What is a fair wage for me as live in nanny

Yes blondes I have known parents that do this and never see their children. Its fine if it is a weeks holiday or they are away for the odd week for work but not all the time

Really the nanny is bringing up the child not the parents which I think is sad and why did they bother having children.

Hi Sequins
I am the Original poster as u can see i have changed my user name.
Thanks for taking the trouble of writing to me, u can contact me via this nickname now.
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Hi OP, I would love to private message you about a different job, but it says your nickname is not in the MN system so I'm guessing you've name-changed. If you are interested, contact me (click on "message poster") and I will reply.

The expectations of this family are shocking for the remuneration they are offering. It also seems very unfair that you cannot use the washing machine!! I am no expert on this but I would suggest that you are in fact working as a Proxy Parent rather than a live in nanny?!

popcrackle varies but normally 12/18mths - as wrinky said shes not there alone all that tine,but a few of my friends would be most of the time alone

cinpin there are a few parents i know who rarely if never see their children sun night to fri night/sat am

they worked 7-7.30 and the nanny wakes children up and put them to bed :(

Oh, For heavens sake! Lots and lots of parents chose to have a live in nanny for their children, and go out to work/lunch/skiing/sailing and don't see their children for long periods of time.

It doesn't mean the children are badly cared for....quite the opposite. Most nannies who work for such families are qualified and experienced in child care care and are treated with respect, are well paid, and get some nice perks which make the long hours worth while. I've known families have more than one nanny, so they can both have a break. It's not how I choose to raise my DC (or would if I could afford to) but neither is it some kind of child abuse the NSPCC are going to worry about.

Why do such people have children? Why do people who are on benefits have children? Why do people who are ill or older have children?

OP, if you knew the conditions you would be working in and are happy apart from the salary, I think you should stay and build up experience, and after you've been there a year move on to a higher paid position.

mranchovy?

you want to notify the NSPCC that people have nannies to care for their children?

what do you expect the NSPCC to do about it?

parents away and choose proffesional qualified person to look after children while they cant... NSPCC will laugh!!!!

ok if they go and leave the children to fend for themselves all week, but not when parents pay HUGE sums to ensure children are safe and well looked after!

Still I wonder why people like that bother having children if they are only going to see them at weekends.

I didn't say the parents were neglecting their children. I said that it seems to me that what they are doing is inappropriate.

But I am not professionally competent to judge these things, which is why I would like to notify someone that is i.e. the NSPCC.

Wow - it is really interesting to hear this. I don't know why I was feeling so guilty for FT Nursery Mon to Friday!!!

What crazy schedules people have and yes Wrinkly ofcourse you should be compensated well - being a nanny 24/7 5 days a week or more is a big big ask.

It makes sense to share the role with another nanny otherwise I could imagine burn out.

I know some single parents have this as do other parents when one parent is working away but hats off to anyone in this situation, whether you are a nanny or a parent.

I had an interview for a 24/7 month on, month off job that was perm and shared between 2 nannies.

My 24/5 job I only did a year because I selfishly left to get married but would have happily stayed on otherwise. Many 24/5 or 6 jobs are perm and some nannies can stay in them for years. It's actually quite an attractive option if you're youngish and many of them are overseas/involve extensive travel.

I do 24/5.5 and have done for the last 18 months. Although I am often not on completely sole charge duty for the entirety of that time. I get paid more than the OP plus I get a fair bit of ad hoc time off to make up for the fact the parents WANT to see their child whenever it's possible in their crazy schedule. They pay for my availability. The OP is being completely taken advantage of.

i have done 24/7 for 12 days, once!

with children 16 weeks, 4 years and 7 years

I've done 24/7 for a 2 week period in the distant past.

Blonde - but how long would these nannies be in 24/7 type roles. I mean how long is a typical duration?

I am genuinely interested

mr a, i dont think you can say the parents are neglecting their children - they have employed a nanny to look after them

i know of several nannies who do 24/4/5/6 tho get far much moremoney/perks

IME one parent is typically contactable even if it's through their office, I insist on having a letter of authority from the parents enabling me to consent to pretty much anything if necessary (would never abuse it, only invoked it when both parents were 60,00ft up and charge cracked his head when he fell over at football so they wanted to x-ray) and if anything happened to me I had named contacts - relatives, godmother and a mother from school - whose info was clearly displayed in my diary etc.

It's like being a parent though in that respect. If you're a single parent and something happens to you, then what do you do?

Many nannies proxy-parent on a short-term basis - if this job were properly presented there wouldn't necessarily be anything wrong with it IMO. The issues are that the parents didn't present it as it really is, they're being totally unreasonable about using stuff in the house, they haven't provided a contract or anything, it's not really live in and OP's just been left to sort of get on with it.

OP if you do decide to stay then you need a salary hike, a contract, a letter of authority (and make very sure you're compliant with all terms of your insurance wrt consent for administering medication etc too) and some kind of agreement on what you can do whilst you're at there. Like your laundry.

What would happen if something happened to the nanny and/or children? Are the parents contactable, would a parent return home?

Plenty of people have to do that though, mra and it may just be a short-term arrangement. Maybe on parent is on a short-term international secondment and the other is Forces so on a training course which allows weekending but not being home during the week. Having a 24/5 nanny isn't forcibly neglect.

I always find the definition of leisure activities interesting but by any measure you're probably not live in here if you have to go home at weekends and don't have use of household ammenities.

The WTD may depend on how long your shifts are. Nursing home staff in the one where I worked occasionally routinely did a 2-10, sleep-in, 7-2 which counted basically as one long shift. Mind you looking at that they didn't seem to get 11 hours between finishing a late and starting an early? So if the OP's 'shifts' are 5 days long then the 11 hour break is at the weekend. Presumably same rules apply in 24/6 positions.

Erm - just out of interest do you get on with the children?

So you basically do everything for both children 24.7 five days a week? That is a huge ask???

I just really really feel for them - not having any parents during the working week. Unreal.

Not that that should stop you from looking for something better.

It sounds appalling.

I don't know NearlySpring, but as I said, that's how it appears to me.

The situation described in the original post ("My employers work away and are home at weekends only etc.") does not sound like a one-off.

Is working away Mon-Fri classed as abandoning your children then Mranchovy... perhaps thisis a short term arrangement. They have left their children in th ecare of a competent nanny, not alone or with a random stranger.

Treesa is probably right about the NMW - 'live in' does not meen that you sleep at the employers' house because you are looking after the children, it means that your employer provides you with the home you live in while you are not looking after the children!

This arrangement is also in breach of the Working Hours Regulations - many people do not realise that there are a number of different elements to these regulations, and it is only the 48 hour working week that does not apply to nannies. The big one here is breaks between shifts: you must have a rest period of at least 11 hours between shifts.

This is beyond a bad job, you are being exploited :(

The following phone numbers may help:

I would start with the ACAS Helpline 08457 47 47 47.

Next the HMRC tax evasion hotline 0800 788 887 who will be interested in the National Minimum Wage issue, and I bet you have never had a payslip or any indication that they are operating PAYE which they will also love to know.

Finally I would call the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000 because however competent you are it does not appear to me to be appropriate for parents to abandon their children in this way.

I blame tiredness, been a long week.

Trish I can live with but Tressa sounds a little prissy Nick..!