Potential Nanny Compensation

In My Humble Opinion
1

I am waiting to hear whether I have made the top three to be called back for a second interview and to meet the husband. Here’s the job description:

Downtown St. Louis couple needs live-in nanny for newborn son. Living quarters are actually a separate furnished one-bedroom, two-bath loft, two blocks away that couple owns. Compensation is loft plus $800 to $1000 per month, depending on hours worked. Normal hours will be Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. plus overnight on one evening a week. Some light chore duties and at times errand running will be needed.

I agree, the actual salary doesn’t seem adequate but, take the following into consideration:

The loft they’re providing normally rents for 1800/mo.
All utilities (including internet) and gym membership are included; I would only be responsible for phone and cable. It’s a secure building with parking underneath.
There is no way I have or ever will live in a place as nice as the loft that they are providing, nor would I ever make enough money to afford anything but squalor downtown St. Louis

Also, the nanny will be accompanying them to Italy in the Fall and any other vacations.

So, with loft plus salary, the compensation would be the equivalent of at least $31,200. They would be paying me through one of their companies, so I would get a paycheck twice a month with the necessary withholdings and such (which is rare for a nanny!)

I have no car payment, no outstanding loans of any kind and no credit card debt.

So, what do you guys think? Also, can you think of any other questions that I should ask before committing? I assume that no insurance is being offered, but I need to ask! Thanks a lot! I will be checking back frequently so that I’ll be ready for the second interview.

2

I got nuthin’ to ask, but it sounds like a good deal to me. Other than the insurance thing.

3

Questions to ask: What are “light chore duties” and what does “at times” mean? Similarly, how often will you be asked to run errands, how far, whose car will you be using, who’s paying for the gas and will that be happening within your allotted hours or will you be expected to pick something up “on your way over tomorrow” or “drop this dry cleaning off on your way home”?

What is their preferred method of working out problems? In writing, in person - with one or both of them? Who wants to be The Manager, and how should you handle it if both of them ask you to do conflicting things at the same time? Working for couples can be tricky.

How would they like to handle it when you OR they are ready to move on? What kind and manner of notice?

And, as a former nanny and current babysitter, consider that you’re likely to get emotionally attached to the sprog. Are you prepared to deal with that emotionally, to care for him as his parents request and not necessarily as you think is best? Can you make a drama-free break of it when it’s time to move on or they find someone cheaper/better/blood related to do the job?

As for the compensation itself, it sounds okay, but not great. If it’s 55 hours a week (45 M-F and 10 hours for the overnight) and that’s $800 per month and $1800 a month in rent value, you’re looking at essentially $12 an hour. Better than you’re likely to get at Starbucks these days, but not enough for savings and investment. As something to do for a while, it’s a good idea, but I wouldn’t make a career of it.

4

Former employer here (though not of a live-in).

Do investigate the cost of health insurance.

Chances are, some / all of the value of the apartment will be treated as taxable income (it should be, anyway, if they’re doing everything right). Possibly not subject to social security taxes, but certainly to income taxes. I can’t find cites for this quickly but will look around later. The taxes might not be all that much - at 31,000 a year, you can probably WAG what your income taxes will be - but still it’s something to be aware of.

If you terminate your employment (or they do), how much time would you have to vacate the apartment? That should be in writing.

Is there a guaranteed minimum number of hours you’d be working any given week?

It does sound like you’ll be paid “above the table”. I can definitely understand the temptation to do it below the table (i.e. not reporting anything) but I was always too honest and/or too chicken to do it illegally. Plus our nanny is reaping the benefits of that: I paid unemployment insurance for her, and now she has that coverage while she looks for a new job.

5

Thanks for all of the advice, so far. There are definitely some things I hadn’t thought of before!

Yeah, it would probably be something I would do for a couple of years.

This will be my fourth nannying gig, so, yeah I totally get the “couple” dynamic and the devastation of separation; however I’ve remained in contact with all of my charges and extremely with my most recent one. He’s 4 and lives in Beaufort, SC with his parents and we’re quite close. I’ll be seeing him later this month, actually!

So, I’ll be sure to ask about insurance, unemployment, the process of vacating (when necessary,) firm grasp of hours to be worked and whether I would owe taxes on the amount of compensation based on rental cost of the loft. Thanks, everyone.

We’re within walking distance of grocery, library, dry-cleaners, etc. The only driving errand would probably be taking him to the doctor.

What else should I consider?

6

Oh, good! Really, as a parent also, I would be so much more likely to hire an experienced nanny for this reason alone. It can be so hard on everyone when things end badly; it’s good to know an applicant has experience handling that end of things.

(I know, I know, I tend to focus a lot on the “how will we handle the inevitable bad stuff,” don’t I? Maybe I should be more optimistic.)

7

Good to know!

I’m trying to be optimistic, but at the day goes on, my optimism begins to wane! We had such a great interview and it really seemed such a good fit that I can’t believe I didn’t at least make the top three! She did say she’d let me know at the beginning of the week, which could, I guess be anywhere from this evening through tomorrow evening; however, she wants someone to start Thursday, so…

8

To look at it realistically you have to view it like another job.

