pay rise for nanny?

[victoriagirl]

Our nanny has been with us for a year. She is really good and we are very happy with her. We feel she is due a pay rise, but we are not sure how much and whether it should be cost of living and increment or just cost of living. We pay her £8 an hour, (she had no up to date experience before coming to us but was a nanny years ago). She is studying for a child care course but hasn't finished it yet. Neither my husband or I are getting any pay rises at work this year, and we struggle to be able to pay her as it is. But we really value her. I was wondering what the etiquette is and/or rates of pay/pay rises? Any thoughts welcomed.

I used to get a yearly pay rise many years ago when I worked for 2 families in London but one family were always much more generous than the other wanted to be so they compromised but the generous family gave me a secret bonus.

Could you give a bonus rather than a pay rise if you really can't afford a regular increase?

If you are struggling to pay her, last thing she will want is for you to struggle even more... which may result in less money being available for outings, food.

Tell her on a regular basis how pleased you are that things are going well... giving someone praise costs nothing but can be worth a lot to the person getting it.

Support her though completing her childcare course... she may need to do specific activities with your child/children which may cost money, such as for specific craft materials, or for outings to somewhere.

Finishing an hour early on occasion is often appreciated... so if your work schedule would enable that on occasion, then let your nanny finish early (but they are still paid till usual finish time).

If they are ill, pay them for as long as practical rather than going as quickly as possible to SSP. Always nice when a boss gives you better terms in reality than that which is actually in the contract.

Thanks for your replies.
Nannynick- your tips are really helpful- I think we do most of those already, except for offering to help with the course expenses, so I must remember to do that. But I think we can just about afford a little pay rise (rather than a bonus- I want to try to be as fair as possible to her). It just means we cut back on other stuff but the kids won't suffer- the beer/wine budget will just have to take a hit!!