Travelling with nanny

[jmap81]

I am planning on taking my nanny to a work meeting. We would be in an apartment and I would do overnights, bedtime etc. she would need to then babysit while I go for dinner with colleagues. But would be off duty overnight. Obviously I need to pay her babysitting hours and I am guessing something for the inconvenience for being away from home. This is UK travel. Does anyone have any experience of this?

I would base it on what her normal hourly rate works out at. She might enjoy a trip away that's free and she haves the evenings to herself. It depends what commitments she has at home.

It doesn't sound like she would have evenings to herself if OP is having dinner with colleagues, it sounds more like she would have sleeping time off duty. Sorry, no help with original question though.

She is working the full day. You sound as though you think you're doing her a favour by letting her have a night's sleep!

I have no idea about nannies' rates so can't help there. But please don't think you can pay her less because she's sleeping overnight. She's still away from home, so in your employ.

You agree a night rate with her eg at least nmw per hour
She is away from her home
You have to pay her for that

Do you state in the contract that she might be required to travel with you? I know it is standard in some of the nanny agency contracts.

If you don't, then she could say she isn't prepared to travel as it isn't part of her job. You will probably need to offer an incentive for being away like an enhanced rate for hours worked away or paying a lump sum amount for each day or part day she is away.

If you do have travel in the contract then the minimum you need to pay is her working hours during the day plus whatever hourly rate you use for babysitting in the evening. You need to treat her time off as if she isn't there. If you're not careful, you might slip in to her doing extra if she's in the same apartment with you and that could cause a lot of resentment.

I'd give her an away from home payment per day just to keep it simple but that is just me.

You definitely don't need to pay for every hour she is away from home, that isn't how things work.

Companies that send people away on business for a week don't pay them for every hour they are away from home, only the hours they work. If they get an inconvenience payment that's on top.

As a nanny, I charge for all the hours I'm away from home (including travelling). Normal hourly rate during the day, babysitting rate from bedtime until you get back and then overnight rate until starting work the next morning (about half my daily rate normally).

You will need to pay her for all of the hours that she is away from home.

As @nuffsaidsam says above, I've heard you pay half rate whilst they're sleeping.

Has she said that she can do this? Is it in her contract? Would it not be easier just to use a babysitting agency locally?

When I had a nanny I paid her an additional £75 per day we were away on top of her salary.

Hi all, yes the nanny did agree to this. I would not have hired her otherwise as I expect a bit of travelling with work. It's in the contract that she would travel sometimes but we did not go through the financial side. When I do, I would like to have a couple of ways of approaching it hence asking on here. As always, seems like there's lots of different ways of doing things. Just aware that since it's the first time, I am setting a precedent! I do not get paid more from my employer when I am away from home but it seems like the nanny industry does seem to get something for the inconvenience. I will mull on it but thank you so far for the input.

This is what I would have said too. Slightly shocked that anyone would expect their usual hourly rate for every hour away - I certainly don't get that when I travel for work

Of course they do. I'm imagining your hourly rate is significantly higher than your nanny's

Your salary is high enough to expect you to travel for it. Your nanny's salary isn't.

We get paid for each hour we are away and then a sleep in allowance from midnight to 7am of £45 in total.

It's not okay not to pay someone for all the hours they work. It's not her problem that you are okay to work for free.

Yes you really need to pay her a 24hr rate

she is away from home, can’t go out in evenings etc

how long is trip and is it in the contract she might have to go away with you , away from friends and family etc

What hours will she be working? Will she get any breaks during the day/evening?

Sorry it’s in the contract she travels

but yes payment is needed

nannies live out are usually 11/12hrs a day and mon to Fri

so anything else away from home evening or overnight or weekends needs to be paid

Shocked at some of the responses... When working away, usually you would pay the nanny for the hours she has worked plus a bonus rate of perhaps £75 a night for the inconvenience of working away. This is very different from paying a nanny for all the hours she is away from home, given she is not working at night time, for instance.

Not all nanny employers are wealthy. Some hire a nanny because they are a single mum or because they have a disabled child...

No, not all nanny employers are high earners. But people who are expected to travel regularly for their jobs tend to be. And it's fair to pay the nanny for the hours she works plus an overnight inconvenience fee. £75 as a pp suggested seems about right.

Incidentally, you can be a high earner and a single parent. And have a disabled child for that matter!

I pay hours worked -including overtime at time and a half if required - and then £50 extra per day.

This is going to sound harsh, but ultimately that's not really the nanny's problem. She's doing a job where she gets paid by the hour, if she's away with work for 24 hours, then she needs to be paid for 24 hours. A nanny is working to pay their bills like everyone else, not running a charity.

That said, I agree that it's not normally full hourly rate for 24 hours (half rate while sleeping, usually). But every hour would need to be paid.

Ar you a single parent? If not why can't the children stay at home with the other parent and the nanny?
Otherwise yes, you need to pay her the 24 hour rate. She is never really 'off' as she can't go out and do whatever she normally does.

The contract should have stated pay for travel so you're now in a bit of a problem because the nanny can ask for whatever she wants!