Sunday
Tragedies Are No Fun ;('''''
I am a mom of a 3 year old girl, I am not thinking straight right now because my husband passed away unexpectedly 2 weeks ago. My nanny has been a Godsend - putting in extra hours staying over night several times without my asking. She has not asked for extra money and I have been unable to focus on it, I am not rich. A year ago, her mother was sick and we gave her 4 days off with pay, no discussion. Should I just assume her regular salary is all right? I am not sure I can focus on a conversation about money. I am glad my husbands mother is here to help. What is customary in this case, this is my first child so I am learning.
I'm so sorry for your loss. That's so hard. 😞
ReplyDeleteYou should NOT assume your nanny's regular pay is all right. While she's being very gracious to you by putting in the extra hours without first laying out the terms, the right thing to do if you don't want to take advantage of her kindness is to deal with it now. If you need more time to make arrangements, you could say something like "Thank you so much for your help during this time, I really appreciate it. I realize weve used more of your time lately and have not discussed this in terms of pay. Please start tracking the extra hours you spend here, and I will make the rest right as soon as I can."
Immediately start paying her for any overtime going forward. Generously guesstimate the extra hours she's put in up til now; you could give it to her in a bonus or perhaps offer her the equivalent amount of paid time off?
Four days off w/pay is not a whole lot of extra time, sorry to say. If she stayed overnight that would be eaten up pretty fast. I realize this is a hard time for you, but paying your nanny for her time is the absolute right thing to do.
I have had 2 NFs and have seen both sides, in one case everything I did and they did was written carefully in a contract, no deviations. Another family, there was in fact flexibility. They worked around my class schedule, let me use the vehicle for my own use, and sometimes, not often, they would require extra hours with the 2 children and I never charged extra, I felt I had it pretty good. But - you owe your nanny a conversation, as hard as it is. If you are overwhelmed , have a family member approach her to make sure she is satisfied.
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