Nanny pay when DS starts nursery?

[deedeedadada]

Have a fantastic nanny who works 8am-6pm. DS is 22months and will be starting nursery (3 mornings per week, increasing gradually to 5 mornings just for a bit of social life) when he turns 2. Just wondered whether it's the norm to continue with the same amount of pay even though DS will be spending 3 hours per day at nursery? Do nannies expect a slight pay cut or not? Should say that nanny will still be asked to start work at 8am as we need to get to work and nursery doesn't start til 9.30 -obviously she can't therefore take another job in the mornings. Any guidance wd be appreciated!

I think your nanny won't appreciate a pay cut, was she aware that this was the case when you first employed her, or have you decided to do this at a later date. If she was aware that was going to happen, then it would be reasonable for her to understand a slight pay deduction, however i doubt she will be able to find another job, to cover 9.30 -12.00 3-5 mornings a week, but she might.

Stays the same, you are contracted to pay that amount. Or are you planning on changing the contract and thus risking losing the nanny?

3 hours isn't long, nursery is probably only open term time, nursery probably won't care for a sick child. There will be travel time to/from nursery. By the time nanny is back to your house, how long would they have... a couple of hours. Time to do the washing, dishwasher, general tidy around, cook lunch perhaps.

I'd suggest you keep paying exactly the same amount and think of some tasks nanny could do during the time available.

Oh nannynick said it perfectly

Don't think we mentioned it before we employed her (hadn't thought about it ourselves at that stage) but have been talking about it for a few months in the context of "oh god I'd better sort out a nursery place soon". Understand that nobody welcomes a pay cut but also keen not to be the only fool who continues to give someone full pay even though they effectively have 3 hours off in the middle of the day IYSWIM? She is so nice that I doubt she would express an opinion either way - that's why I'm asking what the "done thing" is.

Okay, so who will pick your child up if they become ill at nursery?

I worked as a nanny. After a few years the child went to playschool twice a week. My salary stayed the same. I used the time to do extra jobs for the parents. It was never even a consideration that they would lower my salary as I was still working as I was on call.

Your nanny might be nice but she will be pretty pissed off if you dock her wages. She would have to come in and do 1.5 hours, then do what for 3 hours and then go back to work. You need to rethink this.

Consider how you would want to be treated by your employer in such a situation.

Perhaps consider it differently, say your employer sends you on a training course... do you still expect to be paid even though you aren't at work?

Just because your DS isn't in their care physically, your DS would be their priority in the event of anything being needed by him - such as if he was ill at nursery, if he simply didn't want to go to nursery one morning, nursery is closed due to no hot water, no heating, the snow. Consider who is on-call for those type of circumstances... would you pick him up?

Most nannies including myself would not generally take a pay cut when the children start school ,I have always found that I have more time to do jobs such as tidying the playroom,Ironing and preparing activities.By the time youve dropped your charge at nursery and returned home it may be 9.30,then I tidy up maybe hang a load of washing,Iron and start preparations for dinner,By the time youve done that there may be time for a quick cuppa and your nanny has to leave to collect your child.You are also pying your nanny to be on call in case your child is unwell at school.I have on several occasions been called into nursery and school to collect a child.

Nothing to "rethink" as no decision made and have posted (as hopefully clear) for some advice. Thanks to Nannynick for your help though.

Right.

If you make a change to the contract, you risk losing the nanny. Your nanny has taken the job based on the hours of work and salary on offer - change those and nanny will reconsider if they want the job.

Given your nanny works 8-6, and you have only one child, why do you have a nanny? Nursery's are open 8-6, childminders provide care during those hours? Nursery or Childminder would be lower cost than a nanny.
You have a nanny for a reason, think about why it is you decided to have a nanny in the first place - does your son going to pre-school really change your reasons for having a nanny?

If my boss cut my hours and pay I'd find another job.

I would question whether a 2yo needs 3 mornings at nursery for a "sociallife" TBH.

IME they're not ready to socialise until at least 3 and then mostly play alongside, rather than "with" other children. Does your Nanny take DS to any toddler/activity groups? If so I'd leave it at that until at least 3, preferably 3.5 and build up to 5 mornings just before he starts school. Save the Nursery money, I don't think cutting the Nanny's pay is an option.

When I was a nanny I received the same pay during term time when two children were at school and one at part-time (morning) nursery as I did during the school holidays when I had them all for 10 hours a day.

It was an ok, but not great, income for 39 weeks a year and a pretty crap one for 13 weeks.

As you've observed, there is no way your nanny could make up any loss of income during the morning - she would have to find a job for around two and a half hours a day, term time only.

No, she won't expect a slight pay cut; and you are likely to lose her if you try to change her contract

I don't understand the need for your child to go to nursery to socialise does your nanny not do playdates/groups/activities with other children?

I am a nanny and my charge went to nursery 3 mornings a week 8-1 however I was still paid for my time as I was available to work and should the child be ill, the nursery be shut due to bad weather, DC having appointments in those times ie dev check etc then I was there. Had I not been paid and had a job to fit in to those hours then my boss would have had to go to work from 7.30-8 then take time off to care for the child before I came back at 1 to continue my day.

During the time DC was at nursery I did art folders/batch cooking/tidy toys/pick up new toys from toy library etc.

