Do nannies charge for the time your kids are at playgroup?

[glamourbadger]

Hi all, I'm new to this so apologies if this has been answered before.

I am going back to work 3 days/week and would like to keep my girls in their playgroup 9am-1pm. I am going to advertise for a nanny to do a morning drop off and afternoon pickup. What is the protocol is for paying for the time in-between? Do employers generally pay a nanny for this time? Is this the same when children go to school (are you expected to pay 9am-3pm)?

Would really appreciate some nanny advice to help with my budgeting - cheers for any replies.

I think you have to pay them because if your child is sick presumably you would need the nanny to look after the child? also the nanny might have to stay as a helper once every 6 weeks etc
would a nursery be better?

you can just pay them for morning and then pick up hours (bit like having a nanny for children at school all day) BUT who would care for them/pick them up if ill or if nursery shut etc

or you can bite the bullet and pay for the time they are at nusery and maybe ask the nanny to do some child related chores, ie do their washing/change beds/stock freezer

You may get a childminder to do this but yes you would pay while they were at playgroup unless it fitted in with them. Worth asking local minders who do drop offs at the playgroup.Some may only charge a half fee but others full as they may not be able to fill the space that you would need if the playgroup closed and at holiday time.

Most nannies would charge in those circumstances.

Its not as if she can get another nanny job in that time

My job is going to be a bit like that in September. When my charges are at school/pre school I am still being employed, I am going to do light housework, shopping, ironing etc. Could your nanny do the same??

Getting a new nanny of course you can specify but expect less applicants. Not that it is unreasonable but just less nannies might want to do it. If a nanny had been with you for a while full days though you would probably want to pay those hours for reasons mentioned already.

I agree that a nanny will probably not be interested in that arrangement. You could perhaps do something like get an au pair who could do the morning routine and drop them off at 9:00. And then get a live out nanny to do the 3:00 pick up. If I were in your position and money was not stacking up so fast I couldn't work out how to spend it I would drop the playgroup and go for nanny all day. And I would find some activities to send the girls to (with nanny). In fact, I believe this is one of the great advantages of having a nanny. I can pick and choose the activities which I feel suit my kids and not have to accept pre determined schedules set out by nurseries/play groups/childminders.

Yes, you have to pay them. They can't be doing anything else with that time can they? They have to be on call for your kids - that's why nannies are the most expensive form of childcare.

Most nannies are after clear full time or part time..and part time will mean half week, or half days. Not get up to drop your DC's off and hang around twiddling thumbs before picking them up....although if you're paying properly, the twiddling the thumbs bit would probably suit them very nicely .

Could you not drop them yourself in the morning?

Nannies will look at jobs in just the same way as anyone else looking at jobs... they will consider jobs that meet their requirements such as working hours and income level.
A job which is a couple of hours in the morning, then some more hours towards the end of the day is, I feel, going to have limited appeal. Sure it may appeal to someone but if you want your pick of candidates, I feel you need to make the job as attractive to those candidates as possible.
Also you need to look at what childcare you actually need... as pre-schools and schools do not operate every day... some may 40 weeks a year... consider what you will do for the times when the pre-school/school isn't open.

My SIL paid her nanny all day, even though she refused to do any chores when children were at school, and instead went to her Mum's house .

Your SIL was taken for a ride. I understand a nanny wanting/needing full time pay. But, she/he would of course have to be prepared to work for it.

i agree AN, as long as chores are child related the nanny can't just refuse if she's getting paid. There's usually always something you can do- even if slowly and thoroughly- cleaning toys, cooking experiments for freezer, cutting up card to prepare for future art activities etc.