From a parents point of view please.... PAYING your nanny!

I would have offered cash for every thing due up to date and said if you end up paid twice pay us back by cheque. If ever once I forgot to get cash on Friday we'd arrange for her to pick it up on Sat morning which I probably only did once or twice in a lot of years.

I bank on line with Nat West. I set up a standing order to my son last year. I did it with enough warnings. I went on line and gave the bank details and then they've paid and always do until it's stopped. i can also go on line and see all the standing orders and when they're paid and in about 2 seconds click to change the dates etc. The family husband and wife should get Nat West on line banking which is free and much quicker than visiting branches.

re: the statement thing... if you have someone working in your home and you leave stuff like that lying about for all to see then you shouldnt be surprised if it gets glanced at and clocked. and given that it was left in the nanny diary, well, of course she saw it!

i really think you can get a lot more insistant about this without being aggro or confrontational in any way (i know you dont like talking about stuff like money, nor confrontation of any kind) but seriously, 6 months is just not on.

and im v v surprised that they didnt go right out and get you at least some of the money upon finding out its gone wrong again this month. (thats IF they are being totally truthful about it all being mistakes)

didn;t they offer to advance you some cash?

i also agree about the scepticism that this is the bank's fault. if my bank failed to sort out a simple standing order so continually I'd be changing bank

nannyL - if there really is a problem with standing orders (which I just don;t understand...) the alternative would be to take a paying in book to work with you, ask them to write you 3 or 6 or even 12 postdated cheques, put them in envelopes, with a completed paying in slip, stamped and addressed to the bank. write in pencil on the envelope what month it's for. keep them in your nanny diary and then post them once a month. it's more hassle than a standing order - but seeing as that seems to be eluding them, this is, at least, do-able and idiot-proof. you could maybe suggest it as a short-term alternative. and say to them - please can you do it now, before I leave today...

i have a nanny and if for some reason the money didnt go out to her on time, id go and get it in cash, or at least part of it, and give it to her to be getting on with. id talk to her about it all and do my best to make sure she wasnt inconvenienced.

im sorry, but im highly sceptical that the bank is at fault this whole time. if you both have internet banking, they only have to go online, click a couple of buttons and its done. i think theyre messing you about, personally. and this month really takes the piss.

arew they maybe having financial problems you are falling victim to?

There's abslutely no excuse for this at all. We pay our nanny by standing order on 25th of each month. It took about 2 minutes to set up. It's outrageous that they haven't got this set up 6 months into your job.

Sorry nannyL, cross posted, your explanation about the statement sounds totally reasonable, you just didn't explain yourself very well intially. I think this is a topic that worries a lot of people, hence the replies. I was genuinely suprised when you said you'd seen a statement, I've always respected your professionalism. I'm relieved you've cleared things up.

I'm gald you've decided to get tough, they need to know your bills are just as valid as theirs.

This makes me so mad, why is it that a nanny/childminder's wages are not considered very important at all by some employers? You can bet your life, NannnyL that if your employers were payed late and then had to actually chase their wages themselves, month after month there would be an uproar. Why is your morgage less important than theirs?

I think you need to get tough with your employers. No matter how nice they are, they are taking the piss, it's not good enough to keep blaming the bank, THEY are responsible for making sure you get paid, the fact that there have been problems should make them even more on the ball, not less.

I hope you get things sorted soon.

I must admit though I was a little horrified that you read their bank statements, even if they were left lying around. This is really not on and having read a lot of your posts where you come across as highly professional, I was really suprised. I don't mean to sound all 'holier than thou' this is just my opinion.

I do agree with an earlier poster though that this is beside the point, you should get paid on time, every month, without having to fight for it.

She could be paid in cash each Friday which is what we did, not because we weren't paying any tax (we always paid it) but because she didn't have a bank account and anyway the money is then there in cleared funds on Friday night for that week.

Some of my parents paid me by IBanking, I had to stop it, as It was taking up to 10 days from them paying it to me receiving it!! I am with HSBC.

Know you only really want parents views, but having thought about this a bit, may be best to break it two into two separate issues:

1. Pay owed to end of February.
2. Pay for March.

The pay for February should be made immediately by your employer. Using internet banking, a payment can be processed very quickly - if done tonight, will be processed by bank on Monday, and in your account my Thursday at latest (payments take 3 working days).

SO should be setup correctly for March payment, such that the funds arrive at your account in the first few days of April.

Query: what about payslips... if there have been issues in paying, have you still been getting the payslips?

NannyL that's completely unacceptable. 22 years ago we took on our first nanny and we always paid on time always. I would make it absolutely first prority. Our lives work children all depended on the nanny.

I don't underst and the standing order thing. I have lots of standing orders. I pay my student children by standing order every week. I can set that up on line with on line banking. It doesn't need visits to branches. I can vary it on line. Interestingly it isn't always paid on exactly the same day and it is always a few days after it's set up for for some reason so with one daughter's rent I set it up to pay the landlord 3 days early just in case the bank are slow.

Ask them if they bank on line and can go and check the SO dates. Ask them which day it will leave their account each month and when their bank say it will reach yours and make sure they pay the blacklog anyway.

The problem for your employers is if the bank are about to pay then you'll get paid twice but I would tell them you need everything owed paid in cash by Friday and then if you end up being double paid by the bank you will pay it back...
Just read hst Twigless says. That is what I would say. The veiled threat can be you won't be in work on Monday unless they have the cash there (or partly a cheque if they can't get that much cash out). They can probably get out £500 cash on the bank card and another £500 on each credit card they have as well by the way.

they can do a direct payment into your account via the internet ,i do it all the time its easy, i assume hey have internet banking set up..it takes minutes... if all else fails take a cheque for this month and next month too as compensation , and making sure you get your money

The bank statement issue is separate, people. The woman needs paying. And in fact her employers' financial situation isn't the point either - they owe the money. End of.

I agree with Twiglett.

I've never used a nanny, but I have paid my childminder on time all the time for six years. Anything else just isn't on.