I recently started working for a family with two children. They treat me well and I love the kids. Recently I was told that they are expecting a child. Upon signing my contract MB had to be like a week into her pregnancy with no knowledge of it. The contract does not mention anything about what to do in the event of a new addition. How do I go about this? Do I ask for a raise? Both sets of grandparents will be helping with the newborn for a good amount of time so do I even deserve a raise?
Wednesday
Additional Concerns...
Received Wednesday, November 10, 2010
I recently started working for a family with two children. They treat me well and I love the kids. Recently I was told that they are expecting a child. Upon signing my contract MB had to be like a week into her pregnancy with no knowledge of it. The contract does not mention anything about what to do in the event of a new addition. How do I go about this? Do I ask for a raise? Both sets of grandparents will be helping with the newborn for a good amount of time so do I even deserve a raise?
I recently started working for a family with two children. They treat me well and I love the kids. Recently I was told that they are expecting a child. Upon signing my contract MB had to be like a week into her pregnancy with no knowledge of it. The contract does not mention anything about what to do in the event of a new addition. How do I go about this? Do I ask for a raise? Both sets of grandparents will be helping with the newborn for a good amount of time so do I even deserve a raise?
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21 comments:
I am not sure- its a good question. Most nannies would get something of a raise upon a new addition to the family- but since grandparents are going to be there... Talk to your bosses and see what they say. Yes, I think you deserve a raise because of the addition.. but they may or may not want to give it right away because of grandparents being there. Good Luck.
If they do not give you a raise, they have already violated your contract, assuming in the contract it says how many children there are. I am assuming that in the contract it states the child you will be caring for. They need to adjust the contract.
I would tell them you need a raise: you signed on to take care of two children, not three.
Of course you deserve the raise, you will be taking on more responsibility.
With my family mom stayed home for the first 3 months and I didn't get a raise until she started back to work. I did watch the baby while she was on maternity leave but out of those 3 months I think I only had both kids maybe 3 times and it was just a few hours each time. Any other time I watched the baby the oldest would be in school, and I had MUCH shorter hours during the time.
In your case it would depend on how much work you will be doing when the grandparents are also helping.
Look down a few posts there was someone who brought up about getting a raise when the baby was born and I believe the consensus was an extra 50 bucks a week is the norm unless you live in an area like New York City where everything is much more expensive.
Yes, you should definitely get a raise for an add'l child..esp. an infant since a newborn is waaay more work. However, since the grandparents will be around and they will be caring for the baby the first few months, I would not expect a raise to kick in until after the grandparents stop helping out. During this time, you should approach the family and mention that since there is a new child involved,then maybe you both need to sit down and re-negotiate a new contract. I cannot imagine any parent having an issue w/that.
Good Luck.
I agree with the others. You absolutely deserve a raise...once you are caring for the newborn on your own. It sounds like this will be when the baby is around three months old, which should coincide nicely with your year review. I wouldn't sweat it right now, you can discuss a raise when the time gets closer.
You deserve a serious raise for an infant. That's a lot of time and attention.
I hope the contract states two children. It will need to be renegotiated when the grandparents leave.
My opinion is a little different than everyone else's I assume that your contract in for 1 calendar year, if it is I would just wait it out. By then the baby will have been born and be a couple months old and you will have developed a good relationship with the family. At that point you can see how much care you will be providing for the infant on top of the other kids and discuss the raise when you renew the contract. I just would feel so weird bringing it up so early in the position and pregnancy. Don't stress it yet unless you think this is a family who will try to take advantage. Who knows they may just give you the raise without you even asking.
I think TinyDancer makes a good point. I'm sure the parents are excited about the new baby, and it wouldn't be good to rain on their parade too soon, especially since you have not been with them long. I'm not sure you have to wait till your annual review, though. In a perfect world, you would get a small raise when the baby is born (if you have any responsibilities for him/her at that time) and a more substantial raise after the grandparents leave. It all depends on the relationship with your employer. Do you think askng them about it before your first year is up would put a bad taste in their mouths?
Who knows they might not sign another contract for another year once yours is up. Some parents decide its cheaper to just stay home after having their 3rd/4th child.
I'd say wait until they mention you caring for all 3 children alone, and ask for a raise.
Yes, you should get a raise. How far along is she? The possibility of miscarriage is greatly reduced at 13 weeks (about 3 months prego). The mother's doctor should be checking for any abnormalities in the baby around 20 weeks (about 5 months). I think you should wait until month 6 to bring it up. More than likely, it has crossed the parents minds, but it's just too soon to discuss the matter. As someone else pointed out, an extra $50 a week sounds like the norm.
