Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to pay the live in nanny/au pair this salary.

372 replies

SpagBolgs · 07/02/2014 17:56

£300 a week for 7:30AM-5PM 5 times a week sometimes it may be a bit more. Then give her some money so she can treat herself. She will stay in our house and she get the chance to go to college/university. We will provide her with food, water a shower and internet. She will be treated like a member of the family and will be able to access the family car.

OP posts:
SpagBolgs · 07/02/2014 21:10

I am not given nanny employers a bad name and by money to treat herself if she has done well DH and I will give her £75 and we are consideering raising her wages.

OP posts:
lilyaldrin · 07/02/2014 21:12

Why has she accepted this job with you when it's so underpaid for her level of experience? Do you live somewhere with few nanny jobs available?

SpagBolgs · 07/02/2014 21:14

Why do people think I am avoiding tax I am not. This is also not cheap childcare I am giving up a bedroom and like tryharder said it not that bad.

OP posts:
SpagBolgs · 07/02/2014 21:15

Where I live it fairly common for people to hire nannies.

OP posts:
lilyaldrin · 07/02/2014 21:17

Why does an experienced nanny want a job that is paying below market rate then?

pigletmania · 07/02/2014 21:21

Yes It sounds incredibly low for looking after all those children, but it is up to her, she does nit have to take the job

PatriciaHolm · 07/02/2014 21:23

Are you in the UK? I'm guessing from what you are saying and your phraseology not. If not, comparing UK wages is possibly not relevant.

NoArmaniNoPunani · 07/02/2014 21:24

If you've already employed someone and she's accepted the wage you are offering why are you asking on here if YABU?

SpagBolgs · 07/02/2014 21:24

I am in the UK

OP posts:
lilyaldrin · 07/02/2014 21:26

Well, it's a low wage for the job/an experienced nanny, but it's legal - I guess it's up to you and the nanny.

Bornin1984 · 07/02/2014 21:27

How old is this person u have employed

ConfusedPixie · 07/02/2014 21:28

Is that gross or net? Its not nanny/au pair, two completely different jobs as you've been told.

Where in the country are you? £300 gross seems low for somebody with that experience wherever you are though. Even net it seems low.

ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged · 07/02/2014 21:30

£300 a week to look after three kids full time and two after school?! How did you get someone to agree to that? YABU.

itsbetterthanabox · 07/02/2014 21:30

Oh my op. That price for looking after 5 children!

Minnieisthedevilmouse · 07/02/2014 21:31

W.o.w

Funnily enough tight was the word I thought too. What she does in her own time is irrelevant. Don't act like studying in her own time is a perk!

It reads like you actually want a slave. Tbh I'm a bit astounded by this

PatriciaHolm · 07/02/2014 21:31

6 years experience, full time care of 2 preschoolers, another child then a couple of older kids - a salary (pre tax) of £300 is way too low. Even after tax it's pretty poor for that responsibility.

But then you aren't listening to a word anyone says are you? Why did you start the threads?

BlueFrenchHorn · 07/02/2014 21:33

What a nasty thread. Just because the OP isn't throwing cash around like it's going out of style, she's getting called tightarsed etc. I get the sense that posters seem to think if someone can afford a nanny then they must be loaded and should be paying the poor nanny as much as possible.

I have two dc in FT childcare in Central London. It would be cheaper for me to hire a nanny. After childcare and my travel, I am working for less than a couple hundred pounds a month after tax. Just because I can technically afford for two children to be on childcare FT doesn't mean I am rolling in it.

The nanny doesn't have to take this job you know. If the pay is so absurd, she can say nod find something more suitable.

IMO, taking away the major major expense of rent/mortgage, I would be very happy if I was earning that kind of money. If the nanny isn't happy, it's her responsibility to negotiate a better salary.

OP will start at the lowest starting salary and the nanny will or should, start at the higher end of the scale. If they're both happy, they can meet somewhere in the middle they're both happy.

I don't see why OP is getting so much abuse for not wanting to start at a very high salary. When I've negotiated my salary in the past, I wouldn't dream of accepting a first offer.

PortofinoRevisited · 07/02/2014 21:36

How could anyone look after 5 kids FT, and then consider studying on top?

Minnieisthedevilmouse · 07/02/2014 21:39

It doesn't sound a reasonable first offer. It sounds like she's batting low hoping for someone who may not have many offers through language or other skills, even if quals are decent. It sounds iffy.

I don't think she's negotiating. I don't think people who can afford nannies are rolling in it, although with two ft salaries it shouldn't be too bad... By the by... But this doesn't feel right.

It's a duck.

PatriciaHolm · 07/02/2014 21:40

I get the sense that posters seem to think if someone can afford a nanny then they must be loaded and should be paying the poor nanny as much as possible.

Not at all. In fact as you say she's probably saving money over having them at nursery - i know I could have had a nanny for the £2k+ a month mine cost for nursery when in London, and that was just for 4 days!

OP seems to have no interest in entering any sort of discussion though. She seems adamant she is correct, and that - for example - free water should be seen as a plus!

The nanny should be able to negotiate. But if she's young, needs a room, and in a position where she needs to earn quickly, it's all too easy to be taken advantage of. Plenty of examples on the employment/childcare boards.

Floggingmolly · 07/02/2014 21:41

She must be a bit thick to have already accepted the job without any clue as to what the salary will be... Maybe knowing that unlimited water would be made available was an offer she couldn't refuse?

Chippednailvarnish · 07/02/2014 21:41

But Minnie your forgetting the free water!

Bornin1984 · 07/02/2014 21:41

It appears the op is taking the piss from the person whom she has
Employed and insulting the person in questions reputation/ability/experience!

Get in the real world

Chippednailvarnish · 07/02/2014 21:42

x post with Flogging

YoureBeingASillyBilly · 07/02/2014 21:44

rent for a room in a shared house here is £150 a month (£35 a week)

childcare for 5 children (3 in school) for the hours OP wants is £5 per child per hour (£25/hr X 50 hours = £1250 per week)

food for one adult sharing 15 meals a week with family plus extra snacks £30 per week unless on a special diet.

energy costs for one adult in house with dcs all through the week £10