Am i daft to look for a new job

Hi

I was in the same situation as you. I was working full time (50 - to 60 hours a week), with a little boy since he was less than 2 months old. I was supposed to be paid 7 pounds net an hour, but as the parents were always 15/20 minutes late, I ended up working for less than £7 per hour.

I had a really good relation with the parents, loved the little boy.

But I couldn't help being annoyed by how little I was paid (I used to be paid £10 net per hour but it was a part time so I just thought that I had to accept less). And in addition to taking the little boy to activitie, I had to do all the cleaning, washing clothes and ironing (for the parents too), polish the silver, etc...

In January, I left the job, the parents were not happy. But I was killing myself for a bad salary. It took me some (stressfull) weeks, but I finally have been offered two jobs. One was £10 an hour with one family and the second one, a nanny share, £12 net per hour. I took the second one. I have started this week.

I miss the little boy, for sure. I felt guilty to leave the family, for sure. But I am happy I am not strugling that much with money. And I am already love the two babies i work with. And the families are also super nice. But they don't ask me to do so much.

I am sorry, but £7 an hour for three kids, with 7 years of experience, that is nothing. And I am sure you can find better (even if I have to warn you, it is indeed harder to get a good job well paid now than it was 3 years ago, it is true. But I am sure you can find something) (Oh by the way I live in London, I don't know for the rest of UK).

Being a nanny means that you get more emiotionally involved with the family. But I have realised that at the end of the day, it's a job. And I give the same amount of love/attention to the children wether I am paid £7 or £12.

Wow, sorry that was long. What I am trying to say is that you should think about yourself first. And if you can get a better job, with a better pay, you should take it. The family will find another nanny (And you can also just tell them that you either need a pay rise, or you will need to find a new job). And to be honest, does the family thinks about you when they pay you so little for so much work, with not a lot of breaks and no contract? I am not sure of it. ;)

Just seen this thread pinkdaffodil. You must get a contract and proper holidays set out it sounds like this family are using you and as others have said, In the end they will not worry when the time comes to let you go.

You seem almost a little depressed and afraid of life. The other interview would have given you an idea of what else is on offer but if the job was offered you could have decided then if it was for you or not. and as for giving in notice you just need to say that you have enjoyed working for them but have decided you need a change and will be leaving at the end of notice period. You work for them they don't own you.

if you are going away with them then not a holiday/break for you and you still need you are entitled to 22.4days if 4 days a week, away from family!!!!

i thought 28 as you said fulltime

no wonder you are tired/burnt out as work non stop/have no weekend, and gawd i hope they pay you for working friday night/saturday

if no contract then talk to them and get one stating hours/pay/holiday and say in it you dont go away with them

why did you cancel interview? try and rebook it

These people are exploiting you and you are making a mistake by staying with them under such conditions. You will never get back the years that you are wasting

What?! No wonder you're burnt out! If I were near you I'd boot you out the door to that interview.

You need to sit down with your employers and a list of grievances.

Going on holiday with the family is not your holiday! You should be having a proper holiday, everyone will cope and it's not your problem if they do not.

If I were you I would speak to them face to face, too many misunderstandings happen on paper and you won't be there to explain what you mean and how you fee. Leaving it all to 'stew' for a couple of days as well may make their reaction to the e-mail more extreme.

I hope you're getting time off in lieu for the Bank Hols, and if you don't work Mondays you're potentially being short changed for holiday.

There seem to be a lot of underlying flaws in this current job. Question is do you want to fix them it would you rather move on and start afresh with a new family?

Definitely go for the interview and find out more about the job - from the sound of it, it won't be nearly such hard work, with two older children rather than three under-fives as you have at the moment. Also, more pay!

You are definitely not getting enough breaks in your present job, which would make anyone unhappy -it's ridiculous that you haven't had a whole week off for almost a year. Another problem, I think, is the constant babysitting which is encroaching on your time off and personal life. You are babysitting every week on two (sometimes three) weekend nights -what about your social life? Your employers are enjoying their Friday and Saturday nights out while you stay in and look after their kids! Also, if you work Tuesday to Friday but then have to babysit at weekends too, you''re not getting a real break from your job to recharge your batteries.

If you are offered this other job, and want to take it, do not be at all influenced by your present employers being "upset"! I'm not surprised that they want to hang on to you - you are making their lives easy at your own expense. The holiday/time off (or rather, the no holiday/time off) situation is ridiculous and you should definitely assert yourself over that if you don't leave this job soon. It sounds as if there are other things that are really bothering you too, although you feel unable to tell us.

Don't be afraid of change - it's what moves life on and it sounds as if, in your case, you've everything to gain from it!

And go for the interview

See what happens and go from there. You may hate it

You need to take your holiday as a week off in one go - or two weeks as you get 28 days - usually 2 weeks each choice and the 8 bank holidays - if you want to

A day here or there isn't a break

Tho guess depends if you want that

You would have had 4 days break with bhw as you work fulltime so hope tho has given you a little break

What would make you stay there?

You can say no to babysitting - ie nannies are allowed a life

They clearly realise that you are very nice and play on the family thing to keep you there. However, when they don't need you any more, they will get rid of you, no doubt. Just go to the interview and stop panicking. Changes are good for people's careers.

I think you sound burnt out. Life with 3 young ones can feel like Groundhog Day. Do you have a RL nanny support network for play dates and so on? Sometimes just a bit of adult company can really help.

Are you trying to do too much in your job? 3 children is enough to fit in some days without extra duties. If you're still holding yourself to the standards of 3 years ago that might be contributing because that's a lot of pressure.

Have you had a meeting with your bosses recently? Small niggles might be easily solved but over time they just become huge issues.

I can understand you not wanting to say much so you don't necessarily need to reply! MN for nannies is a risk in case your employers are here. There are nanny specific places out there though.

What about childminding? You could work mon-fri, and charge £4/£5 ph per child. That would double your wage if you had three littlies as you currently do.

I don't know if another job or a change of career would be a good idea, but I think you need a proper holiday before you decide. Do you have a contract? How much holiday does it entitle you to? I did the same as you, worked through my holidays as it was the only way the work could get done, but it is very very wearying and you can't do it long term without getting really fed up!

if i were young again i would go abroad and do nannying, and learning another language. have you thought about going abroad? english speaking nannies get paid a lot in some of the arab countries. or alternatively branch out into something related, like TEFL or primary school teaching? xx