Nanny bonus'

[cherub59]

Coming up to that time of year again just wondering what you pay your nanny as a discretionary bonus or if you are a nanny what you expect?

We have varied what we pay depending on performance but wondered whether we have over paid as we feel dependent on our nanny to enable us both to do pretty demanding jobs!!! Plus times are a bit tighter at the moment!!!

This is the first Christmas with our new nanny so don't want to set a needlessly high precedent but do want to give her a good bonus for doing her job well

What do you pay/expect to receive?

We also give a small pressie from the kids....

There have been a few threads on this recently - in relation to annual/Christmas/one off bonuses. I have gleaned that there are no hard and fast rules about bonuses or presents, and that some nannies receive nothing at all (how mean), some receive a gift but no bonus, some receive a cash sum and a small gift, and some receive a very generous cash sum. One nany posted that she received a week's wages, which I think is incredibly generous (but I am not in a position to offer that myself).

I can only tell you what I do. I give our nanny a small present from DS (some chocolates or similar) and £100 in vouchers for a store she shops in. She works for us 3 days a week btw, and we think she's ace.

She also gets more than her contractual entitlement of paid holidays throughout the year, £100 for her birthday, and this year (for the first time ever, as she had been with us for a year and such an enormous improvement over our previous nanny that we wanted to reward her) a £300 bonus in the summer. This is more than we used to give our previous nanny, but our current nanny is fantastic.

I've been, a spa day for my birthday and a small present from the children. At christmas I got £100 and small present from children, also when doing extra during the festive period I got a bit more for babysitting than I normally would get.

HappyAsEyeAm: You sound like a wonderful boss to have :) !!

Wish I got a cash bonus from my employer.

I will of course be giving one to my Nanny as it seems to be expected and I do not want to sour the relationship. But it does strike me as odd.

I am a nanny and although I would love a bonus I know I won't get one and that's fine - I will get a lovely thought out gift from the family and I am happy with this :)

I'm a nanny too, and I think I've only had a cash bonus once out of 14 years...and I certainly dont expect one.

I usually recieve a small gift from the whole family, which is enough for me...being able to bring my 6 yr old daughter to work and having job satisfaction is bonus enough for me!!

(although my SIL was telling me about her £4000 bonus she is expecting this yr and i did go a little shade of green with envy!!!)

I never got a bonus, but I did get lovely birthday presents and one week's salary for christmas plus a present. My friend got a Mini for as a bonus. Brandnew.

Aww thanks kate. This thread goes to show how much of a range there is in the bonuses that nannies get. Mere mortals like myself can only give what we can afford - a week's wages is out of the question for us. To put it in context, our normal Christmas bonus of £100 is a little less than a day's (gross) wages for our nanny. And the bonus is taxed.

A mini NJE????
Wish I got a bonus like that never mind our nanny!!!

I won't pay bonus to my nanny (she is still quite new), but she will get 10 days off for Christmas period, and will be paid as usual for that time.

cherub59 Yes, me too. She worked for a VIP family though. The parents gave Ipads in their goody bags.

I got a very unexpected cash bonus a couple of yours ago from a family I worked for, as well as various gifts on my birthday and when I got engaged
My current family always give me really thoughtful gifts on my birthday/Christmas, this now currently generally includes a tattoo voucher for most occasions..

i too am a Nanny and last year I got £50 cash and a lovely Bench fleece from the girls. Wasn't expecting it at all but was very grateful :)

im one of the very lucky ones that has always had a weeks salary as a bonus - in all my jobs since ive been a nanny - 20 years

im temping this year so know i wont get that - but i do def expect a card - tho have had friends who didnt even get that :(

I'm not sure what I'll get in terms of bonus. I'm their first nanny so don't know that they will even think to give me one. Any hints or how to help them in the right direction are welcome!

So it seems that a weeks bonus, if a bonus is paid, would be the norm??

I am really surprised that not everyone pays a week's salary as bonus. I always have given a week's extra salary as a Christmas bonus - every year for 9 years.
Most parents get a bonus at their place of work, although probably not at the same time of year, why wouldn't you think about paying your nannny through a similar strategy?

We have only had 2 nannies and both are highly valued in our family in all sorts of ways. I am happy to show this with a special thank you once a year - most companies do this, and you can budget for it throughout your year to make sure you have the funds available.

oh, and we give a small personal present as well, and often some treats to eat and drink.

We don't get a bonus at work ful stop. But will still pay our nanny one - not sure yet but will be generous as it's her last month with us :(

And I'm really surprised that you think a week's pay is the norm Mummyinthedark. Of course not all companies give bonuses, and not all nanny employers work in the private sector.

I will be giving our nanny something, but nothing like a week's salary.

I don't think most parents get bonuses. We give a present, and maybe £100 cash if the nanny is super fab. We currently have an au pair, who will probably get something smaller... Haven't really thought about what to give her yet to be honest.

Neither of us is expecting a bonus. DH will be lucky if he gets his salary paid.

Well Doorstop, back in our first year of being a nanny employer we didn't know what to do about Christmas bonuses so I phoned round nanny agencies and asked them for their advice. All three that I spoke to advised me that this was the sort of bonus nannies in central London could expect IF they were doing a good job. We also checked with a couple of other families and they felt like us that their nannies really worked hard for them all year and deserved the recognition.

Of course, the economy was stronger then, and many people are not getting pay rises at all, private or public sector so these decisions are tougher now then they were 9 years ago.

Finances in our own home are not going to be on as strong a footing in 2012 as they have been in 2011 but I still feel that Christmas is a time to say thank you for support throughout the year and will try and remember all the lovely people who help our DC and us - from the cub leaders to our nanny.

I expect central London with its streets paved with gold is slightly different from the rest of the country .

Ooh must be careful not to trip up over that big bar of gold on my doorstep when I head in to work today

For me, it's my nanny's commitment that enables my dh and I to do pretty demanding jobs and she has a tough job herself looking after my 3 ds of 4 and under

I agree that times are tougher which is why I want to ensure we are not giving more than we need to, but at the same time she is the reason I feel I have 3 very happy boys which goes some way to assuaging my guilty working mother syndrome!

But I don't want to be a mug!!!

I do a week's bonus, and v small gifts from the children.