Nannys/parents - how do you agree overtime?

I have it in my contract that if parents are late by more than 15 min than they will need to pay me as per hour. TBH they are hardly late, maybe once a month, so I can't complain.

I worked for a GP and very occassionally she would be get delayed either in surgery or on home visits or if there had been an accident on the motorway ( it was only 1 junction journey home ) and I was totally fine with that. She would always let me know as soon as she could but sometimes it was 10mins before I was due to finish. She was always very apologetic and very grateful. If she was late home, inevitably she'd let me come in late when she had a late start or go early when she was home early. I think as long as flexibility is reciprocated then it's fine.

On the other hand I also worked for a SAHM and when they decided to bugger off to the Mall at 3pm ( an hrs drive away ) and then ring at my finish time to say they were just leaving that you used to piss me off and I'm quite easy going.

I'm a mum and live-out nanny employer. Both DH and I are solicitors, and we can sometimes have to work long hours. Our arrangement (ie mine and DH's) is that I will always be home on time for our nanny to leave, unless either I have pre-arranged with nanny that she works late (or made alternative childcare arrangements like grandparents taling over), or DH is able to leave work to take over from nanny.

Come what may (unless its something which I know of in advance of the actual day), I leave work on time. That may involve me taking work home to do when DS is asleep, or going into work super early the next morning (I start at 8:30 anyway, and have a one-hour commute). But unless I have advance notice, I leave work on time.

If I am late home, either by pre-arrangement with our nanny, or say, the trains are up the spout, I will always pay our nanny overtime rounded up to the nearest half an hour. And yes, nanny and we pay tax on that. That's what our contract says. I see it as a professional way of acting, I suppose.

OP, its great that you've identified this as a potential issue in advance of hiring a nanny as you can plan for it and talk to the nannies you're interviewing about how this type of situation will work for you all.

I had a job where my bosses were always late. They ran a clinic which was pen until 6pm I was only paid until 6pm so they were never going to be on time when it was full. She then did change my hrs so I worked until seven so then sometimes left early.
Paying for a 30 min handover may be a good idea you then have time to find out what you dc have been up to during the day you then have a little bit of lee way with the time.
I had a communication book which I also wrote in so if they were late and i needed to go as soon as they were back I could

My first couple of weeks in my current job I got paid my babysitting rate each time parents were late- 2 or 3 times. Since then, nothing! They are often late, usually 10-20 mins but sometimes later. I don't plan things for evenings anyway as I'm exhausted, I spend over 2 hours a day walking for the school run plus am studying so I just go home. Trouble is the parents know that!

I just think that as long as nanny doesn't feel taken advantage of, a bit of flexibilty can work well. I've been at my job for 6 months now and love it so I put up with it. Also I have had one and a half (paid) days off when family took a long weekend so that adds up. I know its different as I was available to work those days but I just think they are paying a lot to have me there so I can be flexible.

Oh and to those talking about different kinds of work- there is a huge difference between staying till your work is finished and nannying. I imagine you know at least a bit in advance that you will have a busy week, a project is due or whatever. Perhaps you can take some of the work home with you, or take notes or something when out on a lunchbreak- which nannies don't get! (that's meant to be funny, not a serious point before I get jumped on). Getting a text or call 10 mins before you're supposed to leave is like your boss walking into your office when you are finished for the day, holding your coat and looking forward to your tea, and plonking a sleepy three year old on your desk, who is expecting their parents any second and won't go to bed until seeing them, and telling you to look after the child for an undetermined amount of time. Because no matter how amazing nanny is and how good the relationship is, at bed time all my little charges want is a cuddle with mummy or daddy. I know that doesn't apply to all nannies as their finish time is different to bedtime or the charges are older/younger but for me thats the case.

Blondes I m glad the temping is going ok,but I understand what you mean, you do need a guaranteed wage.A curry sounds good.Text me if you can do the week of the 10th October?I`m hard at it til then.

if you think you may be late 2/3times a week then you need to change your/her finishing time

eurycantha we must do a curry again soon babe x

novice im temping at the moment and love it - parents so appreciative - i would happily be a perm temp but the work isnt guaranteed and as im on my own now i HAVE to know i have money coming in x

How often do you expect to be late? If its a case of 1 x a month then I wouldn't pay overtime for a few minutes, but if its a couple of times a week then of course you should.
I employ my nanny from 8-7, but she'll usually go home at 6.30pm. If you regularly need a later stay you should contract her to stay later and pay.

Incidentally, your work role does change when you have children. You do sometimes have to say to work that you can't stay, you need to get home.

A quick wave and a hug to blondes .Hi there.I am contracted to work from 7am til 6pm.I am always willing to stay on if my bosses are stuck in a meeting which I think most nannies understand ,BUT we do have a life outside and I always want my boss to ring to say they are going to be late and to apologise .I have worked for people who will ring you as they are leaving the office ,as someone else has said ten minutes before they are due home.I dont get paid in general if they are 15 minutes late but after half hour I would expect to be paid .I generally tell my boss if Im bsitting or going out during the week and she will certainly try her best to get home.at 6pm.This week I actually have a quiz night and she and her partner are both going to be out until 7.30 so she has organised a babysitter from 7 [when I`ve put the children to bed].

Oh goodness Blondes, I don't blame your friend at all! My nanny works 7 to 7 and it's a very long day now that dc1 has dropped naps. I am back to work from mat leave soon so I shall be even more careful about not inflicting longer hours on her - dh is the one who would happily rock up at 7.30pm regularly without a care in the world if I didn't tell him off!

