Nanny Question on Salary

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OK,I am going to come at this from a nanny's perspective. I have been a nanny for close to 11 years now, the last 7.5 with the same family. I would be highly irritated if my employers were not giving me regular yearly raises or bonuses in some way, shape or form. People seem to think that nannies don't rank in the same category as someone who is a Nurse, Teacher, or Business person, all of whom get raises on a regular basis. As a nanny, with 2 boys in school Full-Time, my salary does not change, because I am the person who is ON CALL when those boys get sick at school, or have appointments. I am still responsible for them during those pre-determined hours. My last employer unfortunately was not like this, and tried to nit-pick at my hours and mess with my pay, and lost me to my current family because I filled my time that I wasn't getting paid.

Now, aside from caring for the boys, I am responsible for doing their laundry (boys only), cooking and I will unload & Load the dishwasher, but thats all that I will do. I will additionally go grocery shopping, and run a few errands for the family, but my main responsibility is to the boys care.

BTW, I live in Michigan, I make more than $14/hour caring for the boys. I have been with them for a long time, your caregiver probably is feeling a little bit underappreciated for the hardwork and loyalty she has shown for your family.

Really evaluate your situation. There is nothing wrong with having certain expectations of your nanny, but treat her like the professional she is, not like the hired help. She is there to help make your life alot easier. Suggestions always come across better when Mom/Nanny are on the same page.

I would not decrease her pay. That would most likely have the opposite effect you are wanting. Sit down and have a "job review" with her. Be open, honest, professional, and respectful. Tell her clearly what your expectations are. Make sure she knows exactly what her duties are. Put them in writing. If you are that unhappy perhaps you should look for a new nanny. If not, talk to her. I know if I worked for someone for that long and only received one raise I would not feel appreciated.

If you don't like her, let her go and find another nanny. But it sounds like she's been working for you for 3.5 years without a raise (and $14/hour for two kids is not much). If I were her, I'd be doing as little as possible, too.

If you don't want to fire her, I would give her a raise, contingent upon some additional duties. Then clearly communicate to her your "new" expectations for what she should be doing.

The respect needs to flow both ways in this relationship.

Even if she's doing a crappy job, it seems wrong to decrease her pay. She's been loyal to your family for this long, I see no reason to downgrade her pay (even if there will only be one child during that time.) I think if you lessen the pay, she just may be less motivated to do "good work." I think you need to have a conversation with her about your concerns or consider hiring a different nanny. However, downgrading pay doesn't seem an appropriate response here. It feels passive aggressive....would you be downgrading her pay if she was doing a good job? You're problem seems to be with her quality of work so that's what needs to be addressed in my opinion.

I wouldn't cut her salary for doing a crappy job. If her hours are getting cut way back, then talk to her about that. If your oldest is in school all day and the youngest is in school until noon, the hours are far less, right? $600 a week is a lot for those hours.

Oooh, that's a tough one, isn't it? Meeting someone else's expectations, after being with you for so long?

What about a compromise? What about a probationary period? I support the reasoning that she should go back to $12/hr when she is just with one child, and up to $14 for 2 kids. That's what she was hired at, and given the current economy in CA, this is very decent pay.

What do you mean she forgets? Does she tell you so, that you ask her something and she just plain doesn't remember? Is it something more major than stickers? Is she responsible in more important areas, like loving and caring for the children?

Decreasing pay has a negative effect on people regardless of the reasons. Sometimes they become disgruntled and start stealing or slacking on duties even more...things they feel they deserve. I would talk with her and let her know that the circumstances of her employment have changed with your DD in kinder now. Remind her of the pay agreement 5 years ago with one child but let her know you'll keep her at the same rate she's been getting for the past 3.5 years with two children. Then raise your expectations of her. You might not be completely happy with her performance right now, but you'd be devastated if she walked away. She's already built a relationship with your children and you know who she is and what she's about. If she's that bad, then you need to let her go and find someone new.

I can relate a bit. We have 2 daughters and same nanny for almost 7 years. Both girls are in school a lot yet rather than lower her pay, I've held off on raises sometimes and she does more stuff around the house. It sounds like yours hasn't had a raise in 3.5 years so maybe that was getting to her. $12/hour - $14/hour near Los Angeles seems very low... I know people who pay $18-$20 in the general area. But overall, if you go back to $12/hour, that's a 5 year old pay rate. There has been inflation. Also, with sick days, all the school holidays etc, it'll probably not save you all that much money and likely will cause illwill. I would sit down and say you're tired of having to remind her of things etc. Then if things don't change, you could just find another nanny.