I, a nanny, have been working for a wonderful family for the past 11 months. The only problem is I need to make more money. I nanny for a 13 month old who I love and adore; I will miss her wholeheartedly. Recently, I talked to mom about a raise at my one year (in july) she told me that they could not afford to. Making $8 an hour now has making ends meet hard. Anyway, I was just offered a position - making more. It kills me to think about this - but how do I tell the family and when. The position would start the end of August. Also, the new family has a current nanny who will be on maternity leave and wants to come back after 3 months. I don't want to be in that situation where I have to turn around and look again. What do I do? Thanks for your help.
Friday
I Need More Money...
I, a nanny, have been working for a wonderful family for the past 11 months. The only problem is I need to make more money. I nanny for a 13 month old who I love and adore; I will miss her wholeheartedly. Recently, I talked to mom about a raise at my one year (in july) she told me that they could not afford to. Making $8 an hour now has making ends meet hard. Anyway, I was just offered a position - making more. It kills me to think about this - but how do I tell the family and when. The position would start the end of August. Also, the new family has a current nanny who will be on maternity leave and wants to come back after 3 months. I don't want to be in that situation where I have to turn around and look again. What do I do? Thanks for your help.
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Omigosh!! I was in a similar situation a few months back..talk about deja vu. I was wrestling with what to do for a few weeks and I ultimately chose the higher paying position even though it was only for four months. It was the best decision I made and even now being unemployed, I know I did the right thing. Why??
Sure $8/Hr is minimum wage, however for a living Nanny wage, it is not enough to live on and in my opinion, a Nanny should make more. Unless you watch the child in your own home, you are being vastly underpaid no matter what part of the U.S.A you reside in. Sooner or later, you will start to become resentful of your pay (which I did) and resent your job. Don't let things get to that point. I would let this family know that you were offered a higher paying job and tell them how much you were offered. Tell them tactfully that while you love their daughter with all of your heart, you need to make a living as well and your current salary is just not cutting it. See what they say, see if they offer to match your offered salary. If they still say they cannot afford to pay you more, then simply say you can no longer afford to work for them and give notice. I warn you, these situations seldom end amicably so be prepared to be fired on the spot. Hopefully, you have a contract in place which prevents such a thing. Anyway, if you think this may be a real possibility, then perhaps you should wait until closer to August so you are not left high and dry. Then when you are working your new job, plan ahead. Save some money in case you will be out of work for a while and start looking for a new job a month or so before the other nanny returns from Maternity leave. Of course, tell the other families you will not be available until such and such a date. Many families like to plan ahead and allow ample time to find a nanny anyway, so this may work in your favor.
One thought: If you do an excellent job with the new family, they may agree to keep you on. The child(ren) may like you better plus the other nanny will no longer be an efficient nanny like she once was. She will be more tired and possibly carry illnesses from her new baby that may affect her reliability as a nanny. Offer the family your back-up services and I bet ya they will be needing you more than her.
Personally, I think you should change jobs asap. You could make minimum wage anywhere and get benefits like health insurance. So why would you work for minimum wage as a nanny and likely get no benefits?
Listen: RUN
Take the new job.. Do a GREAT job and ask for a reference if the Nanny returns. You never know the parents my offer to help you find another job. Don't stay where you are. It's going to get worst. Your feelings of resentment will rise. Working will become difficult.
Do the families live close together? Would it be possible to do a nanny share for 3 months and then possibly find another job after the 3 months are up?
$8??? Yikes! I'm doing social work now but my last family paid me $20/hr for 1 infant girl. You can do better!
I don't know--it really depends on how open the nanny market in your area is. If you really think you'll be out of a job come December, it might be safer to not take the second job. But you could take it if you think there's a good chance you can line up a new job by then, especially if you start looking now. I don't know where you live, but I can understand the $8 an hour. It isn't necessarily being vastly underpaid, but it still is rough to make ends meet. People in bigger cities don't get that $20 for any sort of nanny work would be considered ludicrous in my neck of the woods. I just really don't want you to shoot yourself in the foot by either being unemployed or only being able to find crappy pay in a few months. I've been there.
OP here- decided to take the other job. My charge is making this decision tougher and tougher. A few days ago- MB came home with a huge amount of "stuff" that she bought. Suppose to be on a busy trip- "look what I bought" I just smiled yet sick to my stomach. Oh- we have to watch our money. Sure you do. I will miss my munckin so much- everytime she gives kisses or smiles because she enjoying the time with me- I get teary-eyed. I am not looking forward to this. But I have to move on. Sigh.
NannySarah, a lesson I've learned over time is that we nannies need to disengage as much as possible from thinking about how our employers spend their money. It's not any of our business, to be blunt.
Yes, that's very hard to do, especially when you know you are making a less-than-average wage. But judging what is purchased and when our employers buy is a fast track to crazy and quitting for ANY nanny, no matter how well paid.
It's their money. Sure, **WE** know they should spend it on raises and bonuses for us (and on their kids), but no one asked us for our input.
I'm glad you have found other employment at a better pay rate. Congratulations, and good luck!
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