keep the Nanny I'm not happy with & save money? or not?

Nicki

Poppy9 wrote:

Never used a childminder/nanny but have to say I would expect to pay about £7-10 per hour. After all they the most responsible job ever, looking after your child. I would expect them to be a qualified nursery nurse with first aid skills etc. When you compare it to paying a painter and decorator to do your home £10 per hour I think a Nanny is worth more.

The going rate for live out nannies in London is £8-£12 an hour net (ie you must pay their tax and national insurance on top). This is according to a number of agencies I phoned in September to research this. If you are asking the nanny to look after a child with special needs, or more than one child, you should pay towards the top of that scale. In your case, even though your child does have special needs as the nanny is permitted to bring her own child, you could perhaps argue that she should be paid at the middle or bottom end of the scale. It is a valid point, which other posters have made, that if you want good quality care for your child, you must be prepared to pay the going rate for the job.

melt71

Ok; questions - if she did her job properly (ie as you want her to) would you feel happy about her looking after your son? Do you feel comfortable with her as a person? Are you happy with her having her daughter with her? Does her daughter's age fit with your son's? (this could be good for socialising them both! prior to nursery/school).

If the answer is yes, you would be happy with her if all of these problems were resolved then I would suggest you sit her down for a 'review' and ask her how she thinks the job is going. Her response may surprise you. Have a list of requirements ready and give your priorities that you want for your son. Let her know that you are happy for her daughter to be there, but you asked for a nanny for her son so as far as you are concerned - he comes first! You must be firm or it sounds like she will walk all over you. It's early days yet and the groundrules haven't been set in stone. She has blurred what you thought were the rules by basically doing what suits her! You need to stop it. Saying that, if you can be flexible occasionally it will make for a happier working relationship.

If you feel that she is not approachable in the above way because she would take it badly or you feel unhappy for her to continue then you need to contact the agency - Do you have a contact at the agency? If so, I would ring them and tell her exactly what you said in your OP that you are not happy with the care she is taking of your boy and that you are concerned it will deteriorate if you complain to her directly. I wouldn't even ask them to get you a replacement, they should OFFER to. If they don't come up with any solution, then you have to be firm and demand that they do there job and provide you with a suitable candidate to take care of your son - not just fob you off with someone that is more concerned about leaving early/shopping/looking after her own kid!!! For £250 you deserve to get what you want, a proper nanny.

Savvy_Sue

IF I were in your shoes, and I wanted to keep her, and the coming home early every week was a problem, I'd look into whether I could change the days I worked to accommodate her.

But otherwise I would certainly use that as an argument for why the job wasn't working out ...

alwaysskint96

Poppy9 wrote:

Never used a childminder/nanny but have to say I would expect to pay about £7-10 per hour. After all they the most responsible job ever, looking after your child. I would expect them to be a qualified nursery nurse with first aid skills etc. When you compare it to paying a painter and decorator to do your home £10 per hour I think a Nanny is worth more.

Doesnt help you if you earn the same or less than that hourly rate though does it. My son is at nursery and its £3 an hour- and I cannot say that a £10 an hour Nanny would look after him any better than he is already cared for

Rachie_B

Poppy9 wrote:

Course you can as you are in S Wales too.:D I hope you don't mind that DD is now a stroppy, hormonalish (going on 13) 11 year old

:rotfl: thats fine i was one too, once upon a time :rotfl:

cannyscot_2

Wow I find it strange that people are saying I should pay more-I'm not skimping on pay !! The rate I am paying is the going rate for a Nanny in this area as suggested by the agency , a bona fide agency , the nanny is qualified , has checked references , has a disclosure, i personally spoke to people I did not just rely on the agency. This is not London -the going rate in this area is £6.50 to £8. My child has a minor disability which as I have already said means I do not feel a Nursery or Childminder is appropriate. It does not need specialist care or knowledge. It just means I think my child is less stressed in his own home.

