strange predicament..how to proceed.

[jackstraw]

We were visiting family out of state when my wife had to have emergency delivery and we will have to be here for the next month or so while baby is monitored. We paid nanny full time for first week we were gone. The 2nd week nanny drove up the 4 hours to work for the week and is going to do Mon-Thursday evening and would pay for full week rate.

We said we would pay for gas and food. Is it standard to use mileage rate for gas or just reimburse for what fulltank of gas cost?(which is essentially what it takes to drive here). The mileage rate is twice as much as gas actually cost.

Are we liable to pay for every week if we don't end up using her? It would be very costly to factor in gas/food cost for us and we are already dealing with massive hospital bill. We do not have contract but do really like her and trust her with our kid.

She relies on this for income so certainly understand not working for 4-6 weeks is not an option but it is tough situation for us as well. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

I would say you need to pay standard mileage rate as she will have wear and tear on her car as well as the fuel.

I would also say she should be on full pay, as it's not her fault she can't work. Can she do any preparation work on the nursery, or anything like that?

If you tell her it's difficult, she may take some of the time as holiday, or may even bit glad of a bit of unpaid leave if there's something she particularly wants to do. She may be relying on the income though.

In this situation I think you just need to come to a reasonable agreement between yourselves.

You are in the US so are there any state laws that apply for this sort of thing?

Using some annual leave, some unpaid leave if they want to take that, doing jobs around your home are all things they could do.

Mileage accounts for the fact that she is using her car - so you are contributing to the tax, insurance, breakdown cover, depreciation etc. You need to pay the full rate, and of course you need to pay her when you aren't using her - or give notice. Would you accept it if your boss suddenly told you not to come in for a month and you wouldn't be paid?

Wish you and your wife and new baby well and hope for a speedy resolution to all of this.