Nanny question?

Question

i was hired to watch 3 kids.. and they do have 4 kids, but one is in full time preschool since hes 5 and not at the cutoff for kindergarten yet..

they told me i will not have to watch the 5 yr old ever. lately, on snow days i have to, even though the school is OPEN.. and they dont pay me extra for it.. i get 15 an hour - $5 a kid - its considerably alot more work with him there because he doesnt listen and picks fights and wont eat what i make the other kids. (2 toddlers and a baby) so i was wondering should i charge them an extra 45 a day that i have to watch him? i work only 2 days a week, from 7 to 4.

please, only babysitters/nannies answer.

Answer 1

you  should  charge  more  and  confront  them

Answer 2

I know you asked for answers from babysitters/nannies only, but here goes anyway.

You had an agreement with these people, and they are apparently breaking it. Unfortunately, if you really want to keep your job, you can't really throw that at them.  I would suggest you say something like "I need to talk to you about the days I have Johnny. Since I am watching an extra child I think it would be fair to increase my rate to include him. Ordinarily it would be an extra $45 but since I am already here with the others, do  you think $25.00 would be fair?"

Hopefully, they will agree and everybody will feel good about it.  Whatever you decide to do, try to approach it as a business deal, not as an ultimatum unless you are ready to look for another job.

Answer 3

Well yeah I sugest that you charge them extra but be sure that you have a reason. What I mean is whoever hired you and they are paying for you explain to them very clearly so that they will give you extra.

Answer 4

Since he is making it harder for you to work with the other children then I would suggest charging them for that time. Explain to them that it is difficult to have all 4 at once and suggest an additional cost that is not too much more, but enough that it's worth your extra effort. For me, 45 dollars would be hard to pay in addition to what they are already paying. I would ask for 20-30 dollars because you are already there and this way, they're likely to give it to you without a fight and you'll be making more than you are currently making when the situation arrises.

Answer 5

well I am not a babysitter or nanny but that sure sounds only fair - if you have an extra child to take care of then you should be paid for your time. You are being taken advantage of it sounds like to me- do not allow them to do that to you.  good luck.

Answer 6

Even though 7-4pm=$45 for you, I wouldn't charge by the day but by the hour--that way should they ever go over you won't be stiffed and it's still fair for them if he's there, say 7-8:30am one morning versus all day.

I've been in that position before--and you need to say something like "Can we talk about my pay for (insert name here) is not in school?"  This will get the ball rolling.

I must tell you though that its been my experience with various families that if they'll stiff you on your wage (no matter how friendly they are), that there will be other problems later--like them being late, or wanting you to clean their house, etc.

Whatever you decide to do, do it soon before they get to comfortable with the situation.