Received Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Hello all. I am a nanny working in a nanny share for the past two years. I have been with family#1 for 2 years, since there daughter was 4 months old ( she is now 2 1/2). Family #2 I have been with for the past year since he was 3 months( he is now 15 months). The share has worked out great and I love both families. Family #1 has just informed me that she is
pregnant
and expecting a baby in March. Although I am thrilled for them, I cannot help to be concerned about two issues. The first is, I am not sure a share will work with three kids. I am not positive yet if family #2 will want to continue with the share once a new baby comes because that means less individual one on one time with their son and they could probably put him in daycare for a lot less money. So, I am not even sure yet if I want to take on all 3 and if I do, I definitely need to do re-negotiating of salary and a contract, etc. The second issue is maternity leave. My boss said that they would not be needing me for 3 months and would want me to come back to work for them in July but they really want to keep me on and love me being their nanny, etc. Obviously. I cannot afford to not be paid for 3 months. I would love to gain some insight into what other nannies or families have done with maternity leave issues. We did not put it in the contract because I honestly did not think they would be having more considering the mother's age-lesson learned! Anyway, I really need some advice on what to do in this situation. I really love this family and the little girl but I also have to look out for myself. Its not easy to find nanny jobs and I do not want to be stuck out of work. Thanks for any thoughts, opinions, etc.
I don't know what is fair, but when I took 4 months off for our adoption I paid my sitter (she only took care of my daughter 2 days/week-no other kids any other days of the week either) 1/2 pay for that 4 months. That is what she asked for and what we did. As an employer I thought it was a great deal for us, I would have been willing to pay her full price (for one child since that's all she had been taking care of at that time) to guarentee we were able to keep her. On the issue of pay-she doubled her rate for the second kid and I paid it but it was pretty expensive (I paid her $860/mo for 2 kids 2 days/week)-the kids were taken to her house.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is unfair of your boss to not pay you for those three months. How does she expect you to pay your bills and live? I would like to see how she would manage without a salary for three months. That is ludacris. I would tell her that you want to stay with them but just cannot afford to not be paid. Plain and simple. Maybe if you put it out there you can both come up with a reasonable solution that will work for all?
ReplyDeleteI was paid my full pre-seocnd child wage (40 hr week salary) for my boss's 16 week maternity leave. I worked about 20 hours as a mother's helper so that 1st child could have one on one time and I could get comfortable with the new baby too.
ReplyDeleteIf I were in your shoes, I would be worried about this 12 week maternity leave. After being home with the baby, the mother may decide she wants to stay home, which means you are out of a job. I would offer to come in a few hours a week to help with the transitition, so the parents can get some sleep. I would suggest babysitting to supplement your lost income during maternity leave, should the family decide they don't need you. Good luck and let us know what happens.
ReplyDeletewould you still be working with the second child in the nannyshare? could you work with one child then ask the mother on maternity leave if you could watch her child part time, so they can have a break?
ReplyDeleteThat way your at least getting half your income? If you really like the family try to find a temp job, if it'd impossible start looking for a full time position and tell them you couldn't live with out income for 3 months just so they can save money.
I agree with nycnanny- just lay it out that you can't go 3 months without pay, but present it as a dilemma to be solved, not a threat to leave. Going from 1 to 2 can be a challenge for some families. Are they sure they are not going to need you even half time so that mom can get some rest/spend time with the toddler/tend to the baby?
ReplyDeleteAlso, you are going to have to sit down with both families and discuss the nanny share situation. Although you will be anxious to kind of have things settled, I wouldn't do this right away. Wait a couple weeks. Pregnant mom might be insulted if you rain on their baby parade with these details right after she gave you the good news.
the family I am nannying for the mom is due in December, so she also gets 3 months off maternity leave. However, because she has two other boys she still needs me around. I guess it depends on the family.
ReplyDeleteI think its not fair to you that they want you gone for three months. Perhaps they figure its okay since you also nanny for another family, however even so its hard to have your income cut like that for that long, even if you are getting some some place else. Not fair at all.
This just seems wrong to me. She should either pay you for the three months or give you notice and you can try to find another job. Presumably she is going to be on some kind of paid maternity leave so I don't see why she shouldn't be able to continue to pay you if she really values you that highly.
ReplyDeleteMy advice is: explain to her that you can't afford to be unemployed for three months if you can avoid it. Say that if she can't continue to employ you, you will have to look for another job. Say that you would love to be able to continue to work for her if you haven't found anything after three months and that if a decent temporary job with another employer should arise then maybe you could be available again after three months - this is being diplomatic, obviously you should take the best job that is offered to you, whether temp or perm as there is no guarantee she will re-hire you after three months anyway.
It amazes me that there are families out there who don't realise that their nannies need to earn a living!
FYI,
ReplyDeletePaid maternity/paternity leave is not a given. It is usually standard for the parent(s) taking leave to have to use up their accrued sick/annual leave first. Once that leave is used up then they are on Leave without Pay.
The only exceptions are the ones that are written in a contract and/or as part of a company’s basic benefit package. The only thing guaranteed to the parents is at least the minimum of 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the Family Medical Leave Act.
Note: certain states have other requirements on top of the federal ones; Tennessee it is 16 weeks of leave).
Employers who want to keep their employees usually add to the basic requirements of allowing the employee to either use up their Annual and Sick leave prior to going on Unpaid. Or actually having a separate “maternity/paternity leave” benefit. But it is not a guarantee.
The intent of this law is to protect the parents job when they have to attend to a medical problem with a family memeber (Including the birth of thier child).