Those with a full time nanny....

Hi all,

I am in the process of hiring a full time nanny (I'm going back to work in about a month and a half). A few questions --- what's the going rate for a full time nanny? We are planning on offering some paid vacation -- however, what happens when we go on vacation -- i.e. is the expectations that I will stay pay them, or do they expect that they won't be paid if I take off additional time and don't need them?

Thanks!

Those with a full time nanny....

I don't, but I have friends who do. I know they pay $500 a week off the books. They are there from Sunday night to Friday night. I think they get two weeks vacation. One week is the same week the family goes on vacation and the other is of the nannys choosing.

It's live in. She also does laundry, cleaning, etc.

Those with a full time nanny....

The rate varies dependent upon a few things, but primarily how many children they are watching. Are they cooking/cleaning/doing laundry?
As far as vacation time, I always let my sitter pick a week and I pick the other week. She is also off all of the days that i decide to take throughout the year.
We do not pay for days off but give a generous bonus at the end of the year. We also give her a ton of flexibility -- let her drive our child, take him shopping, to her home, etc.
She also has free time when he is in preschool 2x per week.

Re: Those with a full time nanny....

Re: Those with a full time nanny....

Re: Those with a full time nanny....

We have had the same nanny for 7+ years. Vacation she gets about 3 weeks - We pick some of the time and she picks others. If I take a random time off and don't need her I will pay her. If she wants add'l weeks off I usually don't pay her. Days here and there I pay her. She is wonderful person to our children and I would be lost without her. We try to keep her very happy. I also pay her all the holidays I get paid for. Which aren't many :(

Re: Those with a full time nanny....

The rate will definitely vary based on hours, number of kids and your expectations. Will she be doing laundry for the child only? The parents too? Cooking meals? Cleaning kid's room? For one kid full time I think the average rate works out to be $13-$17/hour but for our experience we set a weekly rate based on set hours and anything beyond that was overtime, which was a set hourly rate we agreed on before her first day. Vacation was 2 weeks paid, one of which was of her choosing. We also allowed for a few paid sick days. Any days above and beyond those would have been unpaid except in the instance of us deciding to take more vacation and not need her. Basically we agreed to pay her for 52 weeks/year when we hired her full time. It hardly seems fair for someone to be hired for full time work and then all of a sudden not get paid for an extra week you decided to go away, right? I also think it's helpful to have everything in writing and go over it together before day one. Maybe even have her sign it like a contract. This way everyone knows the expectations.

Re: Those with a full time nanny....

I'm a part time nanny so I can't help with the pay.
But as vacations go. They pay me when they take a week off. Which is 2x a year.
And asked that I take my vacation at the same time. If I choose to take it at another time I will not get paid for it.
I am on the books and get paid for the holidays.

Re: Those with a full time nanny....

I had a FT nanny for 2 + years.

I let her choose 1 week she wanted off and the other weeks she was off when I was. We always paid for when we were away. In fact we paid her when she was sick too. We never docked her pay. I figured it wasn't worth it. She was amazing and by far the best nanny I could have ever wished for. She never took advantage. When I was looking someone had said to me, "you always want to take care of the person who is watching your biggest treasure". I never forgot that.

She did light house work and did DD's laundry. Sometimes she would do mine.