The question has been posed to employers many times in the past when this same subject has come up-could you afford to give up 1 or 2 weeks pay if your employer didn't need you to work despite the fact that you were willing and available? And they also expected you to be right back at work when they requested? No employer ever answers this one.

Get smart, OP. Pay the help her wages. End of story.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a full time nanny I expect to get paid even if you don't need me. This is my full time job. I can't afford to not get paid if you decide to take a vacation. This should have been discussed during the interview process but since it wasn't you have two choices. You pay it or don't pay it. I absolutely would not agree to make up the hours on evenings or weekends. I value my free time and I am not giving up 40 hours of my own time because you chose to take a vacation during my regularly scheduled time. If you choose not to pay her I would be prepared to find a new nanny be side I would most definitely use that week to interview for a new job. I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing I'll miss a paycheck whenever yo
u decide to travel.

+1

This is exactly the diffetence between a full time and part time position. I have worked many jobs that wwere part time in designation with 40 hours per week. My brother is a line cook in a restaurant that closed for two weeks to remodel. Not my brother's fault, but they did not pay him but told him they might be able to find a spot in another store those two weeks. Look at all these furrloughs--no one is guarranteed 40 hours.

OP, you told your nanny the deal, your nanny pushed back. If you really don't feel that you should pay her, then that is cool, but be prepared if she goes somewhere else. I would also expect someone Ishorted cash to steal from me. And, next time, get a contract with terms laid out. These forums have great info.

You would expect her to steal from you? Lol. Not many people could lose a week of income and not feel it. It doesn't make you a thief.

I'd love to hear from the OP on her decision.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a full time nanny I expect to get paid even if you don't need me. This is my full time job. I can't afford to not get paid if you decide to take a vacation. This should have been discussed during the interview process but since it wasn't you have two choices. You pay it or don't pay it. I absolutely would not agree to make up the hours on evenings or weekends. I value my free time and I am not giving up 40 hours of my own time because you chose to take a vacation during my regularly scheduled time. If you choose not to pay her I would be prepared to find a new nanny be side I would most definitely use that week to interview for a new job. I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing I'll miss a paycheck whenever yo
u decide to travel.

+1

This is exactly the diffetence between a full time and part time position. I have worked many jobs that wwere part time in designation with 40 hours per week. My brother is a line cook in a restaurant that closed for two weeks to remodel. Not my brother's fault, but they did not pay him but told him they might be able to find a spot in another store those two weeks. Look at all these furrloughs--no one is guarranteed 40 hours.

OP, you told your nanny the deal, your nanny pushed back. If you really don't feel that you should pay her, then that is cool, but be prepared if she goes somewhere else. I would also expect someone Ishorted cash to steal from me. And, next time, get a contract with terms laid out. These forums have great info.

Anonymous wrote:As a full time nanny I expect to get paid even if you don't need me. This is my full time job. I can't afford to not get paid if you decide to take a vacation. This should have been discussed during the interview process but since it wasn't you have two choices. You pay it or don't pay it. I absolutely would not agree to make up the hours on evenings or weekends. I value my free time and I am not giving up 40 hours of my own time because you chose to take a vacation during my regularly scheduled time. If you choose not to pay her I would be prepared to find a new nanny be side I would most definitely use that week to interview for a new job. I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing I'll miss a paycheck whenever yo
u decide to travel.

+1

Another example of how some parents can't really afford the high level of childcare they want.

"If this is the case, OP certainly is a horrible employer. "Gee, I think I deserve a vacation. Why don't I make my nanny take my vacation without pay so I can pay for it! I don't give a crap about how it will affect her, she's just the help anyway."

I do not think OP is a horrible employer - just a clueless one not thinking enough about what is feasible for her nanny and what is actually even in her own (OP's) interest re: nanny retention. As i posted above, this quite likely flows from the fact that nannying is an hourly job but in the DC area it is treated as defacto salaried (in that nannies get a regular pay even if the family goes away). This is not the norm for almost any other hourly work and so it is not at all surprising that people new to employing a nanny have no clue about this. It really does fall to nannies to help educate the MBs about this at the get-go since they are much more aware of prevailing market norms. Now, a family may need to adjust the salary to take that into account though - that is part of the overall deal - but it sucks for ALL involved when expectations re: guaranteed pay are not aligned.

Anonymous wrote:I think your nanny has laid out her case to you pretty well. It's relatively standard to maintain her paycheck through your vacation but you can always choose to dock her. Please recognize though that if you choose to dock her, despite her making clear her expectations, you will most likely lose your nanny.

+1 I thought it was standard as well. It is what I do.

Anonymous wrote:OP is not a terrible employer - she just did not realize this was the norm - probably because it differs so much from other hourly jobs. She may have even assumed they would use money they would normally pay the nanny that week towards the trip so now feels a but stuck.
I do pay 52 weeks a yr since I did a lot of cruising on here before I hired a nanny and think its helps retain a nanny long term. But I definitely think the bigger share of the fault here lies with OP's nanny for not bringing this up at the hiring stage.

If this is the case, OP certainly is a horrible employer. "Gee, I think I deserve a vacation. Why don't I make my nanny take my vacation without pay so I can pay for it! I don't give a crap about how it will affect her, she's just the help anyway."

OP is not a terrible employer - she just did not realize this was the norm - probably because it differs so much from other hourly jobs. She may have even assumed they would use money they would normally pay the nanny that week towards the trip so now feels a but stuck.
I do pay 52 weeks a yr since I did a lot of cruising on here before I hired a nanny and think its helps retain a nanny long term. But I definitely think the bigger share of the fault here lies with OP's nanny for not bringing this up at the hiring stage.

Anonymous wrote:Offer 50-60% of her check & maybe help her find another job for that week

Maybe it'd be less aggravation to give her her money?
Whatever. I feel sorry for these children with parents like OP.

Offer 50-60% of her check & maybe help her find another job for that week

Do you want your nanny when you return? Then yeah, you should pay her.

"The problem with the common sense approach is that many of us have worked hourly positions. It's actually quite rare in most hourly positions to be paid when you are not scheduled to work. Our nanny got guarenteed hours, and I agree its a good benefit to discuss. But I wish we could tone down the outrage when people don't know to discuss it. The onus truly is on the person who wants an extra benefit to ask for it. "

ditto everything here. And i think this IS why many of the guaranteed hours "misunderstandings" come up. If I didn't get scheduled for a shift at the waitress job I worked i did not get paid. I was just a teen so that was fine w/ me and I fully agree it makes sense for nannies to be paid steadily. But most MBs' experience w/ hourly positions will have been that they are a "you work, you get paid" nature. Nanny ones are different - at least in DC area - but why would most new MBs know this?