Hey, I need help from the nannys out there. I am a nanny of five plus years and I am soon to be starting with a new family with one newborn, no house work. The hours would be unpredictible due to the nature of their jobs. They have offered me the option of being paid salaried at 2500 month plus overtime (time and a half - 15.63 + 7.81 = 23.45 an hour) for any hours over 160 per month or I could do hourly at 15.63 an hour plus over time for any hours over 40 a week. They aren't sure yet what her schedule will be when she goes back to work, but they seem to think (or were trying to give me the impression) that she will only be working between 60-80 hours a month and they won't need me when she isn't working. However I have been doing this long enough (and I am sure many of you have had this happen) to know that's what they all say in the beginning and gradually hours are added. I have seen a lot of people on here frustrated and feeling taken advantage of, and saying that their bosses want them to make up hours or not getting paid when mom and dad are late. So my question is this - which is better, salaried or hourly?
Also we are using breedlove to handle taxes, does anyone know if breedlove will allow them to not pay OT for hours over 40 in a week? I have always been paid legally but just never used them before.
14 comments:
Personally, I have always preferred hourly over salary. That way, I know I am being paid for EVERY single hour I have worked for the family.
As far as Breedlove goes, they are wonderful, and I have used them for many years. In regards to your question about overtime, breedlove will NOT allow a family to NOT pay you time and a half for the hours over 40. It is a federal law.
Hope that helps!
If you are only going to be working 60-80 hours a month in the beginning, I would suggest doing salary. That way you know you are getting a minimum payment every month. If you do hourly, your first few paychecks are going to be really small.
Salary with stipulations. That way if more hours are added, you make more. But if less hours are needed, I would not take less since you were guaranteed that salary as a minimum.
The salary will most likely work better for you if the hours are likely to only be 60-80 hours a month a month. The hourly rate is the same both ways, but you will guaranteed the $2500 a month with a salary, even if you only work 60-80 hours one month. If you take the hourly pay and only work 60 hours one month, you would only make $937 that month. Can you afford to have months where you can possibly make less than $1000?
If you are nervous you could ask them to do a trial period and the reevaluate after 3 or 6 months.
Salary means salary, not salary plus anything over X hour means more money as Nanny J suggested. You can't ask them to pay you for an extra 10 hours one week but expect them to pay you your full salary the prior week when you worked 10 hours less than your maximum. The idea of salary is that the hours even out over time. If you like the idea of a guaranteed income, chose salary and tell them you want to reevaluate after 6 mos....it's a job, they are employers...you can quit or they can fire/lay you off at any time if either of you isn't happy with the situation.
Mom, her employers offered her OT pay as a stipulation of her salary. It would not be her demanding it.
Nannies are, by law, hourly employees. You may ask them to offer you a guaranteed weekly rate for X hours a week, and include OT in that rate, but you are not legally able to be just paid a salary without any discussion of hours worked per week.
Many nannies word their contracts as follows (I used your numbers):
Nanny will be paid $15.63 per hour for 40 hours of work per week. Nanny is guaranteed to be paid for 40 hours per week, regardless of whether employers use her for the full 40 hours. If nanny works any time over 40 hours per week, she will be paid overtime, at an hourly rate of $23.45 per hour. Nanny will receive a base weekly paycheck of $15.63 * 40 = $625.20 per week, 52 weeks per year
If their schedules are erratic, they still need to pay you to be available to them as much as they think they will need you. It sounds like they think they will need you 160 hours a "month" (months are actually 4.3 weeks, not 4 weeks - see ** below), but they want to hedge their bets and see if they can manage to get away with working you 60 hours one week, 10 hours the next week, and then 45 hours the next 2 weeks, all without having to pay OT at all. That's a sucker's bet for you. You'd be missing 30 hours of OT there, or more than $700 in OT wages.
I would first explain that if they choose to use you only (160/4.3 = 37.2 hours a week) you are fine with that, but if they want you available 52 weeks a year, 40 hours a week, your actual monthly "salary" will need to be $625.2 (straight time for a 40 hour week) *4.3 = $2688.36 a month. Then tell them you will reserve 40 hours a week for them for $625.20 a week, and that any hours worked over 40 in a week will need to be paid as OT.
After that, explain that you need a guaranteed weekly paycheck, and that you need to be paid that $625.20 52 weeks per year, plus any OT that occurs.
Good luck - this is the hardest part of being a nanny to explain to parents - we are actually wage slaves, and legally entitled to OT, but we also want and need to be paid for the time we set aside to work for them whether THEY choose to use us during those times or not.
Just one other comment about breedlove - I use them as well - but as an employer. They very explicity state the federal law but the online payroll program DOES in fact allow you to pay the overtime at whatever rate the employer types in which may not be time and a half. Just be aware of that and make sure it's in your contract.
I have my contract written the same way as Nanny J's. And if i work over my contracted hours (in my case 37 weekly) i am paid an hourly sum for up to 40 and time OT pay after 40.
Breedlove will tax whatever hours you report. You could tax 40 hours and get paid cash for any hours over. Weekly cash (make sure it's cash) pay is sweet on top of taxed direct deposit.
OP Here, thanks so much for all your advice. Tales I appreciate your detailed explanation. Alice thank you for the advice on breedlove i was afraid that was the case. When I first interviewed with them I was told it would be a set weekly rate (of 625 gross) and ot for anything over 40 hours a week. Bu when I went to the final interview they had changed it to the ot after 160 hours. I just really don't want to get taken advantage of.
My contracts (current and past) are worded similarly to what Tales says: I am guaranteed to be paid for forty hours per week (regardless of how many hours I work, the sole exception being if I request unpaid time off, which I can only do if I have exhausted my PTO) and am paid additionally for any hours I work beyond forty.
Good luck!
Nannies by law have to be paid hourly not salary.
160 hours is the same as 40 a week..160 a month I presume? 40x4 is 160 so essentially it's the same thing..
But by law they have to pay you OT over 40 hrs..that's standard
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