How much to pay a temp nanny?

[ponder]

Next month my DH and I are going to a conference for work purposes. We have a 7 month old who we will be taking along. We have a nanny going with us to watch the little one during the day and evenings while we work.

We will leave Wed evening and will not return until Sun afternoon. Of course we are paying for her room and meals. What should I pay her for her time? Going rate where I live for regular daycare is $70-$95 dollars per day. I was thinking around $100 per day.

Anyone have any experience or advice?

Thanks

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I''m not a mom, but I think $100/day plus meals and travel expenses is very generous.

 

[neatfreak]

I think you need to talk to her about it. IMO you need to pay more for a nanny who is traveling with you. After all YOU are taking her out of her element and taking her away from her life entirely for that time away. You can't look at paying her "expenses" as a bonus for her-because it isn't. YOU are making her travel-it's not her choice.

Also consider that regular daycare is like 8-9 hours per day. If she will be working more than that you need to pay her more.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Um...she accepted the position, it IS in fact her choice. Clearly the incentive is enough given that she accepted the job offer. She''s not a slave, she can''t be forced to go and sit for them. And I''d view all expenses paid travel to be a pretty big perk of the job.

 

[ponder]

The problem is that I dont think she will know what is appropriate. Being a nanny is not a full time gig for her. She is a college student with a partime job. I know that $10 per hour is alot more than she makes at her part time job, but I do also feel that she is doing me a HUGE favor.

Also, the hours will be long, possibly 8am-10pm, but I will be back for periodic breaks and I will be downstairs in the ballroom for emergencies or even extreme fussiness.

I want to be generous just incase we ever have to do this again.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 12/28/2009 2:49:58 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
Um...she accepted the position, it IS in fact her choice. Clearly the incentive is enough given that she accepted the job offer. She's not a slave, she can't be forced to go and sit for them. And I'd view all expenses paid travel to be a pretty big perk of the job.

Well we will have to agree to disagree on this one. I don't think it's a perk because the client wants her to go wherever they are going. I think it's a necessity to pay for a sitter's lodging and food if you bring them somewhere. It's not like she gets to sit around all day and go to the beach-she's working.

Ponder: $100 a day is not enough if the hours are that long IMO-I mean that is 14 hours at $10 an hour-she needs to be making MINIMUM $150/day unless she's getting large chunks of time off during the day. You need to pay her at least her hourly rate and then some IMO. That's what I used to make when traveling with a few families I babysat for.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Where is the conference? Is this a place that she''d have to sit in a hotel room all day or could she take the baby outside and enjoy nice weather?

I would really just sit down with her and talk to her about it. You obviously need to make it worth her time, she''s going to be missing classes and possibly hours at her other job.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Okay we agree to disagree.

I look at it like this. When I travel for business I''m "on" (as in on call) 24 hours/day. I''m not paid any more than my airfare, hotel, taxi, a small stipend for food, and my standard salary.

I think $100/day for a college student (not a professional child care provider, no degree either) is a reasonable amount. Unless she''s working 10+ hours/day at her part time job, that $700/week cash (not taxed) is more than she''d make otherwise.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 12/28/2009 3:09:16 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
Okay we agree to disagree.


I look at it like this. When I travel for business I''m ''on'' (as in on call) 24 hours/day. I''m not paid any more than my airfare, hotel, taxi, a small stipend for food, and my standard salary.


I think $100/day for a college student (not a professional child care provider, no degree either) is a reasonable amount. Unless she''s working 10+ hours/day at her part time job, that $700/week cash (not taxed) is more than she''d make otherwise.

True, but you also don''t get paid extra for extra hours you work at your job because you are salaried. An hourly employee would get paid more because they are working more hours in your scenario.

If this was her regular nanny who was a salaried position I would totally agree with you. But because she''s just a babysitter, who gets paid hourly, I think it''s fair to pay her her hourly wage. Also add to that that it is HARD to take care of a child (and I assume an infant since the OP said fussiness) 14 hours a day! She''ll be lucky if she gets a break to pee.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

What I''m saying is a travel scenario IS like a salaried position. It''s not an hourly set up anymore. Again, I''m not a parent, but I babysat for years (including travel) and I know many people who travel with babysitters. They agree on an amount and that''s it. Usually the amount is for the trip, like $700 for the trip, not $100/day, but that''s how it''s done. The parents would be nickel and dimed to death otherwise.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I think $15+ an hour would be fair because this is a temp thing and, lets face it, $10 isn''t even a living wage these days. We''re only talking five days, right? Just because she makes less than $10 at her other job, doesn''t justify only paying her $10 while watching a 7 month old.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 12/28/2009 3:19:11 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
What I'm saying is a travel scenario IS like a salaried position. It's not an hourly set up anymore. Again, I'm not a parent, but I babysat for years (including travel) and I know many people who travel with babysitters. They agree on an amount and that's it. Usually the amount is for the trip, like $700 for the trip, not $100/day, but that's how it's done. The parents would be nickel and dimed to death otherwise.