I haven't looked at your other thread in the last couple of weeks. Will you find another job straight away or are you going to take a break?

novice 'waves back and snuggles into hugs' :)

totally see your point - was humphing as just been on phone to my friend - she does 7-7 and yet they still never manage to get home on time and ring at 6.30 saying wont be home till 8pm - pisses her off - happens a lot and shes looking for another job now :(

as i said i am very flexible and often work 16hr day if both db/mb out in eve but i like notice if possible

Dh and I knew that this was going to be a major problem and so we chose to have a live in nanny where we have 2 nights of babysitting agreed, and made it clear from the outset that both of us could have a day which goes swimmingly, bags are packed and heading out of the door and suddenly s*it hits the fan so you have to stay and sort it out so unless nanny was flexible when this happens then she wasn't the nanny for us. For this, we pay at the top end of the salary range with a generous bonus. Yes it costs a fortune, but it's well worth it.

Blondes, I never ever disagree with you except this time......but hear me out.....I disagree that asking for flexibility means that the employer thinks that they are more important than the nanny. In reality, the nanny gets paid out of what the employer earns. If employer loses their job then so does nanny so their jobs are linked.

Why are you surprised about the hours? It's not the same line of work as yours and it doesn't matter if your contract says x/y/z. And it doesn't matter if the nanny has evening commitments.

You get paid accordingly in your job for working extra hours even if you're not paid by the hour.

Your nanny is doing childcare for set days and set hours. That's how it works. If you need flexibility, then discuss with prospective nannies but you shouldn't take the mick, should give as much notice as possible and if it's going to be a regular occurrence eg at peak periods during the year then amend hours and pay extra.

Yes, tax on overtime - why not?

i love it when boss's ask/want their nanny to be flexible - what it actually means is that they think their life is more important then yours - therefore doesnt matter if mb/db is back late and we dont mention it till 10mins before clocking off time as what can the nanny do

she can hardly say, well its 6.30/7pm now, ive finished and leave the kids at home alone can she (or he if nick lol)

yes i am flexible and obv will stay afterwards as have no choice BUT yes i expect to get paid and fed and also expect some notice

My main piece of advice would be to find out if the nanny has regular commitments on any evening. MB knew I did things on a certain night and so always made sure she or DB were back in time, which I really appreciated

i do things most night, i dont expect to tell my mb/db what i do so that they might be back on time, they should be back on time most if not every night - but yes things go tits up/trains delayed etc - thats fine

but having a call at 5.45 saying still in the office, when they are meant to be home at 6, so leave the office at 5, is not on and will piss your nanny off very quickly

so yes be on time and if something crops up, ring asap/grovel and pay :)

Well as a nanny it wasn't my tasks being left incomplete that kept me at work. And a nanny has absolutely no choice but to stay.

I have had arrangements where I didn't have paid overtime. They were also ones where I didn't have a life outside work and got paid 24/5 rates - it's sustainable on a temp basis but not in the long term.

You can probably see a crisis coming at work -DH certainly can and tells me around lunchtime that he won't be home on a fairly regular basis - but a nanny doesn't buy into their job in the same way. If you want that kind of swings and roundabouts flexibility you have to pay over the odds in the first place and probably take a younger nanny with no fixed commitments.

How often do you anticipate the nanny needing to work past her normal time?

My boss often gets home late (and phones me 5 mins after my finish time to say she'll be home in 15 mins Grrr!) She will sometimes say to start ½hour later the next day but I'm coming to realise that the flexibilty is coming from me and not from her, which rankles at bit. The other week I had to 'ask' to finish on time on a certain day as I had plans with friends and it annoyed me slightly that I was having to ask (and then she was 10 mins late!). I think nannies need to be flexible but you need to keep an eye out that the flexibility is going both ways.

So, from my experience ask in advance, as far in advance as you know - not last minute. Give early finishes and late starts so that the hours work out to be what is contracted and if you can't do this pay overtime.

Her job is to look after your kids during certain hours. If she has to work longer then pay her for it - your job and contract (sounds like mine) has no bearing on that.

If DH or I have to work late, one of us always makes sure the other gets home on time unless we're stuck on a train together, in which case we ring our nanny to tell her ASAP.

Overtime is written into the contract and agreed at a higher rate. If we think we're going to be more than half an hour late, I'd pay overtime (although the contract is not explicit about this).

I work for a family where the parents are in the same boat as you. I am paid a generous wage and recieve no overtime. Equally I am frequently early to leave on a friday. I also have standard holidays in my contract - yet have significantly more. I see it as a 'swings and roundabouts' situation. However I live-in monday to friday (have a house with partner elsewhere weekends) so tbh it makes no difference to me i work till 7:30pm (earliest finish) or 10pm/later. I just go to sleep when i feel like it and keep the monitor.

Another one here who stays late occasionally and pays for the privilege. Our nanny is very understanding but as PPs have said, the more notice you can give, the better.

I fully expect to pay tbh - ours is contracted to work 10 hours a day and anything on top of that is extra. It's not like a white collar job where you are paid to do 'the job' until it's done; nannies are paid by the hour, even if it works out as a monthly salary.

As an alternative to paying overtime, what about simply paying very well in the first place (i.e. a bit above market rates) - but on the understanding that a bit of unpaid overtime would be included as part of that? How would that go down with a nanny do you think?

I'm not averse to paying overtime, just wonder if it is easier and in some ways nicer to be generous with pay in the first place and in return ask for the nanny to be generous with time (within limits, of course).

I have employed nannies for years and years and would never expect them to stay late without paying them overtime. Your contractual arrangements with work, are nothing to do with hers and yours and what you do in your role, does not equate with what she does in hers.

So yes to needing the flexibility (but be careful not to overdo it) but also a big yes, to paying for it, and well (always round up to the nearest hour).