I'm the post, btw, who said usually a work exchange is in the 10-15 hour/wk range, so I'm definitely not advocating paying less than minimum wage for what is approaching a full time job)