nanny salary if she has her own children

[milkwasabadchoice]

Hi, I'm planning to employ a nanny to look after DD (aged 3) and DS (aged 1). The nanny I've found has her own DS1 (aged 5) and DS2 (aged 1).

She has asked for £10 an hour, net. I know I have to work out and agree a gross rate with her.

But what do people think of this rate, please?

We are in Sussex, and she has about 4 year experience as a nanny and 4 as a CM. She's going to look after mine at her house for two of the four days she is working for me. Her DS1 will mostly be at school, apart from holidays, but her DS2 will be with her all the time.

My gut feel is that we should be paying her slightly less, since she has her own child/children too. Or am I a miser...?

raspberry For a nanny WOC I'd say it's reasonable. I'm in Brighton and £10gross seems to be relatively good here. Even before/after school jobs are only £7-8ph net which is mad.

Setting aside the pay issue, this sounds like a very complicated arrangement. Why would you take on the responsibility of being an employee with gaining the benefits. For example, one of the benefits of having a nanny is that you can choose what activities your kids go to, what they eat, etc. It sounds to me like your kids are going to take a back seat to her kids' existing schedule (e.g. school run). What happens when yours, or hers, are ill? This is effectively a nanny share in which half of the children are hers. I'd reduce the pay by 40-50% for this. But, honestly, people hire nannies to make their lives easier, not harder.

When I had a 3 year old DD and a 1 year old DS, this is what our full time nenny did:

• Nursery run
• hung out with other mums/nannies with kids of similar ages.
• Took the kids to museums / beach in half term.
• All of the cooking (to my very strict nutritional requirements) for the kids
• The kids laundry
• Miscellaneous shopping (i.e. clothes) for the kids
• Took hem to activities I arranged (swimming, tennis, monkey music, etc.)

Is your "nanny" going to realistically be able to do this stuff? Is her parenting compatible with yours (e.g. will your 3 year old want to do the same stuff her 5 year old wants to do?)

You will absolutely need two separate contracts where the hours of each are clearly defined.

typo correction:

Why would you take on the responsibility of being an employer without gaining the benefits?

Sorry to jump in with a odd question but this thread is sort of along the same lines.

What would you expect to be cheaper a childminder a nanny or a nursery?

Or does it not make a difference to the pricing

Ours used to take our two out a lot to other nanny friends and I did not regard that as her being a child minder on those days. We had one nanny who brought her first child and a year later her second which did get a bit much but 2 of our children were at school by then and she'd been with us a while (in total she stayed 10 years and left when baby no. 3 was coming).
Whilst we tolerated it it was much much worse than before she had her children. I would suggest finding someone without children.

Juliet That's entirely different. Taking a child out doesn't change a nanny's job role, caring from her own home would mean that she needs to register as a childminder though, which is the problem here.

I really really don't think despite the huge panic you get on mumsnet whenever this is mentioned anyone is too bothered. How would the local council know that the nanny happened to take the child in its home for one day? They don't have spy cameras glued to every home surely.

The huge panic is about insurance and undermining those of us who are legit nannies and childminders and who struggle to keep our roles seen as actual job roles rather than a ridiculous blur of "nanny/childminder/au pair/babysitter" and get paid according to our actual role (and defining those roles, as a girl who works with a toddler for 8 hours a day living in is certainly not an au pair and should be paid a nannies wage whether the family believe that or not).

RE insurance, mine would be invalid if I had the kids in my home, doesn't cover it, what good nanny in her right mind would take a child to her own home and risk an accident happening there which she would then not be covered for?