Received Wednesday, November 21, 2007- Perspective & Opinion
I was hired by my family as a full time nanny after working for them as a babysitter for over a year. At the time they hired me as a nanny, I really needed a job and aggreed to work for them for $10 an hour (after taxes).I have been working as a nanny for almost 2 years in Southern Florida, close to Miami) now and have not gotten a raise. Now, the mom is pregnant with their second child. I believe I am definetely entitled to ask for a raise, as now I will have to take care of 2 children, which means twice the resonsibility. I just don't know what would be an appropriate amount to ask for?The family is very generous when it comes to Birthdays or other celebrations (for my wedding they gave me and my husband almost $1000 in gifts), so I don't want to be seen as greedy! Any advice??
36 comments:
A raise is certainly appropriate considering they will be adding another child under your care. When I had my second child I gave my nanny a 30% raise (from $13/hr to $17/hr). I am not sure what percentage is the norm for other families though.
I dont know the going rate for nannies, but I would think you should get a raise of 50% for another child. I may be wrong, but $10 an hour sounds a bit low to me for the first child, so i would think $15-20 would be fair for two.
even for South Florida $10 an hour is low. I made that as an hourly occasional baby sitter when I was living in South Florida. I would think you should be making at least 15.
minimum.
this family is taking advantage. You are underpaid to begin with and you should get a raise after working them for this long anyway even if they werent.
$10.00 is low for Florida ... but do you have any child development education, etc. - in your background? If not, then I'd ask for $15.00 when the 2nd child comes around. If so, or you have previous experience, then you should ask for more, possibly even $18.00 - $20.00.
Good luck.
You are under paid. No one would take that family for that low of money so they are lucky to have you. You should definately ask for a raise. Ask your other nanny friends who have two children how much they make.
The usual increase in NYC for a new baby is $50. That is in addition to an annual raise. Since you gave your after tax income, it is hard to say how low that is, but unless you are in a fairly high bracket, it seems too low, even for one child. I would say with two children your salary should work out to at least $18 an hour before taxes.
I understand that you are happy with your family and they (judging by the generous gifts), are happy with you (which is really quite important because it's difficult to find a perfect match). And you don't want to seem greedy - But fair. Sit down with the parents and work out some kind of contract. (Do you get paid sick days, Holidays??) All of this is important in considering what you want to ask for in a raise (why haven't they offered you one in 2 yrs.? They have the money, right?) Personally, judging from your post, and with not wanting to scare them off, perhaps you should shoot for $18.00? I believe this family likes having the privilege of saying they have a "Nanny". Well - give them one ... and let them pay for one.
I suggest you do a little research and print off the cost of local alternatives ie: cost would be for 2 kids (1 infant) @ in home child care, at a daycare and the going rates according to local nanny agencies. Gently remind them that nanny care is top tier and should come out paying ABOVE all else as base- if you are educated then the rate goes even higher.
LAUGHING MY ASS OFF. THE usual increase for a new baby is NOT 50 dollars unless you are a penniless fool or allover schmuck. Go try and enroll your precious baby at a daycare, even some shithole daycare for $50 a week. No dice. And doesnt matter if you have an older kid there either. A dollar an hour more to take care of another screaming, crapping, needy child? You are out of your mind. And if you were able to get away with this, clap real loud and spank yourself because this is not the real world. A nanny should have a salary increase that is based on percentage. 25 percent of her salary is the minimum. I have heard of people who doubled their nannies salary. And if you can't afford it, STOP HAVING CHILDREN. Go green. We dont need more people to pollute this world. Oh your New Yorkers drive me bat ass batty.
10:42
Go laugh your ass off on another board. God, I hope you don't have any children. Because when you grow old ... you won't have them to care for your screaming, needy, crappy self. And I hope you end up in some shit-hole nursing home!
What is your salary BEFORE taxes are taken out? What other perks do you have? (health insurance contribution?) How much experience and education do you have?
All of these things play a role.
ok, so this mom has one kid and a nanny. she doesn't learn her lesson and gets preggers again to repeat the cycle of handing off her child to a stranger for the sake of the almight dollar. why does the us government give tax breaks for people with children? we should be taxing any children after #1.
My understanding has always been that FL, with all the illegal/questionably legal people willing to work for peanuts, is a low paying area for nannies.
Frankly, I think that if you ask for $18 - 20 per hour you'll be looking for a new job. You have to take into account so many factors here - employers income/what they can afford to pay, location, nanny's experience/education level, benefits offered above and beyond salary, and so on... In many cases, a $$ raise does nothing but shove you into a higher tax bracket, and asking for other benefits makes more financial sense. Breedlove and associates has a nanny tax calculator, so you can see what you would actually take home with a variety of hourly salaries.
If you have a work agreement/contract, now is the time to revise it, because of the extra duties coming with the new baby. If you DON'T have one, it's time to have one - just google "nanny work agreement" for examples.
You can actually write yearly raises and new baby raises into a contract. Sounds like that would be a good idea, because then you can simply say, "It's been a year since we signed our agreement, let's look it over, do any revisions, and then talk about my review for the last year."
I feel that you deserve a raise and you should ask for it. They will be asking you to take on more work, plain and simple. How much of a raise is the question: I think at least a two to five dollar raise is appropriate, depending on what they can afford. Perhaps they spent so much money on your wedding because they are saving in what they pay for childcare. I would ask for a raise, and ask them what they think is fair. Anything under two dollars, I would start looking for another position. Don't quit until you find one, though. If they won't bend, say ok but just start looking. You are worth more than that.
Chick makes a lot of sense and is actually a nanny, so she is one to listen to. I like that she actually took the time to be realisitc instead of simply bashing the family you work for out of hand, as so manny nanny types seem to do here. So nice to have a rational opinon from a nanny. You do need to be aware of what the market is in your area.
