Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always do what you do op. If I get off at 5:49 I put 5:45

Why?

Because I feel like it's the right thing to do. The next day I might wôrk until 5:40 and I would right down 5:45 even though I didn't technically work those 5 minutes. It's like by doing so it all even it's way out in the end. They aren't always paying me for work I dîdnt do and they aren't always not paying me for work I did do. I try to be as fair as possible to my employers and not take advantage.

How can anyone "take advantage" of a 15-20/hr wage? You're nuts.

my nanny is hilarious. I'll get home by 4pm and she'll ask to stay until 5pm. I'll say that I just left my team at work to be here! She'll make up some excuse - oh, i need to put some toys away for an hour, or, I have a babysitting job nearby at 6pm so have nothing to do. she does it just to try to get OT. Sheesh.

What time are you supposed to get home?

In every job I have have had nanny and non nanny I have always rounded up been told to round up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always do what you do op. If I get off at 5:49 I put 5:45

Why?

Because I feel like it's the right thing to do. The next day I might wôrk until 5:40 and I would right down 5:45 even though I didn't technically work those 5 minutes. It's like by doing so it all even it's way out in the end. They aren't always paying me for work I dîdnt do and they aren't always not paying me for work I did do. I try to be as fair as possible to my employers and not take advantage.

How can anyone "take advantage" of a 15-20/hr wage? You're nuts.

my nanny is hilarious. I'll get home by 4pm and she'll ask to stay until 5pm. I'll say that I just left my team at work to be here! She'll make up some excuse - oh, i need to put some toys away for an hour, or, I have a babysitting job nearby at 6pm so have nothing to do. she does it just to try to get OT. Sheesh.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have it in my contract that hours will be rounded UP to the nearest quarter hour. So like your nanny, I expect 5:46 to be rounded to 6:00. This is so that my end time is respected as a hard limit. 1 minute late, becomes 5 minutes late, becomes 10 minutes late, and you're forgetting to even round. This is how it works in most hourly jobs. You round up always.

My nanny comes 5 minutes late all the time. So if I get home at 5:02pm I put down 5. same for 5:15, 5:30 or 5:45pm.

Just put it in the contract, if nanny wants to nickle dime you it all goes around/comes around anyhow.

I am the nanny that you quoted. I have been late 1 time in 2 years. I am routine 10 minutes early, giving my MB/DB time to finish getting ready unecumbered, for free. All that I ask in return is that they respect my time in the evening by not walking in at the very last minute allowable. Why do you all feel entitled to be late without consequence? Can someone please explain that?

Anonymous wrote:I have it in my contract that hours will be rounded UP to the nearest quarter hour. So like your nanny, I expect 5:46 to be rounded to 6:00. This is so that my end time is respected as a hard limit. 1 minute late, becomes 5 minutes late, becomes 10 minutes late, and you're forgetting to even round. This is how it works in most hourly jobs. You round up always.

My nanny comes 5 minutes late all the time. So if I get home at 5:02pm I put down 5. same for 5:15, 5:30 or 5:45pm.

Just put it in the contract, if nanny wants to nickle dime you it all goes around/comes around anyhow.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never round up if I was a minute over. Sheer greediness.

Its not about greed, its about respect. If you think you don't need to round up until 5:52:30, what motivation is there to show up right at 5:45? What about when you arrive at 5:53? Are you going to remember to round up then? If you get accustomed to arriving at 5:50 instead of 5:45, soon 5:55 doesn't feel all that late, then neither does 6:00. Do you get it? If you don't show up when you're supposed to, you pay for it. You don't eek out a few extra minutes here and there if you respect your nanny's time. That being said, I don't clock my employers down to the minute, but it is important to not set the expectation that you will not play fast and loose with my time.

You can do whatever you want. As an employee (and MB), I will not. But not all of us can have high ethical standards.

This is not an ethical issue. Telling someone up front what your policies and expectations are is actually the ethical thing to do. My employers know I expect to be walking out their door at 5:30, and to be compensated if it is their fault that I'm not. What would actually be unethical is thinking it is okay to ask your nanny to possibly work over a half an hour extra each week for free.

Of course it's an ethical issue! You're asking your MB to pay you for time that you did not actually work.

