Nanny Pay

[nuggetmummy]

Hi, I would like some advice about how much to pay my nanny. When she took on the job she agreed to work for £250/week net for 50 hours a week (live-out). I'm a full time Mum at the moment with 3 kids - DS1 is 3 and DD and DS2 are 14 months. DS2 is staying with granny temporarily until September so at present the Nanny only has other 2 to care for and only has sole charge less than half the time.
She has just asked for more pay as she's finding it hard on what I'm paying her at the moment. She was on £300/week net in her last job in London(live in) and is asking for something close to that.
She's been in the job less than 2 months so a tad early for a payrise. I live in Cleveland, so I know London prices should not apply here.
I'm planning to go back to work in the New Year and was going to raise her pay then to reflect the fact she will have a lot more sole charge of the kids.
I looked up how much £300 net would translate to and we simply cannot afford it while we are on one income.
She has NVQ level 2 childcare, 3 years experience in nurseries and 7 months experience as a nanny to older children (8 and 12 years old).
She's a lovely nanny and I would hate to lose her. I would like advice on what is a reasonable pay offer.

Well in my experience nannies salaries start at around £8 gross (at the minimum & according to most on here that is quite cheap) which is about £6.16 net; currently, by my calculations, your nanny is on £5 net which is about £6.26 gross. (I think I have done that right although it is very late!).

Her last job was £300 net and that was live in so she had no monthly expenses to pay out such as rent so ordinarily you would expect her to be earning more for live out, despite the fact that you are not in London.

On the one hand it was silly of her to accept the job if the rate was not right but then on the other hand in my opinion she is not earning as much as she could.

Is there anyway you could reduce her hours between now and when you go back to work as you say she only has sole charge half the time - so is she really needed? You could keep her rate the same as it is now (or maybe lower?) and she could also get some other form of temporary work. Then when you go back to work she can have longer hours with a wage increase that you were planning anyway?

Don't know if this is of any hep - I should be in bed!

yes your nanny seems to be on a low wage £5nett BUT she did accept the salary when she accepted the joband obviously knew she was taking home £50 a week less

so on one hand I do think she is a bit cheeky to ask for a pay rise - on the other hand she earns less now as a live out with bills etc then what she did as a live in

If you are going back to working NY, dare I suggest you pay her £50 cash extra a week now and then when have 2 salaries to do it legally

or as navyeyelash said to drop her hours, maybe to 3/4 days a week,so she can find work the other days

it isnt that much money but the nanny DID ACCEPT the salary when she was offered the job - so dont think you can say that the OP was after cheap labour

assuming the nanny went to college for 2 yaers to do her NVQ, she must be about 21/22 so is earning more then the minium wage

My calculations:
Currently you are paying £16,395 per year gross - £6.30 per hour.
She is asking for £20,163 per year gross - £7.75 per hour.

A comparison:
As a Level 3 qualified nanny (18+ years childcare experience) living 25 miles outside of London, caring for 4 children - two of whom all day, other 2 before/after school, I was on £7.33 per hour gross.

So I think that £20,163 is too much. You aren't in London and your nanny does not have lots of experience, or level 3.

You currently pay above National Minimum Wage, so legally you are fine (NMW applies for live-out nanny positions).

Are you able to get Childcare Vouchers from your employer when you go back to work? If so, may be worth getting your nanny to check that they comply with Ofsted registration requirements, and get registration underway. Then you could increase her salary, by say £800 per year, as I expect you would be saving around £900 using the voucher scheme (nanny registration costs £100). Savings Calculator - savings will depend on your salary.
If you were to increase salary to £17,195 gross, it would be around £6.61 per hour gross.

I wonder how it compares with other jobs in the area. Try searching NannyJob to see what nanny jobs are in the area. Some if you are lucky will indicate salary.

Thanks for your help especially nannynick - it was really helpful to have a comparison like that.

Yes we're getting Ofsted registration for her as can get Busybees vouchers.

I checked Nannyjobs - I think we're paying at the lower end of what is offered in the area but certainly not below it.

£6.61 per hour is certainly doable, so I might start with offering her that along with some guaranteed overtime each month.

Glad to have been of help. Remember £6.61 is GROSS not Net. When talking with your nanny, make sure she understands the difference.

I think perhaps you need to say to her that you appreciate her circumstances but she accepted the job and salary and that until jan you can not see yourself being able to increase her pay.

maybe of you can agree when she has completed 6mths then you will increase it to £300 net a week (think that will be december time anyway when you are about to go back to work in jan)

stand your ground just because someone asks for a pyarise doesnt mean they get it.

if you took a job in a shop for £6 an hr you couldnt then say 2mths later can i have a payrise because its not enough!!

I wonder if your nanny is struggling because she has never lived on her own as such and had to manage her finances. Do you think she would be open to discussing her situation with you, could it be that she has got into a bit of debt through poor management and a small interest free loan would help sort out the problem?

How are thing in cleveland? What do you actually call it now since they disbanded the county? (Grew up in Yarm)

Yes cargirl, I think debt is her problem - she mentioned various loan repayments. We've set aside time on wednesday to atlk about it. Hopefully we're not talking astronomical figures here. We'll see if we can come to some arrangement.

I do know what you mean lindseyfox. She should have negotiated for more pay at interview, not 2 months down the line, but I put that down to her being young and a bit inexperienced with money. I'm probably being a soft employer but I do like her and the kids love her.

Oh yes Cargirl - its stockton on tees now, - Middlesborough is separate, and redcar and cleveland is another bit ( I think). I've only lived in the area for 3 years. I love having North Yorkshire on our doortsep, though I do find Middlesborough rather grim. Yarm is lovely, that's where we live! Where abouts do you live now?

When I was interviewing, the going rate for experienced and qualified nannies in NI was about £7.00 - 7.50/hr gross

I live in Surrey (literally on the M25 not a nice part), I miss the north - people are friendlier up north, rush hour shorter and a lot more countryside & popping to the lakes for a day etc. Of course I miss the house prices too......