Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you choose to hire a nanny on the clock all day, you pay for her meals while she's working.

Umm no. Former nanny here. As a nanny, you expect that there will be certain things that are very different from an office job. Not ever being able to be fully off (even at nap time) is one of those. You are really doing no favors for our profession. And i agree with a pp
who said nannying doesn't seem like a good fit for you. Although i cant imagine you could handle office.politics either.

"Not ever"? You are dead wrong. If you were a nanny, you'd know how different each job can be.

At my last SAHM job, I had off (really off, btw) a full hour for lunch everyday so I could go out and enjoy a relaxing lunch. MB got to have the kids to herself.

Every job can be so different...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you choose to hire a nanny on the clock all day, you pay for her meals while she's working.

Umm no. Former nanny here. As a nanny, you expect that there will be certain things that are very different from an office job. Not ever being able to be fully off (even at nap time) is one of those. You are really doing no favors for our profession. And i agree with a pp
who said nannying doesn't seem like a good fit for you. Although i cant imagine you could handle office.politics either.

"Not ever"? You are dead wrong. If you were a nanny, you'd know how different each job can be.

At my last SAHM job, I had off (really off, btw) a full hour for lunch everyday so I could go out and enjoy a relaxing lunch. MB got to have the kids to herself.

Not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What? My parents have worked white-collar office jobs for 30+ years and have always brought their own lunches. The only exception would be if the bosses took them out or if they were taking clients to lunch.

They had a lunch break.

Non-exempt workers are always on call and, like a nanny, never truly on break. If I eat at my desk and my boss walks in, I don't get to kick him out because I'm on lunch break. If I leave the office to pick up food to take back to my desk and my office or a client calls, I deal with it immediately or hightail it back to my desk. Except for the part about nannies needing to stay on site or with their charges (which isn't addressed by a stipend anyway), a non-exempt employee's lunch break isn't very different from the "on-call" break a nanny gets while her charges are napping or having quiet time.

Crazy comma lady.

Or someone who knows how to use commas properly. Nice try.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What? My parents have worked white-collar office jobs for 30+ years and have always brought their own lunches. The only exception would be if the bosses took them out or if they were taking clients to lunch.

They had a lunch break.

Non-exempt workers are always on call and, like a nanny, never truly on break. If I eat at my desk and my boss walks in, I don't get to kick him out because I'm on lunch break. If I leave the office to pick up food to take back to my desk and my office or a client calls, I deal with it immediately or hightail it back to my desk. Except for the part about nannies needing to stay on site or with their charges (which isn't addressed by a stipend anyway), a non-exempt employee's lunch break isn't very different from the "on-call" break a nanny gets while her charges are napping or having quiet time.

Crazy comma lady.

16:29 again. First line should have said "exempt" workers, not "non-exempt."

Really? A tax free food stipend? Taking the food issue from the mundane to the utterly ridiculous isn't helping anyone.

So true. So true.

OP why don't you waddle down to the nearest supermarket and buy your own damn food you greedy porker.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What? My parents have worked white-collar office jobs for 30+ years and have always brought their own lunches. The only exception would be if the bosses took them out or if they were taking clients to lunch.

They had a lunch break.

Non-exempt workers are always on call and, like a nanny, never truly on break. If I eat at my desk and my boss walks in, I don't get to kick him out because I'm on lunch break. If I leave the office to pick up food to take back to my desk and my office or a client calls, I deal with it immediately or hightail it back to my desk. Except for the part about nannies needing to stay on site or with their charges (which isn't addressed by a stipend anyway), a non-exempt employee's lunch break isn't very different from the "on-call" break a nanny gets while her charges are napping or having quiet time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's no such thing as a tax free meal stipend. It's not like we can make up new tax law to add a perk for our nanny.

The tax laws are already in place.
It's called a "business lunch" for most of you.

Let's be honest here. You have either a "business lunch" OR a lunch break.

Crazy comma nanny is back with a new issue to harp on.

Sorry, but a business lunch requires a business purpose. Being required to eat on site at the workplace is not that. Many, many people have jobs that require them to eat at their desks or in a staff room at the office, and they don't get meals paid for by the employer on that basis. They bring their lunch to work, at their own expense.

I work in an office all day without being provided lunch. And since I am salaried (essentially like a nanny with guaranteed hours for all practical, though not legal, purposes), I don't get a formal lunch break. Likewise, if having a break but being on call b/c the baby is sleeping doesn't count as a break, then I NEVER get a break because you better believe if I did leave the office but the smartphone buzzed or the client called, I'd have to cut any hour long lunch break short. Like most people in downtown DC offices, I eat lunch at my desk 99.9 percent of the time, usually while working, not while my boss or clients are napping.

That said, we let our nanny eat our food and those 2 hours are her break. She usually brings her leftovers, and has never taken us up on our invitation to add to the grocery list, but whatever we have, she can have. She doesn't abuse the privilege, and we don't pay her extra for meals. I suspect the same is true for most people. I'd be astounded if she thought more than that was needed or required, and if for whatever reason we couldn't let her have access to all food, I wouldn't think just providing beverages, coffee and fridge space (what I get at work) was cruel or unusual.

Drumming up a controversy over meals is silly. You can compare yourself to the nanny's of super rich people all you want, but in any job, more perks mean more hours and more responsibility, so before you compare your lot to some nanny getting 3 meals a day provided by her employer with absolutely no limits, I'd investigate what she her job is like. Contrary to too many posters on DCUM's belief, job salary and benefits are not determined by what you need to live, or how wealthy your employer is. So if you want a meal stipend, expect to earn it and negotiate for it. Otherwise, you are just a regular employee, like all the MBs and all the other nannies. So pack a lunch or find another job. It is what I would have to do if I wanted the perk you are angling for, and it isn't unreasonable.

Otherwise, stop lecturing everyone about providing a benefit that is by no means automatic, and that no one thinks is reasonable but you.

Anonymous wrote:When you choose to hire a nanny on the clock all day, you pay for her meals while she's working.

Umm no. Former nanny here. As a nanny, you expect that there will be certain things that are very different from an office job. Not ever being able to be fully off (even at nap time) is one of those. You are really doing no favors for our profession. And i agree with a pp who said nannying doesn't seem like a good fit for you. Although i cant imagine you could handle office.politics either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you choose to hire a nanny on the clock all day, you pay for her meals while she's working.

That's something you need to factor in when negotiating salary. A stipend seperate from pay, to specifically pay for food makes no sense.

This. When i was a nanny, part of my salary negotiation included gas and time for the commute as well as other expenses. I nannied a baby and the parents were vegans who shopped at an expensive local market only. I felt uncomfortable eating their food!