Nanny's pay review and Christmas bonus, how much? bit skint!

[Gemzooks]

We have a great nanny, since Jan this year. She works 4 days a week.

With the end of the year coming up I've started to think about her pay review and what to give her at Christmas.

Can't really afford to give her a pay rise (we haven't got one ourselves!) but want to because she's been so great. Do you think it's better not to offer one than to offer a quite small one of say an extra 20-30 pounds a week? She's quite young and on 8 pounds per hour net (which is quite a lot gross!).

Also is the 'standard' Christmas bonus a weeks' salary?

I'd be grateful for any experienced mums of nannies' advice, thanks!

A small payrise is appreciated, even £20 a week really adds up - it's more the thought that counts if you can afford a bonus at Christmas.

£20 or £30 a week will be greatly appreciated I'm sure!!

Is the bonus a part of her pay/contract or just something 'nice' you are doing?

Use a paye calculator like www.mranchovy.com/calc to get a feel for how a rise affects your overall cost, and how much that rise actually results in a rise of the net salary.

There is another thread, think last week, about xmas bonus. Probably worth hunting that down and having a read. A weeks salary is certainly NOT standard.

i think shes very lucky to have such a lovely mb like you.

there are so many threads about poor relations between child carers and parents its nice to hear there are really great relationships out there..

£20 - £30 a week?? I'm a nanny and I have had between £3.85 and £50 a week pay rise and trust me, £50 was a huge shock. I usually have between £10 and £20 a week so £20 - £30 would be very generous.

As for Christmas presents, again I have had hugely differing presents but the best have been the ones that show a little thought. A very expensive coat when I never wear coats was not appreciated, camera equipment when I am a keen photographer were great. And a bonus is nice but I much prefer a few extra days off over Christmas!

I would agree with others that an additional £20-30 per week is quite good. I don't know how much that works in terms of covering inflation etc but you mentioned you haven't received any pay rise yourself, so...just the way it is at the moment.

Thanks very much for your replies. actually probably I'd rather give more like 20-30 a month more, not a week. so was wondering if that's too tight.. She actually takes home more than me once I've taken her salary out of my salary anyway! Hmm....

When i worked as a nanny my average monthly pay rise was probably about £50 GROSS. The most i ever got was £200 NET which was a very generous surprise!!! But sometimes i knew that i wouldn't get a pay rise because the family were already stretched financially and that wasn't a problem for me.

In terms of a present, I?d agree with Callaird, something thoughtful and/or a few extra days off over Christmas was fantastic!

Gemzooks - you can't look at it like that!! Saying she takes home more than you after you pay her is mad. How you spend your money is up to you, but you are clearly still earning a LOT more than her. If you are earning enough to pay her and still have almost the same money left over again out of your wage, you can afford to pay her more than £20 or £30 a month pay increase.

I am actually astounded at your post.

Chipping - I can see though where she's coming from if in terms of expendable income they're on a par. I see my nanny saying, let's say for the sake of argument, £5 for a pair of socks is alright and I think 'is it?' 'cos it seems quite a lot to me.

Agree with chips, that is totally the wrong way to look at it and v unfair to your nanny.

Football - but that's the point. Expendable income. She has twice as much expendable income as her nanny - she chooses to spend some of hers on having a nanny.

Sorry - don't understand your sock thing?? Want to try again?

Say, for instance that the OP has a take home of £700 pw, she pays her nanny £400 pw gross, £300 net (illustrative purposes only!!) the nanny & her both end up with £300 after that transaction in their hands, the nanny only has £300 to choose what to do with, the OP has had £700 to choose what to do with...

If I pay my mechanic to do work on my car, I can't then complain that what I am left with is all I have & the mechanic should only be able to take that home at the end of the week as well. It makes no sense (to me), that the OP is comparing what she is left with after paying her nanny, to what her nanny is paid in total.

A lot of people are left with a lot less than their nanny is paid - some are barely breaking even but accept that they want a nanny rather than cheaper childcare & that once the pre-school years are over it will be worth it (having a shorter time out of the workforce, paying into a pension & career progression. The OP has quite a lot of money left over after paying the nanny compared to many.

It is of course up to her whether she pays her nanny more money or not, but not to do so on the basis that then her take home after paying the nanny is less than the nanny's isn't a good basis for this decision.

I agree with Chippin. I work part time and nanny pay is half of mine (although actually DH and I both contribute - it's not "my" cost).

As for a payrise and Xmas bonus - our nanny is going soon and has been in post just over a year. I plan not to give a payrise but add to the bonus. No idea how much - last year we gave £150 (1/6 of a months pay) but that was because she'd not been there long. This year it'll be a weeks worth mainly because it's a thank you and goodbye too. I haven't had a payrise and won't get one for years, same for DH, but it's important to us to show our appreciation.

Perhaps you could give her a lump sum cash bonus (a good sum for her but overall less cost to you than a pay rise) as well as a small thoughtful gift? One of my favourite gifts I got when I was nannying was a home made thank you card listing all the reasons they thought I was a great nanny- it was so thoughtful and the time they spent on it really showed me how much they appreciated me.

Re the pay review, perhaps it's a good time to be open about it, let her know you can't afford it right now, but you'd like to set a strategy in place with her for a pay review in another 6 months? That way she knows you're not ignoring the situation and you may avoid some disappointment. Good luck!

Thanks everyone. Chipping, why aren't you more indignant about the childcare situation in this country that means it's ruinously expensive and doubly taxed, because I'm paying a gross salary out of my (already taxed) salary. Is that fair?

Gemzooks that logic doesn't make sense as everything could be argued as being "double taxed" - e.g. VAT, road tax. Also your employer has to pay tax on your salary and any profit made by companies who make the products you buy will be taxed via corporation tax.

However yes childcare is ridiculously expensive!!!

Gemzooks - errmmm because that's not what this thread is about??

I am actually very vocal about the fact that something needs to change. Parents should not be paying a gross wage out of a net wage as they do now.

So who should paye your childcare cost? do nannies not have a right to earn a living wage and paye Tax/NI. They are after all your children and the nanny, much as she may love her job is ultimately working to pay her living cost plus bills and provide a reasonable standard of living. If I wanted to provide free childcare I'd do it for my family and friends or offer my sevices to a charity like homestart.

Perhaps you would like to tell the plumber, shopkeeper, or repair man that he/she is too expensive and shouldn't earn a decent wage.