Then I'm sure you take an ethical stance on salaries, guaranteed hours, paid time off, and holidays, right? This is business. If you don't draw a line in the sand, people will take as much as they can get from you. If you say your end time is 5:45, but you can have 7 free extra minutes, there are lots of people who will take that and more. Conversely, if you say your end time is 5:45, and if you are late you will be charged until 6:00, that is nothing more than a penalty to disincentive being late.

I say this as someone with an otherwise wonderful MB, who I let slide on being a couple minutes late early on in our relationship, and now 2 years later feel backed into a corner about her being 10 minutes late DAILY, with no adjustment in my pay. It started with a minute or 2, and she would want a 5 minute update. Do not go down this road ladies. It does not benefit you, and they really aren't even going to notice those extra minutes soon enough. You aren't going to get a pat on the back for being flexible, because they won't even realize they're doing it.

Are your hours similar every week? Do you expect your nanny to be available until 6pm? Later? Personally, having a flexible end time would not work for me. I have other obligations and responsibilities. If you want me available to you until 7pm, I'm paid for that time.

Also, when it was time for her to "clock out", did she still need to discuss the day. Always pay for the overlap time to discuss anything necessary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi - Does tracking work time by the quarter hour seem the fairest to both nanny and employer? We have a new part-time nanny housekeeper and I sensed she was a bit surprised when I suggested this yesterday, i.e. she worked until 5:46 so we had her put 5:45 as her finish time, rather than 6:00 (but if it had been 5:50 I would have expected her to put 6:00 ... ). I will talk to her again today, to make sure this makes sense to her, but I just wonder what opinions are here from others. I don't want to seem to be nickle and diming her, and will probably round up her weekly hours when we pay her to an hour or half hour, e.g. if it comes out at 1 hour 45 minutes we'll round up to two hours. I really don't want to be petty, but I really really want to be fair.

5:50 is closer to 5:45 than 6:00 hun

I know, but I don't want to be cheap. Which makes me think, maybe I should just pay in 30 minute increments, but then what's your cut-off there? If she works until 5:44 it doesn't seem fair to only pay her untl 5:30. I should point out that she has a minimum ten guaranteed hours a week so that if we are away on holiday she still gets paid, and she would usually work around 15 on a normal week. The finish time is any time between 5 and 6, which she knew on taking the job.

Anonymous wrote:Hi - Does tracking work time by the quarter hour seem the fairest to both nanny and employer? We have a new part-time nanny housekeeper and I sensed she was a bit surprised when I suggested this yesterday, i.e. she worked until 5:46 so we had her put 5:45 as her finish time, rather than 6:00 (but if it had been 5:50 I would have expected her to put 6:00 ... ). I will talk to her again today, to make sure this makes sense to her, but I just wonder what opinions are here from others. I don't want to seem to be nickle and diming her, and will probably round up her weekly hours when we pay her to an hour or half hour, e.g. if it comes out at 1 hour 45 minutes we'll round up to two hours. I really don't want to be petty, but I really really want to be fair.

yes, is common in my neighborhood.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never round up if I was a minute over. Sheer greediness.

Its not about greed, its about respect. If you think you don't need to round up until 5:52:30, what motivation is there to show up right at 5:45? What about when you arrive at 5:53? Are you going to remember to round up then? If you get accustomed to arriving at 5:50 instead of 5:45, soon 5:55 doesn't feel all that late, then neither does 6:00. Do you get it? If you don't show up when you're supposed to, you pay for it. You don't eek out a few extra minutes here and there if you respect your nanny's time. That being said, I don't clock my employers down to the minute, but it is important to not set the expectation that you will not play fast and loose with my time.

You can do whatever you want. As an employee (and MB), I will not. But not all of us can have high ethical standards.

This is not an ethical issue. Telling someone up front what your policies and expectations are is actually the ethical thing to do. My employers know I expect to be walking out their door at 5:30, and to be compensated if it is their fault that I'm not. What would actually be unethical is thinking it is okay to ask your nanny to possibly work over a half an hour extra each week for free.

Of course it's an ethical issue! You're asking your MB to pay you for time that you did not actually work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never round up if I was a minute over. Sheer greediness.

