If you’d booked a babysitter

[FanofLeaves]

And they’d completed a 7 hour shift for you, entertaining and then putting your small children to bed, and then staying up until you get in at 1am, how soon would you be paying them?

I’m a nanny but I do a bit of babysitting work on the odd weekend for extra cash. Desperately in need of the extra cash at the moment and my bank account is looking pretty bare so am currently getting pissed off looking at my bank account and willing a payment of over £100 (including the uber home I had to get due to public transport having stopped, I don’t drive) to appear.

I sent a text with the amount owed and my bank details, attaching the taxi receipt, at 9:30am yesterday morning.

I think I’m going to either have to ask for some payment to be made in advance, or charging a late fee but this sounds a bit arsey snd I’m worried it might put people off. Then again, if you are say in a restaurant or have had your haircut you pay promptly after receiving that service, you don’t pay it at some point over the next few days!

i’ll send a nudge later this morning but it annoys me that I have to do it.

So I guess my question is, say you’d booked a babysitter, how promptly do you pay them? And would you expect to be charged a late fee for taking 24+ to pay? I get it, we have busy lives, I’m a mum myself, but it just feels like a piss take. I think I’ve had one babysitting gig this year where the money has hit my account before I’m even home, all the others take up to 3 days to make payment.

If you sign up for Square (for free), the app allows you to use your phone as a card reader so you can take contactless card payments on the spot. I think £100 is the upper limit but you could always split it into two if needed I guess. You pay a very small fee but I find it's worth it to be able to receive payment so easily. I hope you get paid soon!

This is really useful info. Incidentally I go to a hairdresser at her home and I’m pretty sure this must be what she uses, I just tap my card on her phone.

Nope.
we pay taxis after 11am for an adult babysitter amd after 9.30/10 for a teen if one of her parent cant pick her up.

of course i would expect to pay a taxi home. You ve worked for us, you ve mind my precious, i treat you well.

my daughter is now babysitting our neighbours kids and I am chocked that isnt told to help herself with food or been left a pizza.

we always made sure our babysitters had plenty.

our motto “treat the people the way you would like to be treated”

This is fair, I know it’s not their fault that I rely on the cash, and obviously they don’t know I’m really in need of it today to get some shopping in 😬

I just hate having to chase.

I would expect cash that night or payment sent via bacs there and then.

prob worth doing a 50% deposit

It’s not just babysitters getting paid late. My husband is currently chasing three unpaid bills, one for a job done as a favour before Christmas. No one answering their phones or replying to texts. Small claims court documents will be dropping on their doorsteps this week. Even tradesmen have bills to pay too.

I say 24hours allowance max. But if they can pay when they got home before leaving then thats best policy yo avoid any issues on both ends.

I always pay immediately. Once ever I realised In the morning that the payment hadn’t left as I hadn’t pressed confirm, was mortified and paid immediately and added an extra £5

We always pay cash on the night.

I don't pay taxis home for babysitters though - I expect them to charge a rate that works for them, including their transport costs.

Our regular babysitter is picked up by her partner.

Oh don’t get me started on the food issues 🤣 I just bring my own now but it’s so nice to be left a pizza or something or in the fridge. Sometimes I arrive to babysit straight from working ten hours and I’m ravenous and all there is is hibiscus tea and beef carpaccio and other fancy charcuterie in the fridge that i obviously wouldn’t dare to eat 🤣 I’ve had nights where I want to chew my own arm off in hunger.

I think it makes complete sense and then people can decide to get back before 11 if it’s a charge they don’t want to incur.

I think it would be helpful if you could make your payment terms clear up front. So, when you're booked say something like "I'd prefer cash on the day, or a bank transfer within 24 hours". If they don't have enough cash because they're late and/or they also have to pay for the uber, they could then transfer the extra the next day, but at least you'd have the majority. Personally, I'd then give them 48 hours to pay (but say 24 hours!!), especially at a weekend where they may be busy on a Sunday. If no payment was made by the end of the day Monday, I'd prompt them.

Regarding doing the bank transfer in front of you, before you leave, I've had this happen to me twice recently (no babysitters, but tradespeople). One was for an oven clean, and one for window cleaner. Personally, I find this a bit awkward. I feel like I'm not trusted. I would always make the payment the same day or the day after. I think that's reasonable.

I think they should be required to pay within 24 hours and then a late fee will incur. Extra charge for every hour they are late.

Personally I would have paid before I went out if it was a set fee.

I expect to pay them before they leave.

However, if I had to wait for an invoice, that would delay it. I probably wouldn't find time to deal with that during the day, so even if it arrived at 9:30am, I might not pay it until 9:30pm.

I find the food stuff really weird - I don't leave food for the babysitter either because how am I supposed to know what they like to eat? Maybe they don't like pizza or are gluten-free or vegan or on a diet?

If I was the babysitter, I wouldn't want or expect someone else to arbitrarily decide what I am eating that evening, I would actively much prefer to bring my own. Tea/coffee/milk of course appreciated.

I think the problem is baby sitting used to be a favour for a couple of quid in which case you'd expect cash on the night. But what you are talking about is a business transaction so it needs an invoice, a formal agreement for how and when you will be paid and proper records for tax reasons. There's many, many trades that would have several weeks as payment terms so they may not expect to pay there and then. I think you need to put some formalities in place with an agreed timeline for payment and ensure your customers are aware before they contract you so you can then be justified in chasing them for late payments. I don't think you can charge them a late payment fee though unless you are absolutely clear this will be the case in advance.

Are you serious? You begrudge a woman getting home safely?

If parents are too cheap to make sure she gets home safely then maybe they should be home when public transport is still running.

Well it’s more of an offering really. You know, ‘help yourself to tea and coffee and biscuits’ at a minimum really. I won’t help myself unless this is stated but I think if you’re spending 5+ in someone’s home it’s nice to at least offer, babysitters have to eat too and it’s not like we can nip out for a sandwich.

You can send a PayPal link too but you will pay fees for that .

I expect to pay babysitters on the night and their taxi home. However if we agreed a bank transfer, I would say within 24 hrs is ok. I would be cross about a late fee and wouldn't use you again if you threatened this.

I think good babysitters are hard to find so you can dictate payment on the day if you are willing to say so in advance and be clear about it. I think a clear reminder the day after to say, could you pay me today please as the payment hasn't arrived would be fine to send.

Well of course you can't nip out for a sandwich but you can bring what you like to eat with you.

I don't have the enthusiasm to stock a range of food to be "nice" - I pay a small fortune for babysitting as it is, they can sort their own food!

I do offer tea and coffee, not biscuits as we don't eat them

Lots of banks let you send a WhatsApp link to settle up for a specific amount (I use Starling). I'd do that as soon as the people returned home and just say "I've sent you the bill". If they didn't pay in 24 hours, I'd send it again and then if they didn't pay immediately I'd not work for them again.

When you agree the booking, tell them "just so you're aware, my payment policy is cash on the night or payment by bank xfer within 24 hours, would you like to proceed with the booking?". Then just remind them again on the day. At the end of the day it's a business transaction, so long as you've made your expectations clear I don't think anyone can complain.

The families that are good to work for ask what you'd like.

They should pay on the night. Just like they paid the restaurant, the taxi, the bar bill etc.

Eh. We have used babysitters for many years, they have always been quite keen to work for us, never had any issues retaining them, so it obviously doesn't matter that much.

We pay well and our kids sleep well and early so I think that matters more than having to bring your own food - which every babysitter we have ever had does automatically