I totally agree that it's reasonable to set an amount ahead of time. All I am saying is that if she's expected to work 14 hours a day that the daily amount shouldn't be less than what she would make if it was hourly (since she is normally an hourly worker). So IMO she should be making $150/day or something in that range.

I am a parent and that is what I would do at least if I were to take a babysitter on vacation with us.

 

[ponder]

I dont think she has an hourly rate. We both have never done anything like this before. Also, she wont be missing classes, school starts for her the week after.

The trip will go:

Wed: drive 4 hours with us from Houston to Dallas (no baby responsibilities)
Thurs: 8am babysitting starts, I will probably have an hour free for lunch, work until 5pm. We will probably all have dinner together. 730pm-930pm business coctail event.
Friday: Repeat of Thurs.
Saturday: 8am-noon work, then drive 4.5 hours with us to Beaumont and then babysit while DH and I attend a wedding from 6pm until midnight.
Sunday: Drive 2 hours home to Houston (no baby responsilbilities)

Weather will probably be fairly cold, but I dont mind if she takes the baby out and about. I need to look into what kind of things there are to do around the hotel we will be staying at. I dont expect her to sit in the room all day.

 

[neatfreak]

So it sounds like 3 full days and 2 1/2 days. Although she isn''t babysitting those days she is traveling with you so I would include some more pay personally for those days but not the full amount if she were babysitting.

For *me* I think I would probably pay something along the lines of $500-600. With the thought being that she would be working 12-14 hour days for three days and then a bit of extra for giving up her entire weekend to be with you.

Obviously you need to talk to her and see what she is expecting and come up with a number that works for both of you.

 

[ponder]

OK... I estimated that there are 32 actual working hours. At $15 an hour is $480. Do you think $500 for the trip would be appropriate?

 

[LadyBlue]

I think 500.00 is a good amount. I would pay her 10.00 an hr, including the traveling time, because even thought she is not "working" she is investing her time with you and that has a cost as well.

 

[LadyBlue]

Date: 12/28/2009 3:47:14 PM
Author: ponder
OK... I estimated that there are 32 actual working hours. At $15 an hour is $480. Do you think $500 for the trip would be appropriate?

I just saw your answer, I think 500 is a good amount considering the long hours.

 

[qtiekiki]

The way I see it is she’ll be working about 10 hours a day for 3 days (Thu – Sat), so that’s 30 hours at $15 for babysitting. The days that she doesn’t have babysitting responsibilities but is traveling with you, I would give her around $10 an hr for traveling b/c those are hours that she could’ve been working at her PT job (4 hrs on day 1 and 2 hrs on the last day). So that gives a total of $510. $500 is a good amount. I would offer her that to start with, and go from there.

 

[lucyandroger]

I think $500 is fair and if afterwards you feel she did a great job, I would throw in $50-$100 more as sort of a tip.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 12/28/2009 4:13:48 PM
Author: lucyandroger
I think $500 is fair and if afterwards you feel she did a great job, I would throw in $50-$100 more as sort of a tip.

Yep, sounds good. . .the $500 with a tip (if appropriate).

 

[phoenixgirl]

Hmmm, I "temp nannied" for my brother 7 and 6 years ago, and he paid me $1000 a week for two weeks. I had to move in with them 2 hours away and while my main duties were during the work day, I also did things on the weekend and at nights. When they hired a real nanny, they paid her half what they paid me; but my brother is a big softie and he probably felt bad about offering me less.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

I don''t have children (yet) but used to be a nanny and did travel assignments from time to time for the families I worked for and some of their friends. I think $500 is a good starting point but think she would not be unreasonable to ask for $600+.

Also, if she does a great job, the hours end up longer, and/or your child gets sick or has other challenging circumstances I''d give her an extra tip at the end.

IMO travel assignments for nannying are different than travel assignments for professional salaried work (which is what i now do). As a nanny i this kind of short-term situation, you are not paid anywhere close to the kind of wages that you get for professional salaried positions, don''t have benefits, and don''t have job security. You are really just an independant contractor for a short-term gig, but you are taking care of someone''s children. At work, I am paid my full salary for travel time and time with clients, as well as having a decent per diem. If my travel time (not the time I am the location but not working, but the time I am actually traveling) greatly exceeds my work time for the week I am eligible for comp time. Short-term nanny assignments don''t have that.

FYI, if she''s expected to respond to the child in hours when she''s not working and/or is sharing a room with the child she should be paid more for that as well.