nannies who bring their children to work?

[stella1w]

I have advertised for a nanny and the vast majority of responses are from nannies who bring their children to work.
How should their salary be calculated to take this into account? Would it be 1/2 or 2/3 of the typical salary for a nanny share?
And what other issues would be relevant? I'm not against the idea butI can see school runs getting tricky, sick children issues etc.
Any thoughts?

How much you pay would depend on the specifics of the job and in what area you're in. I'm in West London and typically a nanny with own child will earn £1/£2 less. Going rate is £10ph net, NWOC would probably get £7-9ph net. In some areas a good NWOC won't take any drop, in others it may be nearer the 2/3's mark. I've never heard of anyone accepting 1/2.

It depends on the job and how you want it to work, but a nanny bringing their own child with them is very rarely the same as a nanny-share.

In terms of school run and sick children, these things can be a problem, but again it depends on the job and the nanny. If the nanny's child is 6 months old then school runs not really an issue. If the nanny has children at the same school as your children, not a problem. The nanny may have a DP who is able to take time off if her child is sick, or her mother, or MIL, or a friend may be able to care for her child if it is sick. Maybe she doesn't have anyone and would need time off when her child is sick. It's not something that can be answered in general terms.

I always got paid the same when I took my own child with me.

Around us, usual after school rates are £10/hour. NWOC is £7/8.

Don't look at what you would pay for a 'shared' nanny, that is deceptive. Look at what you would pay for a sole charge nanny and then decide whether you should discount that. Even then, it would only be for £1 or £2 per hour.

I'd say at least a third off the usual salary as you expect one to one car from a nanny so if they bring their own child you simply dont get that.

Take into account they may have a school run to do of their own, they may want their child to do activities and expect yours to tag along, the children may not get on, they may need to bring equipment, who pays for the childs food etc.

I know lots of people on here say you should pay the same whether a nanny brings their own child in or not, but as someone who employs a nanny who brings her dd in to work I would definitely say the pay should reflect that your nanny's attention would naturally at sometimes not be 100% on your children.

We've had a couple of incidents where my nanny has been changing her dd's nappy and something has happened to one of our dcs... We also feed her dd three meals three times a week (our milk order is now at somewhere in the region of 18 pints a week ) plus quite a few of our dcs toys have been broken by our nanny's dd. Don't get me wrong, I don't resent any of this, but it has to be reflected in the price we pay.

I was a nanny with my own child, and I earned £10 an hour which is what the role was advertised at, with or without child.

'Take into account they may have a school run to do of their own, they may want their child to do activities and expect yours to tag along'

A NWOC situation doesn't usually work like that. The nanny's child has to fit in with the employers children, that's why it's only usually a small drop and not as much as 1/3.

That's true holy my children always had to fit in with the children I nanny for , I would always take food as well. You don't really get paid per child when you are a nanny. I think you need to have similar age children to make it work.

I agree holy - my DS was very young when I did my nannying, and I looked after 3 older children. DS just had to fit in with what I needed to do with them, and I always brought my own food.

My employer actually preferred NWOC as she felt it was extremely beneficial to her own children to have another little person around that they loved and felt responsible for and played with. It was a great dynamic. I guess based on that, she didn't feel a pay cut was appropriate.

As a mum and nanny employer, I would expect to pay a discount on a nanny's hourly rate of she were to be bringing her own child with her.

This would reflect the fact that her attention would not be on my DC to the same extent as it would be if her child wasn't there. However much a nanny's child fits in with the child/children the nanny is looking after, the nanny's time is being spent differently.

I would estimate that 75% of the nanny's hourly rate (or in the case of a new nanny, the rate you would otherwise pay if teh nanny wasn't bringing her own child with her) should be paid.

I would also be asking what would happen if her child were sick,or if your child were sick and (depending on teh age of her child) how she would propose getting your child/ren to the things they attend if there is a conflict with what her child needs to attend, what would happen if her child had an appointment somewhere (eg dentist, doctor, HV, wehatever) - would she take the child, or would she take holiday to attend, or would she take your chil/ren with her?

Overall this seems like a fair thread and it has been interesting reading the different accounts of a NWOC.

However, it does seem a bit unfair of headfairy to blame the NWOC for something happening to one of her dc during a nappy change for her own child. Surely it doesn't matter which child the nanny was changing when the incident occurred. Either you accept that it was one of those things or you think the nanny was to blame and address this issue. Nothing to do with whether the nanny was changing her child's nappy or one of headfairy 's nappies.

headfairy 's children's nappies that should have read. Sorry headfairy I know you're not in nappies

When I had DC1, I registered with a nanny agency who said they advised parents to pay £1 less per hour for a NWOC. I found a job via Gumtree advertising a salary of £7-9ph. They offered me the job at £9ph due to my experience. My DC was 3mths younger than their DC and it worked really well in terms of routine/activities etc.

