To ask how much you’d expect a babysitter to cost on NYE

[ThatMauveRaven]

20yo DD has been asked (last minute) to babysit her manager’s two young children tomorrow night. They’ve offered her £60 in cash to be there from 8pm-1am. The two kids will most likely be asleep in bed, so she won’t exactly have to do much work but I still think that this is quite stingey considering it’s New Years Eve!

Thoughts?

YABU - £60 is enough
YANBU - I’d expect to pay more

"No, thank you. Have a great night! xxx.".

Quelle surprise.

What did your daughter reply to the £85?

Yes I don’t think she should do it now even if he does up his offer. I would say I was sticking to my original plans in her shoes (even if I didn’t actually have any plans).

£60 is stingy, I’m glad she asked for more. I hope he can’t get anyone to do it for £85.

This. Let's get it wrapped up tonight so they can't accuse her of pulling out at the last min tomorrow.

If the manager genuinely thinks that anyone would be happy to be enriched by the sum of £60 in exchange for missing NYE celebrations and sitting on a sofa with babymonitor link to kids upstairs, then they will be happy to keep their £60 and stay at home themselves.

If that wouldn't make them happy then the amount being offered is too low.

The value of any service is what a willing buyer will pay to a willing seller. If the potential seller won't accept what the prospective buyer is prepared to pay then the buyer cannot afford it. That's ok, there's no obligation on either side for the sale to happen.

£100 plus dinner and a lift/taxi home.

I hope she stands firm. £100 is perfectly reasonable for NYE, especially on such short notice.

Sounds like she needs to find another job and not just because of the babysitting CFery

@PurpleThistle7 That is ridiculous. We paid £15/hour on a normal night. Besides which it is super inappropriate for a manager to ask this of an employee unless there's a personal relationship of some sort? Or she works in childcare? I think she's being put in an awful position here.

Sorry, it's inappropriate for a manager to ask an employee to cover a shift...?

I swear that mumsnet lives in a different universe sometimes. Oh how I wish the most "inappropriate" thing a manager ever asked me to do was... cover a shift... which actually is not inappropriate at all.

It’s not “covering a shift” - babysitting is not her job and the manager does not employ her to babysit and does not employ her to work at his house at night. It’s totally separate from her job, but she is being put in a difficult position by her employer asking her to do this.

She isnt being asked to cover a shift!! She is being asked to drive to the managers home, babysit his "not the easiest boys" young sons then drive herself home in the early house of NYD and for that be paid a pittance.

This person is a manager at her place of work, it is entirely inappropriate.

£100 minimum. That is stingy.

Except she’s not ‘covering a shift’ and it’s nothing to do with her job. He’s asking her for a personal babysitting favour (and isn’t willing to pay for it)

It's not about lazy jobs. It is about awkward timing, plus needing 20 mins car drive one way.

Would you say a security man should be paid peanuts because he does not do much 'work'?

What made you think that the OP's daughter was merely being asked to cover a shift?

I agree with this. 60 is exploitation.

"Babysitting counts as work and therefore minimum wage applies whether you like it or not. Thankfully the majority of us have a bit of politeness and respect for others and don’t take advantage of young babysitters by paying them unfairly to get cheap childcare. Unfortunately you seem to be in the minority."

Does she have an up to date enhanced DBS and up to date paediatric first aid certificate & safeguarding qualification? Insurance?

Or do you get what you pay for? IMO you can't skimp on those very important things and then expect similar rates to those that have them.

But it's not the OP's daughter who is offering this service - it's the boss who has chosen to ask her to provide a service outside her normal work.

Last minute on NYE? $20/hour minimum.

Unless dd needs the money desperately, tell her not to do this.
This is her first day off in a month, it's far better to relax at home than drive after midnight for 20 minutes to sit at someone's house for 85 quid with not so easy kids.
What if they return home much later? Will they pay extra?

@Trendyname t's not about lazy jobs. It is about awkward timing, plus needing 20 mins car drive one way.

How is it "awkward timing"? If being awake from 20:00 until 01:00 is not awkward for socialising, then why would it be awkward for working? Have none of you never worked an evening before?

Would you say a security man should be paid peanuts because he does not do much 'work'?

Except the pay isn't "peanuts." It might be peanuts in mumsnet world, but in reality, £60 for light baby sitting is reasonable.

This actually makes me more uncomfortable the more I think about it. And they’re being super tight - bargaining to save £15? That’s the cost of ‘one‘ of the cocktails they’ll likely be enjoying that evening.

Obviously her choice and maybe £85 is better than 0 and she wants the money but I would be both saying no and finding a new job. I can’t see how I’d respect this person after this palaver. Maybe it’s a one off and he’s desperate (though still tight!) but it seems like he thinks he has some sort of ownership over her free time that would make me feel uncomfortable.

I babysat on New Year’s Eve as a teenager and never took less than $100 and this was decades ago.

Setting aside the argument over double time for Hogmanay, there's no guarantee that this is light babysitting, particularly given the ages involved.