"£7.50 p/h is a bloody good wage for a nanny!" -Katyag

"no wonder she is cheap".-david B


talk about extremes , some people have read the OP and been very helpful , other people just seem to reply without bothering to read anything!



On the basis of the above we should pay people not on what is the accepted going rate for the job but what we think a job should pay !

Thank you very much to the people who have read what I have written and replied constructively to the points I raised. It is lovely to get answers from people who are genuinely interested in helping you. it is particularly helpful to hear from people with nanny experiences and nannies themselves.


Do people actually understand how much the cost is for a FT nanny at 7.50 an hour a person has to earn £25800 gross to pay them and that only accomdates a very short commute to work and a standard -not a long day. It means you have to fork out £19656 of net takehome pay plus on top you have to heat the house for the day pay for activities, pay for meals -lunch tea and extras.

shariatlanta

I work as a nanny in the London area and I'm paid £6.00 per hour which I'm more than happy with, I have no formal qualifications but most jobs I've had the employer has been more than happy with me as I've brought up 5 kids of my own.
As people have said before would you be happy with her as a person if she was to follow your instructions to do what she's asked, if not then find another nanny. I only work 2 days a week but we go to the park, playcentres and toddler groups and yes I do take her to do my shopping as I did with my previous charge but mum is quite happy for me to do so.
At the end of the day as long as the childs needs come first then I don't think visiting friends is a problem providing they have children your one can play with there shouldn't be a problem, after all its no different to going to a playgroup.

Poppy9

alwaysskint96 wrote:

Doesnt help you if you earn the same or less than that hourly rate though does it. My son is at nursery and its £3 an hour- and I cannot say that a £10 an hour Nanny would look after him any better than he is already cared for

No I understand that usually it's only cost effect to employ a Nanny if you are a high earner or have more than 1 child in day care.

I used a nursery for DD when she was younger and I returned to work part-time. If I remember rightly I paid £12 a morning or £17 all day and that was in 1996. I opted for 3 mornings a week as I didn't want her there all day though it would have been cheaper to go for 1 full day and 1 half day. Luckily I could afford the choice. I didn't look at childminders as I didn't like any of the ones I met at M&T groups. They were lazy so an so's which put me off. One friend had a Nanny - but she did have 5 kids and paid £10 per hour. The Nanny was excellent though and when DD was in school she often spent the day with them as she was invited over on Nanny days. I always felt I should pay her for caring for 1 extra child but she said I was doing her a favour as she kept the eldest occupied!

I was just commenting that I would expect to pay top whack for one on one qualified care as opposed to nursery. Not an option I could afford as I only earn £16 per hour before tax.

Rachie_B

Poppy9 wrote:

No I understand that usually it's only cost effect to employ a Nanny if you are a high earner or have more than 1 child in day care.

I used a nursery for DD when she was younger and I returned to work part-time. If I remember rightly I paid £12 a morning or £17 all day and that was in 1996. I opted for 3 mornings a week as I didn't want her there all day though it would have been cheaper to go for 1 full day and 1 half day. Luckily I could afford the choice. I didn't look at childminders as I didn't like any of the ones I met at M&T groups. They were lazy so an so's which put me off. One friend had a Nanny - but she did have 5 kids and paid £10 per hour. The Nanny was excellent though and when DD was in school she often spent the day with them as she was invited over on Nanny days. I always felt I should pay her for caring for 1 extra child but she said I was doing her a favour as she kept the eldest occupied!

I was just commenting that I would expect to pay top whack for one on one qualified care as opposed to nursery. Not an option I could afford as I only earn £16 per hour before tax.

"only" !! what is it you do <nosey icon> :rotfl:

Poppy9

Rachie_B wrote:

"only" !! what is it you do <nosey icon> :rotfl:

Oh you'll change your opinion of me if you know. ssssssssssshhhhhhh I'm an (I'm not boring honest!) a........................Oh I just can't say it......................here we go..........................................are you ready for it? ............................accountant:eek: