What is a fair wage for me as live in nanny

[erm1989]

Hi
I would really appreciate some help please. I have just started my first job as a live in nanny. I am 21 years old and have a Cache level 3 diploma in Childcare and Education.
My employers work away and are home at weekends only when I am able to return to my own home. I therefore have to care for the two children aged 1 and 3 years for 24 hours per day, five days per week. I do not get any expenses for fuel if I take the children anywhere by car am not allowed to do any personal washing or use the telephone. My salary is £240 per week.
Please can someone advise on whether this is a fair salary or not. My family think not due to the level of responsibility and care provided.
Many thanks.

PS: Does anyone know of any telephone advice lines that I can make use of please.

Erm - just out of interest do you get on with the children?

So you basically do everything for both children 24.7 five days a week? That is a huge ask???

I just really really feel for them - not having any parents during the working week. Unreal.

Not that that should stop you from looking for something better.

It sounds appalling.

Plenty of people have to do that though, mra and it may just be a short-term arrangement. Maybe on parent is on a short-term international secondment and the other is Forces so on a training course which allows weekending but not being home during the week. Having a 24/5 nanny isn't forcibly neglect.

I always find the definition of leisure activities interesting but by any measure you're probably not live in here if you have to go home at weekends and don't have use of household ammenities.

The WTD may depend on how long your shifts are. Nursing home staff in the one where I worked occasionally routinely did a 2-10, sleep-in, 7-2 which counted basically as one long shift. Mind you looking at that they didn't seem to get 11 hours between finishing a late and starting an early? So if the OP's 'shifts' are 5 days long then the 11 hour break is at the weekend. Presumably same rules apply in 24/6 positions.

What would happen if something happened to the nanny and/or children? Are the parents contactable, would a parent return home?

IME one parent is typically contactable even if it's through their office, I insist on having a letter of authority from the parents enabling me to consent to pretty much anything if necessary (would never abuse it, only invoked it when both parents were 60,00ft up and charge cracked his head when he fell over at football so they wanted to x-ray) and if anything happened to me I had named contacts - relatives, godmother and a mother from school - whose info was clearly displayed in my diary etc.

It's like being a parent though in that respect. If you're a single parent and something happens to you, then what do you do?

Many nannies proxy-parent on a short-term basis - if this job were properly presented there wouldn't necessarily be anything wrong with it IMO. The issues are that the parents didn't present it as it really is, they're being totally unreasonable about using stuff in the house, they haven't provided a contract or anything, it's not really live in and OP's just been left to sort of get on with it.

OP if you do decide to stay then you need a salary hike, a contract, a letter of authority (and make very sure you're compliant with all terms of your insurance wrt consent for administering medication etc too) and some kind of agreement on what you can do whilst you're at there. Like your laundry.

mr a, i dont think you can say the parents are neglecting their children - they have employed a nanny to look after them

i know of several nannies who do 24/4/5/6 tho get far much moremoney/perks

Blonde - but how long would these nannies be in 24/7 type roles. I mean how long is a typical duration?

I am genuinely interested

I've done 24/7 for a 2 week period in the distant past.

i have done 24/7 for 12 days, once!

with children 16 weeks, 4 years and 7 years

I do 24/5.5 and have done for the last 18 months. Although I am often not on completely sole charge duty for the entirety of that time. I get paid more than the OP plus I get a fair bit of ad hoc time off to make up for the fact the parents WANT to see their child whenever it's possible in their crazy schedule. They pay for my availability. The OP is being completely taken advantage of.

I had an interview for a 24/7 month on, month off job that was perm and shared between 2 nannies.

My 24/5 job I only did a year because I selfishly left to get married but would have happily stayed on otherwise. Many 24/5 or 6 jobs are perm and some nannies can stay in them for years. It's actually quite an attractive option if you're youngish and many of them are overseas/involve extensive travel.

Wow - it is really interesting to hear this. I don't know why I was feeling so guilty for FT Nursery Mon to Friday!!!

What crazy schedules people have and yes Wrinkly ofcourse you should be compensated well - being a nanny 24/7 5 days a week or more is a big big ask.

It makes sense to share the role with another nanny otherwise I could imagine burn out.

I know some single parents have this as do other parents when one parent is working away but hats off to anyone in this situation, whether you are a nanny or a parent.

I didn't say the parents were neglecting their children. I said that it seems to me that what they are doing is inappropriate.

But I am not professionally competent to judge these things, which is why I would like to notify someone that is i.e. the NSPCC.

Still I wonder why people like that bother having children if they are only going to see them at weekends.

mranchovy?

you want to notify the NSPCC that people have nannies to care for their children?

what do you expect the NSPCC to do about it?

parents away and choose proffesional qualified person to look after children while they cant... NSPCC will laugh!!!!

ok if they go and leave the children to fend for themselves all week, but not when parents pay HUGE sums to ensure children are safe and well looked after!

Oh, For heavens sake! Lots and lots of parents chose to have a live in nanny for their children, and go out to work/lunch/skiing/sailing and don't see their children for long periods of time.

It doesn't mean the children are badly cared for....quite the opposite. Most nannies who work for such families are qualified and experienced in child care care and are treated with respect, are well paid, and get some nice perks which make the long hours worth while. I've known families have more than one nanny, so they can both have a break. It's not how I choose to raise my DC (or would if I could afford to) but neither is it some kind of child abuse the NSPCC are going to worry about.

Why do such people have children? Why do people who are on benefits have children? Why do people who are ill or older have children?

OP, if you knew the conditions you would be working in and are happy apart from the salary, I think you should stay and build up experience, and after you've been there a year move on to a higher paid position.

popcrackle varies but normally 12/18mths - as wrinky said shes not there alone all that tine,but a few of my friends would be most of the time alone

cinpin there are a few parents i know who rarely if never see their children sun night to fri night/sat am

they worked 7-7.30 and the nanny wakes children up and put them to bed :(

The expectations of this family are shocking for the remuneration they are offering. It also seems very unfair that you cannot use the washing machine!! I am no expert on this but I would suggest that you are in fact working as a Proxy Parent rather than a live in nanny?!

Hi OP, I would love to private message you about a different job, but it says your nickname is not in the MN system so I'm guessing you've name-changed. If you are interested, contact me (click on "message poster") and I will reply.

Hi Sequins
I am the Original poster as u can see i have changed my user name.
Thanks for taking the trouble of writing to me, u can contact me via this nickname now.
Thanks again

Yes blondes I have known parents that do this and never see their children. Its fine if it is a weeks holiday or they are away for the odd week for work but not all the time

Really the nanny is bringing up the child not the parents which I think is sad and why did they bother having children.

oh yes....

i have known so many nannies families where the parents see their children for a few minutes (if at all) a day.

Other than the odd day, Ive always worked for families where i finished 6ish, so at least parents normally put them to bed, but i know so many nannies who get children up and care for them all day including putting to bed mon - fri.

But then its the parents choice.... or maybe not choice...

i know when my sister has children (she is the main earner and commutes into London, min 75min train journey) she is out the house 7 - 7 so WONT be seeing her children for more than a few mins a day if at all.
This isnt her "choice".... she would much rather see her children, (ok she will work from home 1 - 2 days a week) but just pointing out that for some people they really dont have a choice.

The choice is between seeing children OR selling house and then not having anywhere to live with said children!
and thats not the end of the choice...
by keeping working and keeping her place on the career ladder, she will be able to independantly educate her children... and support them through Uni etc, and they will be able to afford good quality life, for the duration of their lives.. something which if she stopped working just to see the children, wouldnt happen.

Its not always black and white...

Lets get a few things straight.

I am a parent, I have used childcare of all kinds for 16 years, including nannies living in and (for short periods) proxy parenting.

These parents have not paid a huge sum to ensure their children are safe and well looked after, they are paying an illegally small sum (below NMW) to operate an arrangement which appears to be illegal in at least one other respect (the lack of breaks between shifts) which is different from what was agreed with the nanny before she started. I wonder in how many more ways these particular parents ignore their responsibilities?

I think it highly unlikely that a staff member of the NSPCC would 'laugh at' anyone reporting concerns about the actions of the parents of children in their care, and I think it is irresponsible of you to suggest that this may be the case.

What do I expect the NSPCC to do about it? I expect them to listen to what I have to say, and if they think my concerns are valid to suggest a further course of action, and if they think that they are not valid to tell me that I need not be concerned.

Do you think that everything the OP described is OK? If not, where do you suggest she turns for support?

Personally I don't think the current arrangement is okay but that's to do with the way the OP is being treated. The idea of having a 24/5 nanny isn't intrinsically not okay. And we still don't know whether it's an indefinite arrangement or not.

The problems here are with the particular arrangement which, if they were sorted, probably wouldn't pose a problem except the length of working hours which seems to be a grey area.

If the OP had accepted the job on a 24/5 basis and had a contract to that effect then would that constitute an agreement to a derogation? Then there's active vs inactive duty to muddy the waters. Working 24/5 in France was only possible because when my charge was asleep or at a different activity where I was responsible but not in direct charge of him was classed as inactive.

This must have been dealt with before as it's not a particularly uncommon arrangement, although most doing it know exactly what is involved, are well compensated and actively seeking to do it.

are well compensated

I think that is where this falls apart...

Hope OP puts 25% of her earnings on one side for NI + income tax. Doubt the couple pay to cover weekend fuel costs to/from home. With a higher salary there would probably be far less criticism over their scrooge attitude re fuel costs if taking children out...

What happens if any shopping is needed, I wonder... will they not cover that, nor fuel to go to shops...

Nannyl, your sister's future arrangement will be very different to what the OP's employers are currently doing. Your sister may only see her children very briefly, if at all, during the week but she will still be there in the middle of the night if they wake up, to give them a goodnight kiss even if they are asleep, to fill in the school forms, pack the lunches, etc. I'm sure she will also be endeavouring to get the best possible care for her children when she is not there rather than paying the minimum she can get away with and making her nanny feel like a second-class citizen in the household.