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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

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Original poster

Urgent! How much would you pay your nanny to look after your kids for a whole weekend (incl nights)???

84 replies

Avocadoes · 30/05/2010 20:58

Just back from a weekend away. Our nanny looked after our girls for two nights and two days. She had previously said she would charge the hourly rate for this service. I actually thought it was pretty steep to charge £10 per he (her normal rate) for hours age was asleep but assumed it was normal so said ok. So 55 hours away this weekend amounted to £550! I thought she had donw pretty well out of that and gave her the huge wad of cash only for her to say it's normal to give a nanny 1.5x pay on Sundays! So she wants another £80.

I know we should have discussed exact details before but we didn't. Am I being taken for a ride or is it normal to pay £630 for a weekend of childcare?

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compo · 30/05/2010 21:01

no experience whatsoever but oh my god!

Alouiseg · 30/05/2010 21:07

OMG! A friends Nanny charges £100 for an overnight stay which is from 6 pm till 9am but that's the only comparison I can think of.

I think she's being cheeky if she didn't mention the enhanced Sunday rate beforehand.

Dimi · 30/05/2010 21:09

That is ridiculous! I am a mom and a nanny and have been nannying for 10 years, mainly in Notting Hill where nanny salaries are high. I often work weekends and the going rate is your normal wage per hour during the day and then I charge £30 for a sleep over....the working day hours would be 7am-7pm or when baby goes to bed...
and the right thing to do would be to make sure there was plenty of food for nanny and baby and kitty money to go out and do activities....hope that helps.

Original poster

Avocadoes · 30/05/2010 21:25

Thanks everyone. Sorry for the many typos in the OP, I was typing quickly on my phone while nanny was getting ready to leave. I ended up telling her we would discuss it all on Tues morning when she comes to work.

I really wish she hadn't done this. She is great with the kids but now I feel I am being wripped off. Instead of thinking about my lovely weekend away I am obsessing about this. We give her a great deal all in all and she knows we aren't super rich.

I just feel sad now and I am dreading talking to her about money on Tuesday.

OP posts:

nbee84 · 30/05/2010 21:31

It is not the norm to charge your usual hourly rate for every hour over the weekend - most have a sleepover fee, unless it was a young baby that would be up every 2-3 hours through the night for a feed.

I know a very experienced nanny that proxy parents and charges quite high rates - her rates are £240 per 24 hours, so that still equates to less than your nanny is trying to charge you.

nannynick · 30/05/2010 21:33

I feel that around £150 per 24-hour period would not be unreasonable.

You are talking 55 hours, so I'd say £400 would be reasonable as a total.

However this is your nanny, so you need to look at the contract you have. It may say something about Overtime rate for example. It would also state a rate for normal daytime care.

So if you took the normal working day, add on say 4 hours of overtime, then add on a set rate for overnight.

I feel £630 is rather steep for 55 hours, unless doing overnight sleep training but I guess your nanny was not doing that given they were working the day as well as the night.

Missus84 · 30/05/2010 21:34

You should definitely have discussed money beforehand. When I was a nanny I had an overnight rate in my contract of £30 - so normal hourly wage for waking hours plus £30 for the overnights (if the children sleep through of course).

If she wanted time and a half for the Sunday, that should definitely have been discussed beforehand! I would say no to that.

nannynick · 30/05/2010 21:40

What does the contract say about overtime? Worse case situation I feel is that ALL the hours are done at the overtime rate.
That may be MORE than she is wanting... so calculate it out and see if it's better agreeing to her request, or better to go with terms of the contract.

Original poster

Avocadoes · 30/05/2010 21:43

Our kids both sleep 12 hour nights so there was no interuption to her sleep. I bought her M&S ready meals for every dinner and bought her fav cereal for breakfast. I gave her £40 kitty and our annual family passes to Kew Gardens and the London Wetlands Centre so they could have free days out (which they did).

OP posts:

Original poster

Avocadoes · 30/05/2010 21:45

Oh and I left my laptop for her so she could go on the net (her request) and I ordered a LoveFilm DVD she wanted to see.

OP posts:

nannynick · 30/05/2010 21:47

Our kids both sleep 12 hour nights so there was no interuption to her sleep. I bought her M&S ready meals for every dinner and bought her fav cereal for breakfast. I gave her £40 kitty and our annual family passes to Kew Gardens and the London Wetlands Centre so they could have free days out (which they did).

Unfortunately none of that matters... as far as I see your fundamental problem is that you did not agree a price beforehand, therefore whatever is in your nannies contract I feel would be what you would need to pay.
I'm not a lawyer but that's my view on it, without having an alternative agreement (be that written or verbal) things fall back to whatever agreement there is in place - thus the employment contract.

Original poster

Avocadoes · 30/05/2010 21:48

Sorry NannyNick I missed your post. Thank you for your advice. I can't remember an overtime clause in the contract but will check in the morning ( it's in the kids room and they are asleep).

OP posts:

Missus84 · 30/05/2010 21:48

So does your contract say anything about overnight/overtime?

nannynick · 30/05/2010 21:52

Check it in the morning and post on here the exact wording that has been used.

I think most of us (if not all) are in agreement that the amount she wants is more than to be expected.

