What is a reasonable salary?

[baltimore97]

What is a reasonable salary for a Norland nanny for a four day a week live-out job? It is her first job following completion of probabtion. She is asking for £100 a day net, but I believe this to be far too much. She seems willing to negotiate. I was thinking more £90-£100 a day gross.

Help!

I should add we are in Edinburgh

how long is the day?

Think you need to look at local nanny job advertisements. In Scotland many nannies go via agencies - as that way parents can benefit from using childcare vouchers. In Scotland it is the agency that is registered, not the nanny.

A&H Childcare - Vacancies List is just one agency dealing with nannies in Scotland (a full list can be found at Care Commission Website - search Type of Service: Child Care Agency. A&H are listing a job in Edinburgh EH9 which is paying upto £378 gross per week (the hours are a varied - but around 40 hours a week) - so around the £9.50 per hour gross mark. Thus your £100 per day Gross seems about right (if a 10 hour working day). However, Norland nannies do tend to command a higher pay - I would expect that the Norland agency would be useful to contact with regard to what they expect their nannies to earn. Their website says £450-£550 net per week for a daily Qualified Norland nanny.

Why would you pay more for Norland nanny? Is it a label thing -- like paying extra for Ralph Lauren jeans? Perosnaly, I be a tad suspicious of the attitude that acompanies the brand.

And I wouldn't pay £10/hours (even gross) to someone who was straight out of probation. I'd look to pinch some disgruntled and underpaid staff from the local nursery.

Why would you pay more for Norland nanny? Is it a label thing -- like paying extra for Ralph Lauren jeans? Perosnaly, I be a tad suspicious of the attitude that acompanies the brand.

And I wouldn't pay £10/hours (even gross) to someone who was straight out of probation. I'd look to pinch some disgruntled and underpaid staff from the local nursery.

I hate when that happens.

Thanks NannyNick - that is very helpful information. Athene - I'm not interested in paying for a label, I simply interviewed her because she is well qualified. I am interviewing other non-Norlanders and will willingly employ them if they are better!

It's an employers market I feel at the moment - more candidates than jobs. Thus you can find good candidates prepared to take lower salary than they would usually (thus why the Norlander is prepared to negotiate).
You need to determine your upper limit with regard to how much you can afford to pay (including all taxes and estimated misc expenses - nanny kitty, fuel allowance, payroll, to name a few.
Once you know that figure, you then aim to get the best candidate for below that figure. You may feel the Norland training is worth paying extra for, or you may not. You may feel the candidate is great qualifications wise, but isn't great personality wise - won't fit well in the family. Finding the right balance is hard... so interview a variety of candidates around the amount you want to offer salary wise and then compare them.

Thanks again Nannynick - that is invaluable advice. I have a couple of other well-qualified people to talk to tomorrow, and we've worked out all the costs (DH is an economist!) to the last penny. If these don't work out I think I'll get in touch with the agencies.

What she's asking for works out at around £39K per year, if the Nanny Tax calculator is correct. Not bad, for a first job out of training, I'd say.

(Ridiculous, I'd also say, under my breath.)

assume she is about 20 if striaght out from probabtion

i personally think £100nett a day for her age and lack of exp is rediculas - whether norland or not

With 24hrs reflection, I think her demand was cheeky enough to put her out of contention. DH did the same calculation as you, Harriet, and we were flabbergasted to see that she was expecting to earn more than I do - and I'm 36 with a BA and a PhD! Mind you, I am a poorly paid University Lecturer....!

Glad we could help you save some money.

So, who is the next candidate?

Well, in fairness, she is probably being advised to quote in net and I suspect she has been told she can achieve this salary. In some cases there will be evidence a Norlander can get it, in which case, go for it and why not. But the risk to her is that she will be looking for work for a long long time in this economic environment. Oh well, not your problem.

And the trouble is, while it may sound like a modest hourly wage to the nanny and feel like it as well, when you work out all the add ons (and I assume that you're not even talking about pension contributions and health care) it is flabergastingly high for a private family employer!! 'Tis the conundrum...

It makes you realise what most people are paid net...for jobs they spend years training for etc...when they work out the number of hours they do each week.

Sorry, I meant modest wage in HOURLY terms. A tenner an hour doesn't sound cheeky really. This is why I think salaries should be quoted in gross yearly wages--which would make it easier to compare how what a nanny is asking for stacks up relative to other jobs.

My last two nanny jobs were quoted as gross annual salary, so things are changing, at least in my area.

Hey, Nick, do you wear one of thos cute little Norland uniforms. I think I wore when I belonged to Brownies in the states in the 70s.

Of course I don't. A dress would not be very practical for me.

It is not a lot of money for a Norland Nanny. But it is i guess a lot for an ordinary family to pay. They usually work for...erm very wealthy families.

I dont know why you insist on interviewing Norland Nannies when you probably can't afford them....

Actually i think the current climate doesn't affect them. A friend of mine works for a family that are Lords or something, they are not going to be skint. I think other Nannies, not the Norland, who work for City Bankers etc are the ones in trouble this year.

earning £39k striaght out from college seeems a bit extreme/over the top to me

where if i work fulltime I earn around £35 - at £100nett a day - but i have 17years sole charge experience

maybe norland tell their students they can earn that much

The thing is about being a nanny is that it's not all about knowing how to look after children etc. It's how you as an employee mesh with a family and deal with the problems that can arise from having a very close working relationship with the parents and understanding that parents will have different ideas from you and learning to cope in that situation. Thats why new nannies shouldn't earn as much as nannies with experience whatever college they went to. You can only learn these things after having a number of jobs with different families over a nuber of years.

Tiramissu - I'm new on the nanny-appointing scene and I had not realized that Norlanders were set that far apart from the "rabble." The other reason why the Norlander won't get another look is indeed because I realized that we are not quite the class of person she is used to working for.

Indeed, I had never considered a nanny for us before as I thought I wasn't posh enough, but then realized that one probably wouldn't cost any more than sending two kids to a decent nursery.

The two candidates I saw today were much more suitable - down-to-earth with bags of experience which I now realize to be more important.

What is special about a Norland training that makes people prepared to fork out more?

I agree baltimore.

Also Norland nannies i think can be too obsessed with formality and a very strict way of child caring, not sure it would suit an ordinary family. i know it wouldnt suit me .
good luck with the interviews

Strict? Do Norland nannies put babies in silver cross prams to nap/cry at the end of gardens for fresh air?