Yes, you deserve a raise. I personally wouldn't count on the grandparents' presence as a positive. Even if well-intentioned, having more people around can result in more work. Some people see a nanny as a general helper and the grandparents may falsely assume you are there to help them personally (can you get me a cup of coffee, run out to the store, etc?). I would want the raise as soon as the new baby is born, although if you already know the grandparents and are confident they truly are very helpful, then perhaps the raise can come after they leave. I agree with the suggstion to wait until later in pregnancy to bring it up.
You say the grandparents will be helping a "good amount of time." Is it safe to assume then that you will be caring for the infant periodically? If so, a raise at birth is necessary. And not to be a downer, but grandparents 'can' be very judgemental when it comes to the care of their grandchildren, ESPECIALLY when the caregiver is not their darling child. This could turn out to be a very stressful time and you may be relieved to see them go! In my opinion, unless you will have very little contact with the grandparents , you deserve a good raise as soon as the baby comes home. Even if you're not caring for the infant, they may be a huge pain in the you-know-what meddling in your caregiving of their other grandchildren....
why is this a concern for you? have the parents asked you to take care of an additional infant? it's possible you may not be needed to care for this child. just because she's pregnant, does not mean she has you in mind. obviously if you are to take care of this child, you would need to amend your contract. but don't assume things.
to "justsayin"
either the parents expect her to care for this child, or they expect to fire her when the child comes.
wake up. they are trying to take advantage of OP.
OP here...take advantage of me? NO. First of all when she told me about the baby she asked "are you ok with another one? Can you handle this? Are we scaring you?" So yeah they have me in mind. Also, this baby was not planned (but it will be WELCOMED!!!) due to the mother's career advancements. But that baby will be LOVED :)
Also their previous Nanny was never left alone with the children because the grandparents were always there helping but she got paid proper and good wages. It's a cultural thing with them as well for the grandparents to take part.
My contract does state only the two children. I will wait until the baby's arrival draws closer to bring up the subject. It's a hard pregnancy (scaring me off of having children!) so I'm just going to let her be because right now the last thing she needs is me bothering her while she is trying to keep food down.
Thanks :) And I think they should be good about it all! :)
SO did you you write this just to defend them and talk about how wonderful they are? You asked for opinions. You got them. Clearly, you didn't really want any...?
"Oooookay," what are you talking about? OP cleared up a misunderstanding someone had, answered a question about her contract, said she was going to take the advice of waiting, and then thanked everyone for their responses. Why are you trying to stir up trouble where there isn't any?
OP:
Trust me, they ARE trying to take advantage of you. Why in the world would you wait to discuss this with them? Discuss it now! If these parents are so freaking wonderful and you think they will be "good" about it, ask them about your contract, which they are clearly in violation of.
I am laughing my ass off at how they said "can you handle this? are we scaring you?" because OP that would have been the perfect time to bring up a raise!
regarding the comment made by ooookay: I think they have a valid point! you asked for opinions and the overwhelming majority seem to think you are being taken advantage of.
Why ask for an opinion if you already know it all? pfft. good luck with taking care of three kids for the price of two.
I'm done...I'm flipping done with this site...since I've started using it I've seen a fair share of amazing nanny posts but mostly I think a good majority of you (again not all of you) are nuts! I mean...just cold hearted too. UGH. Nice people take care of kids not you sociopaths. I'm done...really. I think this site would be such a wonderful positive place if the people were wonderful positive people but you aren't. Be GRATEFUL you are BLESSED to be in such a profession not bitter and yeah really a lot of you are kinda sociopaths.
Grow up, smile, and LOVE YOU job like I do...and when someone asks for advice...don't get all defensive just idk I mean yeah telling it like it is is fine but you are all so bitter. We all have our fair share of problems with employers but that comes with EVERY profession grow up and DEAL with it!
Thank you to all the sincere, wonderful nannies that are trustworthy but to the rest of you big babies you ought to be ASHAMED of yourselves! This is a profession of LOVE and compassion not hatred and pettiness! What kind of example of are you setting for your kids?!
OP:
you sound like a child! get over yourself.
I do love my job. I'm not a nanny: I employ one.
Your anger is an extreme over-reaction. People are here to state their opinions. If you hang your dirty laundry out here, expect us to notice it and comment. We are not your mother and you cannot expect us to coddle you.
p.s. you are done here? well don't let the door hit ya where God splits ya.
duh you deserve a raise. A family I used to nanny for asked for me back and they are going to have a baby in a month and when we were discussing salary I suggested a pay raise for three kids instead of just two. They responded well and I got my raise.
Be assertive. You deserve a raise :)
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