For example, the apartment 1,800/month for a loft in downtown. That is over-inflated in your mind. If you had another job you’d have to pay for your own flat. And you could commute downtown. How much would that cost? What is there to do in downtown St Louis that would keep you there? Could you live somewhere else and be just as happy?

Of course so what you want to do is price a one bedroom flat in a decent area of St Louis add 10% for view and cost of commute daily to downtown. That’ll give you the cost of your flat.

The apartment IS taxable as it’s income.

The trip to Europe is a working trip for you so it’s shoud not enter into compensation value you’re considering. You can fly to Europe cheap and stay places on your own. Find the value of a ticket for a trip to Europe and find the cost. Then divide in half, 'cause you’re working the benefit of that trip will only be half.

So when you figure out values don’t count as a value, things you don’t need anyway.

It’s like if a company says “You get your own office,” that’s nice but it in no way compensates for money. If you think it does, try this, say “You know an office is nice but instead could I have a plain desk and take more money.” The company would laugh at you if you said that, yet at the same time they will try to convince you an office is “worth” something. If it has no value to them, it shouldn’t enter into a compensation for you.

You also have to wonder that 1,800 loft, why give it to you? Is it cause they can’t sell it or rent it out in this market. If so the value to your compensation should go down.

As one poster noted, make sure the agreement spells out things like, if you quit or are fired you get the same time (it should be at least two months unless you got parents you can run home to). A lot of agreements say if they fire you, you get one thing, if you quit you get another.

If they supply utilities becareful a lot of agreements are put that way but aren’t. For instance it may say “We supply electricity for the loft.” But in small print it reads “based on reasonable usage.” or "Up to $150.00/month allotment. Supposing it’s a very hot summer and you need A/C will that be covered or are you responsible.

9

Well, after losing all hope yesterday, I got a call this morning. I’ll be meeting the husband at the loft Thursday morning. Please continue to offer advice/questions to ask. It’s been really helpful, so far.

10

Ok, interview is in less than 24 hours. Anything else? Would you take this job? Why or why not?

11

Good luck!

12

Thanks, everyone! I’ll be heading out in about four hours, in case anyone has some last minute advice.

13

What are your (rough) non-rent living expenses currently like?

14

A friend of mine was a live in Nanny for a while. You need to get things in writing, and you need to define what “light duties and errands” entail EXACTLY. Also detail the EXACT hours you are working the available vacation/off time you are allotted, and what compensation you should expect when you have to work during times not agreed to.

For my friend “light duties” ended up being doing laundry for everyone in the house, housekeeping straightening up of everyone’s rooms every morning, washing dishes and cooking dinner for everyone. Also, from 8:30 to 5:30 ended up being from 6:30am to 7:00pm when the parents finally got home from work after their commute with no extra compensation.

Be careful, and make sure you are being compensated fairly for what is a very difficult job. And do ask about insurance!

15

Missed edit window:

Also, don’t be too flexible in your duties if you do take the job. The more duties you take on above and beyond your contract, the more duties will become EXPECTED of you. Sad but true. Sometimes the “Oh, I’ll just help them these couple of times” becomes an expectation from them afterwards.

The loft is all fine and good, but money is what you should be worried about. Personally, $1000 a month is not much. I wouldn’t take less than that for certain. And how much of that will you be able to save?

As someone above mentioned, could you save MORE money by taking a nanny job that pays say $30,000 a year and renting a cheap space?

16

If it’s not too late: If the compensation is “$800 to 1000 a month, depending on hours worked,” I would want to know what that means, exactly. Is it intended to be an hourly wage? Sounds like from “depending on hours worked.” If so, I would want to know the hourly wage to run the math to see if it’s acceptable, and I would want to know minimum and maximum hours worked, so that you are making enough but not being worked to death.

If instead it’s a salary, then it shouldn’t “depend on hours worked” – they don’t get to pay you whatever the hell they feel like month to month. On salary, you work what you work and get paid the same all the time. But then again, I would want to know the maximum hours (don’t care about minimum) and I would negotiate, for any “over maximum” hours, (a) the right to say “NO” and (b) additional pay at a higher rate if I say “YES.”

17

I would love to find a nanny job that paid that much. I’ve never heard of anything close to that; however, with the salary plus other compensations the total package is worth about 30k. They are paying me through one of their companies and will do all of the necessary withholding, all utilities except phone and cable are covered and I will get one week paid vacation after six months and 2 weeks after one year. I have NEVER gotten paid vacays as a Nanny. Anyway, I wasn’t supposed to find out until Monday, but I WAS OFFERED THE JOB THIS MORNING!!! Woo Hoo. I asked to sleep on it and I would welcome more comments and questions from all of you good people before I give my final answer.

Here is a huge part of the equation in a nutshell. My husband has no idea that I have just been chosen nor that it is a live in position. I was to the point that in the next week or so, I was just going to withdraw a thousand bucks and go to a hotel for awhile before moving on to the next step. This job could not have come at a better time. I will be forced to take action a little sooner than planned, but It’s just the shove I need to do what needs to be done.

18

Woo and, as they say, hoo!

:smiley:

19

Oh, thank you for that positive reply without judgment! I am scared/sad/stressed right now and I needed that! It’s all about to happen!

20

I’m really happy that this opportunity came to you right now. It sounds like it’s just what you need!

Will you keep us updated on how you’re doing?