I live in the Dallas area and, judging by the very high number of questionably legal, non English speaking, highly underqualified "nannies" I see working around here, I suspect the pay scale for nannies has been driven way down here. There are likely some very good, well qualified nannies getting a good salary too, but it's not the norm here. be realistic or you will be looking for another job...fair or not, that's just life sometimes. You can reasonably expect to earn only what the ,market will bear in oyur area.
But it sounds like they like you and you like them, so I would go in thinking positively about your chances of reaching a mutually satisfactory solution.
Mom, I am so tired of you and your dumb comments. So in other words, this young lady should settle instead of reaching for the stars. It has been said before and I'll say it again: your poor kids.
6:50 - How is mom's comment dumb?
She says that the nanny needs to be realistic. This is a pretty good response. I'd like to earn 100k but people in my line of work don't, does that mean I should quit a job I love and reach for the stars (which are not attainable) just because YOU are an unrealistic optimist?
If the nanny does her research as some others have suggested and comes up with a normal per hour rate that you find distasteful, should she discard that and ask for a sum that her family find unreasonable?
To the OP - you should have asked for a COL raise after a year and the fact that it has now been two years, I can imagine that your employers would be somewhat surprised if you didn't ask for one, especially given the extra work. I imagine that at $10 an hour after tax you're probably earning around $13 before tax - a VERY reasonable increase would be to $16 per hour, however I would tell the family that you'd like $17/$18 per hour but that you are somewhat negotiable. ALSO - get a contract if you don't already have one.
The family will get over the 'momentary' thought that you are greedy and realise that they would be hard pressed to find someone that they can trust (2 years with the same family implies that they trust you) and that knows their family so well in this time of turmoil for their oldest.
caroline,
are you new here? your suggestions are so dead on and helpful. I think you win best answer!
like someone said earlier.. I am not sure what your qualifications are.. I live in Canada, I have my E.C.E and over 7 years of nanny and daycare experience.. I would not work for less that $2000 a month after taxes.. that's what I make now for one child who is 10months old. I have made that for every job I have had in the last 5 years (3 families) I also get paid salary so I am paid if I am there or not, I get my two weeks paid vacation and they pay me for any additional time they take off. I agree that a nanny can't ask for 100k a year but this is a job and how anyone lives on $10 an hour minus taxes is beyond me... Good luck with your raise, I definatly hope you get what you are worth, if not look for a new job :)
Don't worry about her Caroline. 6:50 is a frequent whiner. (Quite recognizable and transparent despite the anonymous label.)
She is obviously either bitterly jealous or feeling very guilty about the situations she has put her children into and does not like to be reminded by others of how she knows she ought to behave.
The truth sometimes hurts and she would rather shut it off than take the time to do the right thing.
Hey OP -
All I gotta say is - Let us know what you decide to do and what happens. It's all a learning experience. You may help the next nanny!
Hey 6:50,
So what's your problem? Are you one of those bitter nannies who just wants to stick it to all nanny employers? If you keep on having bad experiences with your families, it MIGHT not be everybody else's fault all the time. Did you ever consider that?
Do you even read the posts, or do you just insert anti-employer rants randomly throughout? If you read them, you might have noticed that this OP likes her employers and wants to keep her job. She asked for advice on how to best seek a raise without straining her good relationship with them. Obviously she does not feel abused or mistreated by them. She simply wants a raise, which is fine and probably due to her. (And which may simply have never occurred to them if this is their first nanny experience.) Maybe they assume she will ask when she feels it is time. Maybe they're actually nice people. If she goes in and acts really greedy all of a sudden, demanding a salary that is way out of line for the area, the family, even if they give it to her, is probably going to feel a little resentful and taken advantage of...which may strain the trust they now share...which this nanny does not want to happen.
You know, some people like and have respect for their employers and do not see them as pidgeons from whom they ought to try to squeeze anything they possibly can get. It's called integrity and respect...and it sounds mutual...which is probably why this family likes this OP so much and she wants to keep working for them.
Your greedy advice is no good to her. She sounds like a class act who wants to stay that way.
Hey 10:42,
You're a crazy lunatic bitch. Have you no life but to rip on other people so harshly?
Have another drink, mommy.
mom is annoying 90 percent of the time, but this last comment of hers that 10:42 was referring to was harmless, 10:42 should stick around and see just how annoying mom can get.
7:17
Mom is annoying? Are you serious? Because her posts are alittle, um ... detailed? Have you seen some of the others on here yet? They totally get off on insulting others, and actually enjoy hurting their feelings. I think that moms posts are are nothing compared to theirs, if even just informative.
Think of it a s a card game and "shoot the moon". Then, see what happens.
11:34
Sounds like you have a strong disdain for mom?
My post 11:34 has not a thing to do with Mom, for whom I do not care one way or the other, but if you are going to ask for a raise, aim high. That's what I'm saying.
K. lol.
There were several comments here made before that pertaining to her, (knowing what "Shoot the Moon" was about)... so, it was an assumption.
;)
7:17 lol
I wish I could lose weight! Could somebody give me some advice?
OMG! How pathetic! Your desperate attempt to start another war gets ignored, so you continue to drop bait?
Sorry, LOSER. No bite.
10:58
Hey L-O-S-E-R!
Look right above your post ... o.k., do you see that? The post at 1:34? The post that is egging another fight? THAT is called NOT letting it go, dumbass.
Now, troll bait, have a nice day!
;)
use the experience aquired and go to another family who will pay you what taking care of precious ones is worth... it's your life, lead it!
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You are so disgusting badass! GOD have metcy on you, cuz an animal has more manners and felling then you.
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