Nanny bonus / pay rise

[PastPerfect]

My nanny has been with us for almost a year and I am after some thoughts on appropriate rewards - bonus and/or pay rise - and at what level.

This is her first nanny job and there are areas where she has done really well and areas which could be improved. I also think she has high expectations and therefore there are areas where I feel I am generous but my impression is that she feels I am not - which makes the concept of reward difficult.

On the whole she is a good employee and I want us both to be happy with whatever I decide on

A modest element of both pay rise and bonus would be appropriate. A pay rise because she now has a year's experience and is therefore incrementally more in-demand and could be poached. A bonus because that enables you to have a conversation about what you would look for over the coming year.

My suggestion would be a pay rise of no more than 1.5%-2%. The bonus should not be just handed over without explanation - you say that there are areas where she has done really well and areas which could be improved - think about those areas in more detail. Say she performs above and beyond the call of duty in about half of the areas of the job, performs at the expected level for quarter, and needs improvement in a quarter - I'd say that was worth a bonus of at least 5% - BUT that needs to come with an explanation of what areas you are less impressed with and you need to be prepared that if she pulls her finger out and starts to perform above and beyond in 100% of the job, she would legitimately expect a higher bonus next year, so don't stretch yourself so far that you couldn't stretch a bit further if you were more impressed.

Thanks fish - it's balancing that desire to show appreciation and hope that some areas will approve.

But let's get real - anyone in the public sector has had no payrise, or 1% for at least the last 5 years. Myself and my husband have both seen our take home pay fall (NHS) whilst working harder. 2% is very generous and the idea of a 5% bonus would be unaffordable for many. I agree that you need to balance showing appreciation with affordability, whilst bearing in mind that compulsory pensions are imminent which is effectively another pay rise.