They were a lovely family to work for and treated my DC as part of the family. However if I hadn't had my own child, I wouldn't have applied for the job as it was only 30hrs a week so if you had to choose between an experienced nanny with her own child or a less experienced nanny without her own child then I guess you need to weigh up the pro's and con's before deciding what you're happy to pay.

I think I became a better nanny after I had children. I always did appointments on my day off. I have two jobs and one pays more than the other I suppose it depends on what you want to pay. Happy if you had another baby a nanny wouldn't get an increase.

Head fairy you can't blame one child for all that milk.

no, I know... but ds doesn't really have any, dd has one cup in the morning and one in the evening. Our nanny obviously has some for teas and coffees during the day, her dd has milk in the morning with her breakfast and usually cereal. She also gives her milk mid afternoon (my dd refuses is then) and then she gives her some more milk after their bath when my dd is having her milk.

I don't begrudge it, I'm just saying there are quite a lot of extra costs in having a NWOC and I think the rate you pay should reflect that.

wedonotdothat I'm not blaming anyone, I'm just saying if our nanny didn't have a child with her, she wouldn't be changing her nappy, she would be with my children exclusively. But she was changing a nappy, and because she was doing so she didn't notice my dd had climbed up on a chair and was on the kitchen work top, and she didn't notice her falling off. No major injury, a bruised face and some tears. And of course I can't say it wouldn't have happened anyway, but the fact was she was attending to her child when something happened to mine. You can't tell me that I should still pay full whack for someone who's attention is now split 3 ways rather than 2 ways?

I'm not saying any of this to be a total bitch... I really do think it's something totally different when you employ a NWOC. I'm happy to do so, the children love her, and they get on with her dd, but it's just not the same.

I understand what you're saying about the money but surely it could have happened if she was changing your child's nappy. If you have two dc her attention would be split anyway. Fair point about the money, you have to pay what you feel comfortable with.

We're paying her what she asked for. I was a bit clueless about rates so I asked her what she expected, and she named a price we could afford. I've since found out it's on the low side, so I leave the food thing (for example if I was paying top whack for a nanny I would be a bit if she turned up for work at 9am and then had her breakfast using my food at my house - whether her dd is eating or not. I have seen her put away 2 boiled eggs and three rounds of toast in the morning ). We are very generous with leave, I give her 7 full weeks a year, not pro rata.

If she'd been changing my dd's nappy, then my dd wouldn't have fallen off the counter top (hopefully) because she'd be on the floor on a changing mat having her nappy changed. DS is a bit older so he knows not to do silly things like that.

Ooops, reading that first para back I really sound like I do care about the food thing :o I don't honest. I have had a couple of moments, she managed to put away 400g of chocolate in two days before Christmas (I'd forgotten to ask her to leave it for me as I was going to use it for baking)!

am interviewing a NWOC tomorrow and one thing strikes me - I would want my ds to go to activities every morning which now they have closed sure start centres etc will cost a certain amount of money. Her dd would have to tag along, so who should pay?

I usually pay for my nanny's dd to go to the activities she takes my dcs to. To be fair she's said she felt bad about that but I've said I really don't mind. Again I'm happy for it to be that way because I'm aware we're paying her at the lower end of the scale.

I went to two toddler groups with DC and my charge. The family paid for one and I paid for the other. I also did a music class and paid for my DC. I already had annual membership for the local zoo / arboretum / etc. My mum boss always left a kitty but I was very careful with it. In the holidays she'd pay for us to go somewhere more expensive and I'd pay for drinks and ice creams. My Mum boss never expected this but I never took advantage. I guess you could always work out how much it would cost per week for the nannies child and reduce the salary by that then pay for the child if that makes sense?

I don't know how old your DC / nannies DC is but mine was 11mths / charge was 13mths. I provided a double buggy that fit in my car and Mb borrowed a 3 wheeler for round the farm. They had a spare high chair and I used their travel cot for DC to nap in. We agreed I would bring DC if he was ill ( within reason! ) and I would, of course, look after their DC when they were ill. If Mb was starting work late, generally she'd tell me to come in late. She worked as a GP and, inevitably, there were nights when she'd be late or get stuck on the motorway coming home. I'd just pop mine in the bath with hers.

It can be hard as a NWOC as I did feel I should put my DC second but my MB insisted both children were treated equally and welcomed my DC into the family. I did my best to prove she'd made the right choice hiring me.

Stella, its common to pay all costs associated with activities you have set up when you have NWOC so my view is you have to fund your nanny's childs entry as well.