? For those with a nanny....

QCBride06 · January 2011

If you got snowed in this week and didnt need your nanny, will you still pay her? If you take a random vacation day during the week, do you still pay?

I am running into an issue with the family I work for, where they will call me the night b4 and say they dont need me and then not pay me. And the mom is a teacher at a Catholic school and when they have random holy days and school is closed, I dont get paid, since she is home. Eventhough I am willing and want to work these days! I am just stressed bc over the 2 week Cmas break I didnt get paid. And then the family called me last Sunday night and said the dad's office was observing New Years day on Monday, so they wouldnt need me AND NOW the SNOW - UGH. So now we are looking at almost an entire month of not having been paid yet a full weeks pay. Its just frustrating. I am going to have a talk with them but dont know if I am being unreasonable... I also have zero PTO..... I guess they figure since I have time off (no pay tho) at Thanksgiving, Cmas, spring break and summer, then I dont need PTO.....

XtraKristi · January 2011

We sure do. If I am the one cancelling I definitely pay. Same thing if a holiday falls on one of her work days, I still pay. It is her job and her source of income. I value her time and want her to value mine and take good care of my children. The only time I do not pay is when she schedules vacation or a day off. You are not being unreasonable. On the days that my DD's preschool is closed due to snow etc, I still have to pay. I consider it the same with a nanny.

<3cici<3 · January 2011

I'm also a nanny. In my contract there's an agreement that if I am not needed WITHOUT a two week notice, then I get paid a full day. I budget a month at a time and need a few weeks notice if my pay is going to change. So, if grandparents decide to pop in Thursday night and I'm not needed on Friday, I'll still get full pay for Friday because I was expecting those hours. However, IF I'm given more than two weeks notice, I only get half-pay. So in the summer when the kids go away to the beach for a whole week, but I've known about it for a few months on the calendar, they only pay me for half a week. Why do they even pay me when they're not using me at all? Yes, it's a pretty sweet deal, but I haven't taken a single vacation/personal/sick day in the 3 years I've been with them. They would absolutely give me one if I ask, but I am good about revolving my personal vacation days around the times they don't need me. So them giving me 1/2 pay on days they don't need me (especially in the summer) is like them just paying for any vacation/sick days I've gathered throughout the years.

Maybe you can explain to them that you're having trouble with your own personal budget because of the recent scheduling and you'd like to work something out that if they change their schedule at the last minute you still get something. It's not really fair for them to just say "nevermind." They may not be using you, so they may not think they need to pay you, but if they expect to keep you long-term they should be considerate of your income and well being.

luckygirl0818 · January 2011

We had an in home daycare for a while, and we still paid even if we did not use her. We drew up a contract before she started working for us, and it was in her contract...

sophabelle · January 2011

something like this definitely should have been brought up before you started working for them. i think you should be paid bc if you were a daycare they would have to pay you regardless. but i think something like this should have been put out there ahead of time if they didn't plan on paying you for time that they take off. i mean you rely on them for income and they should realize this.

QCBride06 · January 2011

Thanks for the input ladies! Total rookie move on my part not doing a contract. Mine and my DH's thought is also, if school/preschool is closed for a day or you keep a child home from school, you still have to pay for that day.

Thanks again, hoping the talk with them goes well!

raceyrae · January 2011

This is definitely something that should have been worked out before you started working for them but I think you should discuss it with them given it's causing an issue financially for you.

In general, our nanny gets 2 weeks paid vacation (one week has to be between Christmas and New Years since my husband's company is shut down that week but that works out well for her), 10 paid holidays and 3 paid sick days. When she started, she was salaried -- she got the same pay each week whether she worked 40 hr or I didn't have her come in for some reason. I would pay her extra if she worked over 40 hrs. The 2nd year we changed it to be hourly pay and I'd pay her time in a half if she worked over 40 hrs (which happens at least every other week). For the most part, if I don't need her to come in (family coming into town, etc.) then I don't pay her; however she's given plenty of notice. But we're also flexible. For instance, we found out my husband had to use all his vacation time before the end of the year so he was off December 16 - January 3. Part of the time we didn't have her come in but I still paid her because I didn't think it was fair for her to not get those hours.

In general, because she's paid hourly, she knows that like other hourly jobs her pay could fluctuate week to week. But I still want things to be fair for her so we give plenty of notice and make exceptions like I noted above.

raceyrae · January 2011

Also, I've never called her the night before and told her I didn't need her to come in and then not pay her.

And if my husband's job is still open during bad weather and he has to go in, then I expect her to still come into work (since I work from home, my job doesn't shut down due to weather). If she chooses not to, she doens't get paid for that day because then I can't do my job.

JennaNAaron · January 2011

I've nanny'd for two different families. I had contracts with both. For the first family they gave me two weeks paid vacation. It stipulated in the contract that if they gave me more than two weeks notice they didn't have to pay me. This being said...they always paid me even if I had more than two weeks notice that they didn't need me. They also would go out of town for the weekends (i.e. not need me Fri or Mon) at the spur of the moment, but always paid me. The mom worked from home, and the rule on snow was that if Durham Government, not Durham schools, was closed or delayed I followed that schedule. She never however expected me to risk my life and I was late a couple times due to bad rain of all things, and she didn't care a bit.

The second family paid me for 35 hours a week regardless of how many I worked. Often they came home early or dad left late. I still got paid the same amount. They also paid me if they didn't need me. Mom had two weekdays off a month, but would either have me come in for just a few hours or just pay me anyway. Her opinion was "happy nanny, happy baby"

lah1177 · January 2011

Like the other posters said, you definitely need a contract. We had one with our last nanny and absolutely everything was covered (vacation, sick days, etc). I have a new nanny now, but she is more like a baby-sitter and I do not have a contract. Therefore if she does not work, I do not pay her. I will not be paying her for the two snow days and I do not pay her for any holidays etc. But if she wants it to be more formal (ie. take out taxes, etc,) I will draw up a contract. Good luck!!

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