We guarantee our nanny 30 hours a week - that is, if she wants to work 30 hours, she can. We don't need her for that many hours since the kids are in school (so she does cleaning, housework and errands the other hours). This week, she only will have worked 28. That wasn't my choice, she just happened to work 5 hours yesterday and 6 today (whereas she could have done 6 and 7 / 5 and 8). But I know she doesn't have a lot of money. Would you just pay her the 30 hours or pay her what she worked. If you do pay her the full 30, do you tell her that you know she only worked 28 but you're doing it as a bonus?
-
Well... if she didn't work the 30 hours and knows that she only gets paid based on what she actually works, then I would only pay her based on what she actually worked. Do you think she will be annoyed if you only pay her for 28? She made a choice not to work longer right?
-
I would probably pay her the 30 hours, but tell her I know she only worked 28 and that in the future if she works less, she'll get paid only for hours worked.
-
@psw27: I think so? But she's not great at paying attention to this stuff. She's never worked less than 30
-
@winniebee: well if its never happened before I would probably just pay the 30. I'm not great at confrontation plus I would feel bad if she really needed the money.
-
@psw27: that's how I'm leaning. Thx!
-
I think I would pay and just let her know she only worked 28 hours. Or pay her and ask her to make up the 2 hours next week.
-
Can you ask her what she'd prefer to do: be paid for less or make up the hours next week? This way she's still in control of her hours and her budget, but you can identify that an issue has occurred. I'm not generally a fan of paying for work that hasn't been done, I'd worry a bit about the precedent set.
-
Since I know you love her, I'd just pay 30 if this is the first time.
-
@youboots: if i send her home early (on my own account) I always pay her those hours. Like she usually stays until 6 and if I send her home at 5:30 I'm not going to cut her pay.
-
@Rocker2014: gah, i know. it just makes me feel so cheap to haggle over a few hours!
-
I'd just pay the 30, since it sounds like she doesn't necessarily keep track closely and it doesn't happen often/ever. If it does become more common, I would talk to her about some options (e.g., either only pay her what she works if she chooses less than 30, add in a date night a couple times a month to make up the extra hours, etc).
ETA: you could also just talk to her about how things are going and see if she would be interested in swapping some hours for a date night or some other alternative schedule that might be more useful to you but still keep her hours!
-
I would pay her for the 30 hours this week and state that the extra two hours is a bonus. If this happens again next week, then I would mention something before it becomes an issue and only pay for the hours worked.
-
I always worry about the slippery slope. Easy to cover 2 hours. But what if next time it's 5 hours and she expected to be paid?
-
I would just say hey did you know you're 2 hrs short? I wasn't sure if that was on purpose or not. That way if she says yah - don't pay her, if she says oh I didn't realize you can pay her and say be more careful going forward
-
I paid the full 30 and mentioned it in case she didn't realize....and said it was a "tiny bonus". She said thank you. It's not a ton of money obviously but like others mentioned I don't want the slippery slope.
-
I would definitely bring it up so she's not wondering if this means she can feel free to work less and still get paid. Personally, I'd probably go the route of saying something about her being short, offer to pay 28 or pay 30 and have her work extra next week so she's not short on cash this week.
-
I would pay and not say anything, but I'm a big fan of keeping a good nanny as happy as possible (as long as no one feels taken advantage of, of course). We frequently let ours go early but still pay her normally. And on the rare occasion we may be a bit late or whatever she doesn't hound us. It's all about flexibility and trust.
-
@Mrs. Yoyo: I let her leave early all the time - 30 mins here or there. And sometimes she stays a few mins late. And I never reduce her pay but always pay extra if she is over. So you're totally right about keeping her happy. I did mention it briefly because she came later than usual yesterday and didn't make up for it today. Which didn't matter at all because the boys were at school but I just didn't want her to think I would pay extra every week.
-
I'd just pay her for the whole time and see if it becomes a trend or not.
-
@winniebee: gotcha, and I think you're justified! On a side note, does the errands thing work out well? Our older DS is in K but our nanny still has younger DS. I want to get him into a preschool program at least a couple days a week but I know ours also wants 30 hours minimum.
-
@winniebee: I think you handled it the way I would knowing what I know now. Like you said it IS a slippery slope.
With my current (soon to be previous, after today) nanny I did and would just pay her the extra and not say anything. I do think that "favors" like this did end up making it easy for her to take advantage. And she really is a good person but she was always broke and desperate and I think she figured if we paid and didn't say anything then we didn't care/notice and so the vicious cycle started.
If we ever hire a nanny again and I loved her, I would most definitely pay the extra but make sure she knew I was aware and it's not going to be a regular thing. So wording like "I know this week you worked 28 hours and not 30, but this time around I want to pay you for the full 30 as a sign of appreciation for all you do." That way she knows I'm keeping track and I'm aware and "this time" I'll pay the 30 but I may not next time.Basically, all that to say, you handled it the way I would knowing what I known now.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
21 comments