You have stalled things until Tuesday, so between now and then we need to help you come up with a price that you ARE prepared to pay. So that means looking at the legals to get a feel for what would happen if she used the special procedure for handling smaller claims in the county court.

vicki2010 · 30/05/2010 21:55

jesus!! i might become a nanny!!!! this is daylight robbery and you say you are not superrich but jesus you must be to be able to pay that for two nights away!! what a joke!!!!!!!!

Blondeshavemorefun · 30/05/2010 22:23

if your nanny didnt say up front that she wants/charges time and a half at weekends then she doesnt get the extra £80 - all she said is that she wants £10ph every hour (which you agreed to)

yes you should have discussed EXACT details before you went regardless of M&S meals/laptop/dvd etc (tho very nice of you)

£10ph every hour seems a lot but if you dont have anything in contract about overtime/nights (and tbh many nannys i know dont) then tbh (and blunt) you dont have a leg to stand on

though you seem happy enough to have paid the 55hrs @ £10 the extra £80 i feel is taking the piss

i charge £200per 24hrs which is my normal daily rate of £10ph and then babysitting rate of £10 from 7-midnight and then £30 sleepover fee

yes some may say its a lot but its the nannys time and a weekend and you and dh had a weekend away childfree

were you happy enough to pay the £240per 24hrs and just annoyed about the extra £80 she wants?

has she been your nanny long? has she taken the piss over anything else?

if she had mentioned time and half BEFORE you went, what would you have said?

nannyj · 30/05/2010 22:35

If its fri night to sun eve i would be pleased to recieve £300 and ive been a nanny for 15 years.

Original poster

Avocadoes · 30/05/2010 22:42

Blondes - I was ready to pay £240 per 23 hours because it's what we agreed. This weekend various people told me it wasn't normal to pay an hourly rate throughout the night but it's what we had agreed so I wouldn't have dreamt of not paying it. On the way home I said to DH that if we went away again I might ask her if we cld change the terms and conditions but That was a matter for the future.

She has worked for us for 9 months and the kids adore her. She hasn't done anything to take the piss but we have had a couple of misunderstandings about holidays. She gets 7 weeks a year which is much more than normal but the quid pro quo is I always choose the dates as I get 7 weeks off a year but the dates are dictated by my work. Several times she has tried to book holiday when I have to work and when reminded of the contract she has complained about the lack of flexibility and pleaded special circumstances. That was awkward given how carefully I explained the situation at interview, on appointment and in her contract.

OP posts:

Blondeshavemorefun · 30/05/2010 22:54

you sound very fair and 7weeks hols is nice tho i personally wouldnt agree to never chosing any holidays,this is what your nanny AGREED to at the interview - so cheeky of her to ask

tho my motto is,if you dont ask you dont get

so understand why she asked, but she should have only asked once and not had a strop when you said no and moaned about lack of flexibilty 9as she agreed to this)

so simply say to her on tuesday that as she hadnt mentioned time and a half BEFORE the weekend away, that you cant/wont/dont want to pay the extra £80

juneybean · 30/05/2010 22:59

I used to regularly work Sundays and never got time and a half for this. She's taking the piss.

nannynick · 30/05/2010 23:00

The holiday clause sounds perfectly acceptable to me. FloweryBeanBag said on this recent thread that employers can choose ALL the holiday their employee takes.
Special Circumstances - did she mean someone had died? That would be compassionate leave. I've had that once in a nanny job. You can't really know in advance when someone will die.

How much is all the time, effort, worry you are spending on this topic worth?
On this occasion it may be best just to pay what she's asking but to then make sure that in future you do agree things in writing first and that you check the contract so if any clauses need to be added or amended that you do so at the next contract review (which would logically be in around 3 months time).

Original poster

Avocadoes · 30/05/2010 23:03

That is what I am going to do providing the contract doesn't have an overtime clause (I really, really hope it doesn't). If it does I am going to have to sit down and talk with her about what she wants to do. DH reminds me that she once had the kids from 8pm Sat 'til 12 noon Sunday and we paid £10 an hour and she never mentioned a special Sunday rate then. Wasn't it normal assume the same applied for this trip?

OP posts:

Irishchic · 30/05/2010 23:08

Sorry Nannynick but I totally disagree.

I am a solicitor, and unless this particular issue has been set out in the contract on those terms then the nanny is not entitled to ask for this and it looks to me that she is being opportunistic.

I would be refusing this, and would start looking for another nanny. As a mother of 5 who has had a couple of nannies over the last 10 years I do not say that lightly, I know how much you rely on a nanny but there is an attitude behind this request which I do not like at all.

Original poster

Avocadoes · 30/05/2010 23:08

Sorry NannyNick I cross posted. The special circumstances were her cousin's hen do and going to a music festival. If it had been a death or anything like that then I would of course have let her go.

I know I should probably let this go so that it doesn't sour our relationship but I hate that I am being perceived (by her) as mean when I believe I was being more than fair.

OP posts:

Blondeshavemorefun · 30/05/2010 23:17

Don't let it go and pay her. As she is taking the piss

she should have mentioned it before you went not on your return

and yes can understand why she asked for time off fir hen do

nothing wrong with asking as long as doesn't get arsey with you saying no

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