Nannys/Nanny employers - does this seem like a good/ok deal to you

[theskyonasnowynight]

Just had a chat with a friend who is looking to go back to work soon and hasn't had any luck finding a nanny for her DD 7 months. I was thinking her requirements seem a little harsh but wanted to garner opinion before I (gently) suggest so.

Friend and her DH have a flat which is three floors of a townhouse. Their preference is for a live-in nanny and giving her the attic floor, which would be bathroom, sitting room and smallish bedroom (ie built in wardrobes, double bed but rest of space in sitting room which you access via the bedroom). They would like a nanny who is happy being out or in there when she is off duty, except for cooking meals etc.

They both have v demanding jobs which occassionally mean that they both have to stay late at short notice (ie that afternoon). The flipside is that they can also organise having a day off with some notice relatively easily because they are both self employed. So what they'd like to do is have a nanny who can accrue "TOIL" when doing overtime (prob 2-4 times a month), which they then give her the time off for. If they can't give her the time off within the month they'd pay her OT at 1.5* hourly rate. It would be difficult for the nanny to "choose" this time as it would depend on their work schedules.

Hmm, the point of TOIL is that you (the employee) chooses when to take it.

I think they just need to pay the overtime, and suck up the cost of any impromptu days that they give the nanny.

I see this all the time, people don't want to pay their child carer for contractual hours that they don't need at short notice, but they'd play merry hell if the child carer was at all unreliable like that. It has to cut both ways.

As long as extra hours at short notice is discussed with the nanny during the interview process that sounds OK, with 3 caveats:

1. Notice should be as long as possible - ringing up 10 minutes before handover time to say "you need to stay late" is not OK.

1. There needs to be some arrangement for occasional "untouchable" time - if the nanny has made arrangements then one parent absolutely has to make it home on time (or if this really might not happen - one parent away and the other a surgeon for example - book a babysitter that night).

1. Most nannies would prefer pay to some kind of enforced TOIL. You don't necessarily need to pay an "overtime" rate, but bear in mind that a live-in nanny's real pay is £100-£150pw more than her actual pay due to the room and board element.

We have similar short notice arrangements. Obviously we give as much as possible but it can be the difference between DH walking out the door to get in the car and his phone going to say there's been an industrial accident and he has to deal with it. In our case, though, it's only DH whose job is like that. Any time I'm not around is planned in advance. We're up front about it and give more than minimum holiday which I think helps compensate. Overtime tends to be paid but we have has candidates who asked for time off instead. We have a policy of being as accommodating as possible so or wasn't necessarily an issue.

I worked in a similar situation as a nanny and it's often part of the territory when your bosses have danding jobs. Admittedly I was contracted 24:5 but calls to say 'I'm flying to X in an hour' weren't unusual. Some people have live in nannies for that flexibility and as long as it's clear and remuneration appropriate that's the deal.

Most nannies are happy to stay in their room/sitting room or go out. Tbh after a long day you often don't really want to chat to your boss!

I don't think it's harsh.