Just what everyone else has said really. It is not the 'done thing' to dock the nanny's pay if a child is at nursery/pre-school/an activity during the day.

I agree with create. A 2 year old really doesn't need nursery for a 'social life'. Playgroup and playdates should be sufficient and I assume your nanny already takes him to those? If she doesn't ask her too. If you wait until he's 3 you get your nursery funding and you're entitled to 15hrs a week free (or massively reduced depending on the cost of the nursery).

luckylou - if you received the same pay whether you had the kids for a few hours or 10 hours, why was it different for 39 weeks than the other 13?

FAB the job was different wasn't it? For 39 weeks the dc were in school and s getting wages for that is I suppose a bit less work thatn the 13 weeks she had the dc's on school holidays, it's a bit like working part time for your wages for most of the year then working more hours for the 13 weeks.

I am looking at childcare just now for my dc for later in the year and wouldn't expect to NOT pay a potential nanny for the time any of them were at preschool etc because they would be the ones that were on call so to speak, they would be the care in the holidays and the nusrsery point of contact should they become ill or school had shut for any reason. If you don't pay the nanny for that period then you are effectively on call for that time as you are not paying her so she doesn't have to have made herself available to you in that time especially if she did find another job in there somewhere so you would also have to find alternative care during school holidays as well as she is no longer contracted for those 3 hours either.

This was my boss's debate as well, I told them that I was expecting the same pay as I still needed to do other things such as cooking, changing beds,etc and when child is ill/half term they would need me. Their answer first was that they would pay me of course when child is ill or it's half term, my answer was that I wasn't going to be available for those 3 hours than. She can't expect me to be available short notice and when she wishes-especially as it would have been in my contract that I had those 3 hours 3 times a week unpaid.

It turns out that my charge needed 2 months to settle in nursery, I had to pick him up every day early, after about an hour, than a month half term started and now he supposed to be back at nursery but missing out as he has temperature. I had only one afternoon, 3 hours off, so far when he was at nursery but I fill it with cooking for next day or for following week.

with our nanny we gave her choice of:

1. doing extra random stuff to fill the time on top of normal nanny duties (eg preparing and freezing food, checking if we are running out of food stuffs and replacing, nippign to post-office, that kind of thing, and even a bit of PA stuff)
2. moving to a flexi schedule where she did fewer hours overall for same salary (ie she effectively got a payrise) but where she added in a night of babysitting instead of hanging round in the morning with no-one there (when they went to school this switched into a schedule where nanny did 30 hours during term time and 50 hours during holidays)

Cutting salary is never the done thing.

Agree with others. The done thing is to give her some child related stuff to do, and not cut the hours/pay. As your toddler grows there will be more and more for her to do (cook food, pick up birthday presents, organise play dates, tidy toys/clothes, etc.)

Why are you sending him to nursery? Surely nanny can give him any social interaction you desire through play groups and other activities. I've always thought one of the great benefits of having a nanny was being able to prescribe the activities I liked, whereas a nursery sets their own schedule and you just take what you get.

I think sending your reasons for sending your DC to nursery are fine - mine certainly benefited/benefits from the structured activities and socialising with a consistent group but DD does have days off sick (more so since she's with more children). You need to factor that in, OP. Also, could your nanny simply do more around the house (if her child-related activities do not fill in the time)?

I'd definitely not dock her pay unless you want her to leave and then you'll have to cover sick days etc yourself.

Apart from all the reasons that have been mentioned, there is also the break. I assume that your ds drops his naps soon? Then an hour break for the nanny (10hrs work day) wouldn't be unreasonable. Plus commuting to nursery.
If your son naps in the afternoon then, as others have suggested, ask the nanny to prepare some meals, iron ds clothes ets.

As an employer I must say I am shocked that people even consider docking pay when a child starts nursery/pre-school. One of the things my (excellent) nanny agency asked me at the outset was what age we were thinking of starting our little girl at pre-school/playgroup and what we would want the nanny to do during that time. It was pointed out to me that if I was planning for her to start nursery of some kind at 2 (which I am not but anyway) and wouldn't want to pay a nanny for the hours she was at nursery I should consider whether it was worth having a nanny at all, given that the period when the nanny would have full-time charge would only be about 18 months.

At the moment my daughter sleeps for up to 2 1/2 hours in the middle of the day, which is almost as long as the nursery session mentioned above and given that she doesn't do pick up or drop off probably amounts to the same amount of "free" time. Which she uses to tidy, cook, do washing, plan outings, arrange playdates and quite often send me an email about what they're doing. And I suspect she also probably has a cup of tea and watches a bit of telly, which I don't mind in the slightest as I know how hard she works the rest of the day!

If you choose to employ a nanny I think you have a responsibility to treat him or her as you would want to be treated. I work in a job where a lot of my work is created by other people. If I don't have anything to do I will be expected to find something or will expect my boss to give me something to do. I would not expect to have my salary docked for the time when I am at a loose end through no fault of my own.

TheOriginalFAB - perhaps I didn't word that well.

I was paid a flat rate; during term time I received the same for working fewer hours - even fewer when the youngest started school - as I did for working 10 hours a day during the 13 weeks of school holiday.

As an hourly rate, it was pretty good for the hours I actually worked in term time; for the 10+ hours a day I worked in the holidays it was around minmum wage level.