I have a unique situation that I would like some advice on. I am a FT nanny but I also babysit on the side for a few families. There is one family that I babysit for at least 3-4 times a month. They have a 2 year old and are expecting their second child in January.This family asked me if I could be their on-call person to come and stay with the 2 year old if they go into labor during the night or on the weekend (they have childcare options during the weekdays.) I told them yes, of course.
They asked what I would charge and I told them that they could pay me my regular hourly rate ($15/hr) or we could figure out an overnight rate. They told me they did not think that was fair to me. They said it will be an inconvenience to me because they will be asking me to not go out of town during the time frame of her due date. They said they would like to pay me a fee for being "on-call." They asked me to think about what might be fair.
I have no idea what to say. At first I thought that they did not need to pay me in addition to hours worked, but the more I think about it, I am sacrificing to be on-call. It is not unusual for me to take weekend trips out of town (I have family that I visit frequently that live 3hrs away) or have a few drinks on a Friday night. Not that I drink a lot, I'm just saying, I obviously won't be having a few glasses of wine in my off time if I think someone may be calling me in to work.
Has anyone ever had an experience like this? What is a fair rate for me to ask? I want to be reasonable and fair as well. Thanks for any suggestions!
If you need to be "on call" for a 48hr time frame over the weekend, how about $75/day in addition to your hourly salary? Perhaps even $100 depending on where you live at.
ReplyDeleteHow about $200 a day? You can always negotiate downward. And if they are so bent on paying you well, why can't they come up with a number? Just sayin'.
ReplyDeletedo you get that money even if you aren't needed? so you get to charge the 'fee' no matter what? I'd do $200 as well
ReplyDeleteOP here-
ReplyDeleteSo should I charge a flat rate for the weekends (since I will be in town during the week anyway)
So for each weekend they ask me to stay in town, they pay me X amount?
I think that they want me to stick around for basically the entire month of her due date...
Don't forget that you won't be able to accept other jobs during that time frame as that would make you unavailable. You need to account for any other potential hours that you would be able to accept had they not hired you to be on-call.
ReplyDeleteI would charge a fee for each day whether it is a weekday or a weekend. How does she know she will have the baby over a weekend?
If it were me, the fee would be half my normal hourly rate when I was on-call but not working. This would be day and night hours. If my rate was $10 p/h, my on call rate per 24 hours would be $120. I would also consider asking them what they had in mind for an on-call rate before I state my idea to make sure that it matches up and negotiate as needed.
please get rid of the anonymous. That is disgusting.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with the above poster. I actually worked in a similar "on call" situation before. My MB was a nurse and some weekends she would be on call, so I would be as well. They paid her half her hourly rate for the time she was on call, and if they called her in she got time and a half. I was the same. She paid me $6/hour to be on call, and $18 if I actually had to go in. Part of that was because if she called, I would need to be there in no less than 30 minutes because she had to be at the hospital in no less than 45 minutes. So basically, i think half of your normal wages/hour would be fair. Hope this helps =)
ReplyDeleteslb3334,
ReplyDeleteDone.
Ugh, hate spam!
I have a filter but some of them have smartened up a bit and still get through.