I need help from all you nannies out there, i need advice on whether or not I am being paid fairly! I am a nanny with about 7 years of nanny and preschool experience. I am a nanny for a 20 month old boy (K). I am responsible for cleaning up after him, laundry, feeding, all the typical nanny duties. Also when doing laundry the parents laundry is often in the washer and dryer so I finish and fold whatever they have before beginning K's laundry. I am a very hands on nanny, as a rule, the tv is never turned on for a single minute during the day, I do art activities daily as well as educational play, walks ect.
I usually work from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm, although some days I am there to as late as 8:00 pm. I am paid salary with no overtime, I receive 500 a week. I was told during an interview that the hours would average 45 to 50 hours a week, due to some weeks being short, this does occasionally happen, but few and far between, the hours have been averaging 50 - 53. I have never complained and have always been graceful about these long hours with short pay. But now the mother has accepted a new job an hour away and now I am required to be here at 7:30 (which means waking up at 5 am, too early for this nanny!). It looks like I will be here from 7:30am to 6:30 - 7:30pm if not much later, and i am pretty sure they have no intention to compensate me for these extra hours, I am not okay with working 55 - 60 hours a week for 500 with no overtime.
I am having a hard time approaching them with my concerns because they have an excuse for everything and they tend to make me feel like i am out of line for asking less hours or more pay. I don't really want to work elsewhere, I have been with this family for awhile but i also want to be paid fairly for my time. So, to all you nannies, how much of a raise do you think I should ask for, and how would you approach it? Sincerely, a seriously overworked nanny.
12 comments:
If the terms of the working arrangement have changed, then the pay should change as well.
Don't wait any longer - the longer you let this go on without saying anything, the more damage you do to your position.
Have a meeting with them, and present an outline/proposal for a new wage/salary range.
well as an employee of any kind you are entitled. Yes entitled to be treated and paid fairly. Do you have a contract that specifies your hours and pay? If you do you need to ask to have a sit down with them to amend your contract and pay to accomidate for the change in hours. If you don't have a contract this is a good time to make one with the adjusted hours and what you feel you should be paid. I think it wouldn't be too out of line to request anywhere from $100 to $150 extra a week.
Technically you should be getting overtime pay, but since you haven't been all along, you definitely won't if you ask for it so don't even bother.
My question is: why are you "pretty sure" they aren't going to pay you for extra hours? Is it because you allow them to push you around and feel bad? Well stop! When the boss says "Nanny, I need you to start coming in an hour earlier every day and possibly stay an hour late." You smile sweetly and say "That shouldn't be a problem, but we'll need to discuss raising my salary to make up the difference." Have you already started these new hours? If not, ask ASAP for a raise, probably around $100. If you've already started, you can ask but you may not receive.
Wow, you work a lot. Do you work 5 days a week? You are working 10 hour plus days for only 500 dollars a week and I don't know about everyone else, but I don't think laundry is a typical nanny duty. That is definitely something extra. I feel like since they said the weeks would balance out and you realize that they have not you should tell them that as time has passed you do work longer hours and since they are asking you to work even more now - that your salary needs to reflect this extra work. I agree with everyone else you need to address this immediately. The more you just say yes to everything the more they will ask because they know you wont say anything about how unfair it is. Speak up now!!I think you should get at least 150 more.
First of all, employers of domestic employees are REQUIRED to pay overtime for anything over 40 hours a week. It IS a federal law, and technically you could report them to the labor board, and get all of the BACK overtime that they owe you! I was not aware of this law when I first started nannying, and when it was brought to my attention, I was able to claim over a years worth of overtime from a previous family. It may sound harsh to do something like this, but I was entitled to it.
Secondly, I did some calculations, and in my opinion for 55 hours a week, BEFORE overtime, you should be making 880 per week. (that is based on 16 dollars an hour, which I think is a fair wage for all you are doing) AFTER overtime, your total weekly pay should be 1,000 per week. So basically, they are going to need to double your salary for this to be anywhere remotely worth it and LEGAL.
Hope this helps!
Ps: My suggestion would be to kindly bring up the overtime laws to their attention, and then point them in the direction of contacting Breedlove and Associates. They are a domestic employee payroll company, who would be more than willing to fill them in on overtime laws.
You are most definitely being overworked and underpaid. Since you are caring for a young child and have laundry duties (which are not considered part of childcare..it is an add-on bonus for the family if you do it!), then your pay should reflect that. By law, they are required to give you overtime...no if's, and's or but's. Also, since more hours are being gradually added on, you should make more money.
I don't know where you live at, but you should be making $12-13/Hr (considering age of child + laundry duties.)
I think being paid salary for childcare stinks and I would never do it. I ALWAYS charge hourly since it is the only fair way to be paid in my opinion.
Talk to the family ASAP because the longer you wait, the harder it will be to sway them.
Best of luck to you OP. You sound like a dedicated Nanny..it would be a shame to see you get burned out by all of this.
You need to be getting paid overtime.
And if your hours go up then common sense would tell me that your pay will go up. I'm sure if your hours decreased then they would have no problem telling you your pay was going down. If you do not address this issue then you only have yourself to blame.
Ask for a raise, if they say no, I'd start looking for a new job.
I had a similar situation and simply told the parents that I needed the extra money added to my pay. They agreed immediately. Much easier for them to pay me more than find a new nanny.
I do the same tasks as you and work 40hpw, caring for twins, but I am paid $16.50 per hour and OT, with five years experience. Get a raise pronto, or look for better work, you are being mistreated and under-appreciated and deserve better if you are doing all that you say you are. People don't want to pay what they should for a nanny, but they need to consider the fact that they are putting their most valuable "possession " (their child) in your hands, and you need to feel valued and cared for in order to do your job well, which is raising, teaching and loving their baby.
Do yourself a favor and sit down for a calm conversation with the family, and try to work something out. If they refuse to sympathize and understand, try a different job. You will kick yourself later for having such a ripoff pulled over on you if you don't attempt to improve your conditions.
Sorry, above should be posted from Shorty00. :-)
I'd pay ya 450 just for complaining. Or contact Breedlove and Associates. He person who suggested that coldnt possibly work for the law firm! 1000 a week? Wonder what their cut of the settlement would be.
Most states are right to work, you don't have to overtime if you are salaried.
Waaaaa. Booooo. Hiss!!!
Just leave. With your experience and knowledge you can make much more (ex. NYC 1000 us for a 50 hr week). You are a pro, not charity.
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