Who is in the wrong here?

[IceAndASlice123]

Ella regularly babysits for Mark and is always paid for 3 hours work.
Yesterday, Marks adult brother, Tony, was at home. Mark told Ella she could leave the child with Tony if it went past her finish time.
About an hour in, Tony says he will take over the childcare from Ella. Ella says she can stay until her finish time but Tony insists.
Ella takes the money for the full shift despite only doing under half of it (Money is left in the kitchen ).
Who is in the wrong here? Should Mark be annoyed?

Bold fail. The first part of my post was quoting Bluntness

I don't think she is wrong for wishing to be paid for time booked. Not even remotely. I think the op is wrong for not clarifying her terms with her clients in advance.

Ella should be paid - how could she know she wouldn't be needed? She could have made plans to do something else / earn money elsewhere

Particularly if Ella is good and reliable

It was a but grabby to take it all, you should have just taken half, it was the honourable thing to do

It was a but grabby to take it all, you should have just taken half, it was the honourable thing to do

Honourable? No the honourable thing to do was for Mark to be seriously apologetic for how his long term sitter, who he trusts with his children for probably very little more than minimum wage, had been messed around by his brother.

Agree with CarolDanvers

People expect to entrust the most precious things their lives - their children to reliable babysitters - but begrudge paying them a reasonable rate!

If you get a good, reliable babysitter, she is worth her weighting gold. You treat her well and hang onto her.

Ok so Ella should take a decrease in money due to a situation that is in no way her fault. It doesn't matter if she relies on that cash or that she sets aside that time for this family on a regular basis. Nor that she is persumably a good and trusted babysitter. No. She is grabby and wrong to dare to take the money.

Jesus Christ. 😐 some of the responses on here are unreal.

If you booked a professional for a regular 3 hr stint then that’s the arrangement. They have put aside those 3 hrs for you and should therefore be paid the 3hrs no matter if your relative/friend rocks up and insists that he relieves her, her agreement was for the 3hrs which she was committed to complete.
Simples

Love these names and these threads..:I just picture an Blonde ella, a useless dead end tony who sponges off his rich brother mark whose a single parent with piercing blue eyes, floppy dark hair and olive skin

Was mark out on a date?

Can tony be trusted tho? Maybe he’s just getting drunk with the beers in marks posh Samsung fridge?

Only person wrong is Mark for getting annoyed.

Why should OP check if child's uncle, who is there a lot and has child regularly, tells her to leave? He's not some random friend staying.

The only extra thing OP could have done is have a conversation with Tony at the time telling him she was expecting 3 hours work and 3 hours pay. He 'should' have told her to take full pay and, if not, she could have said "well I'm staying then". Her taking the money would then have been between Mark and Tony.

Reliable babysitters are like gold dust around here! When we used them we regularly overpaid the good ones.

I hope you no longer feel anxious about this situation. You are in no way grabby

For all those saying Ella is wrong - do you go back to Tesco after throwing away some of your shop because you didn’t use it and demand a refund? No? Well that’s because you pay for the goods and that’s that. Same here. Mark bought 3 hours of Ella’s time. He shouldn’t have booked her if his brother was there. He would have to pay if his kid was in the childcare facility and he’s getting the same if not better (1 to 1) here. Ella - feel annoyed you’ve been put in this situation. Say yo him if he’s annoyed then try and find another qualified professional who will be happy giving up contracted hours (verbal agreement) on a whim and you’ll be happy to enjoy your evening without wondering if you’ll get paid or not by a cf. yes he’s the cf not you.

How much are we talking about here?

If I put myself onto Marks shoes I think you were a bit cheeky to take all of the money for only working an hour. If you'd have called me and told me that my brother insisted you leave then and asked me how much to take I'd probably have told you to take it all.

Personally I wouldn't expect to pay a sitter for time she hadn't worked BUT if she was really good and we relied on her a lot then i think I would be lookingvto set down rules or terms in relation to the arrangement.

I wonder could mark be pissed off at his brother firstly for sending you hone and secondly for having a "friend" over while his kid was there. He maybe taking it out on you

Personally I wouldn't expect to pay a sitter for time she hadn't worked

Even though you'd booked that time thus preventing her from earning money elsewhere during that time? Why are you so special she should do you such a favour; reserve her work time for you, then not expect to be paid when someone cancels on a whim?

@caroldanvers because it's casual work and I'm assuming off the books too.

I do private lessons, if someone cancels on me at the last minute, even if they are regulars, I do not expect to be paid for that time. I suck it up because I will have the time the following week. Do it to me twice however and you are dropped and I'll fill the slot with someone else.

Also as I said @CarolDanvers she should have cleared it with her "employer" before she left. That to me is where the cheekynees comes in. I as an employer would feel she has taken the piss leaving early and taking full payment without clearing it with me in the first place.

Hugsgalore, I do private work as well and will charge if I am cancelled with less than 48 hours notice and we can't reschedule that week.

I need the income and funnily enough parents cancel very rarely since I implemented that policy.

Whilst technically you are right and should have the three hours wage, if also look at whether A) you need this income and B) will it now stop because of this. That would probably determine whether I offered to hand back any money or not.

Tony is in the wrong, of course. Ella turned up for her job and no doubt allocated 3 hours for it. It's a booked session. If you're worried about it then get Tony to reimburse Mark. She didn't tell him to do her job did she.

Not to mention its very short notice and that should be taken into account too.

I'd think Marks more hacked off you didn't ring him to check it was OK to leave. If he'd thought his brother was responsible he'd have cancelled your booking beforehand. Tony was in the wrong, but you should have rung Mark to check it was OK to leave. You should take the full fee & make it clear to anyone you sit for that similar last minute fuckwittery means they incur full fee as booked.

Nobody's wrong unless someone's annoyed. Nobody needs to be annoyed.

Tony is a male and he is a relative of Mark. He was scheduled to be there and take over after her. He had permission and authority to be there. She did not have the physical ability or the authority to stop him. She was morally and legally entitled to take the money As far as she was concerned, he might have not wanted her in the house because he wanted more one-on-one time with his nieces and nephews. She is entitled to the cash

Don't fuck with having a good baby-sitter. Ever.