Its not about greed, its about respect. If you think you don't need to round up until 5:52:30, what motivation is there to show up right at 5:45? What about when you arrive at 5:53? Are you going to remember to round up then? If you get accustomed to arriving at 5:50 instead of 5:45, soon 5:55 doesn't feel all that late, then neither does 6:00. Do you get it? If you don't show up when you're supposed to, you pay for it. You don't eek out a few extra minutes here and there if you respect your nanny's time. That being said, I don't clock my employers down to the minute, but it is important to not set the expectation that you will not play fast and loose with my time.

You can do whatever you want. As an employee (and MB), I will not. But not all of us can have high ethical standards.

This is not an ethical issue. Telling someone up front what your policies and expectations are is actually the ethical thing to do. My employers know I expect to be walking out their door at 5:30, and to be compensated if it is their fault that I'm not. What would actually be unethical is thinking it is okay to ask your nanny to possibly work over a half an hour extra each week for free.

A half hour per week? You really want that extra $5? So petty.

Even if this happened every single week of the year thats like $250.... Per year!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never round up if I was a minute over. Sheer greediness.

Its not about greed, its about respect. If you think you don't need to round up until 5:52:30, what motivation is there to show up right at 5:45? What about when you arrive at 5:53? Are you going to remember to round up then? If you get accustomed to arriving at 5:50 instead of 5:45, soon 5:55 doesn't feel all that late, then neither does 6:00. Do you get it? If you don't show up when you're supposed to, you pay for it. You don't eek out a few extra minutes here and there if you respect your nanny's time. That being said, I don't clock my employers down to the minute, but it is important to not set the expectation that you will not play fast and loose with my time.

You can do whatever you want. As an employee (and MB), I will not. But not all of us can have high ethical standards.

This is not an ethical issue. Telling someone up front what your policies and expectations are is actually the ethical thing to do. My employers know I expect to be walking out their door at 5:30, and to be compensated if it is their fault that I'm not. What would actually be unethical is thinking it is okay to ask your nanny to possibly work over a half an hour extra each week for free.

Precisely.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never round up if I was a minute over. Sheer greediness.

Its not about greed, its about respect. If you think you don't need to round up until 5:52:30, what motivation is there to show up right at 5:45? What about when you arrive at 5:53? Are you going to remember to round up then? If you get accustomed to arriving at 5:50 instead of 5:45, soon 5:55 doesn't feel all that late, then neither does 6:00. Do you get it? If you don't show up when you're supposed to, you pay for it. You don't eek out a few extra minutes here and there if you respect your nanny's time. That being said, I don't clock my employers down to the minute, but it is important to not set the expectation that you will not play fast and loose with my time.

You can do whatever you want. As an employee (and MB), I will not. But not all of us can have high ethical standards.

This is not an ethical issue. Telling someone up front what your policies and expectations are is actually the ethical thing to do. My employers know I expect to be walking out their door at 5:30, and to be compensated if it is their fault that I'm not. What would actually be unethical is thinking it is okay to ask your nanny to possibly work over a half an hour extra each week for free.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never round up if I was a minute over. Sheer greediness.

Its not about greed, its about respect. If you think you don't need to round up until 5:52:30, what motivation is there to show up right at 5:45? What about when you arrive at 5:53? Are you going to remember to round up then? If you get accustomed to arriving at 5:50 instead of 5:45, soon 5:55 doesn't feel all that late, then neither does 6:00. Do you get it? If you don't show up when you're supposed to, you pay for it. You don't eek out a few extra minutes here and there if you respect your nanny's time. That being said, I don't clock my employers down to the minute, but it is important to not set the expectation that you will not play fast and loose with my time.

You can do whatever you want. As an employee (and MB), I will not. But not all of us can have high ethical standards.

Anonymous wrote:I would never round up if I was a minute over. Sheer greediness.

Its not about greed, its about respect. If you think you don't need to round up until 5:52:30, what motivation is there to show up right at 5:45? What about when you arrive at 5:53? Are you going to remember to round up then? If you get accustomed to arriving at 5:50 instead of 5:45, soon 5:55 doesn't feel all that late, then neither does 6:00. Do you get it? If you don't show up when you're supposed to, you pay for it. You don't eek out a few extra minutes here and there if you respect your nanny's time. That being said, I don't clock my employers down to the minute, but it is important to not set the expectation that you will not play fast and loose with my time.