So my nanny will have been with us for a year at the end of this month. I am going to give her a pay raise and a bonus. She is absolutely wonderful with the kids. She works full time. I definately want to keep her till I don't need a nanny anymore (kids are in school full time). I am thinking a $1 or $2 an hour raise and a bonus. I am thinking maybe I should give her bonus @ Christmas time as that is when I get my bonus as well but her pay raise would have to start at the end of this month. So I'm trying to figure out more bonus but less $ in a raise or more raise but less bonus... Should her bonus be 2 weeks salary? That is what mine is at my job. My husband on the other hand gets 10% bonus only if they meet their target goal. So what do you all give as a bonus to your nanny and how much of a raise do you give?
Added: She is underpaid I think. The range for nanny varies so much! I have a friend who pays her nanny less but another who pays her nanny a lot more then I do. However, in what I've been reading she may be on the lower end. That is why I'm thinking of $1 or 2/hour pay raise. I know she needs a new car and her husband doesn't make much money and they just get by... I am not well off but make decent money but am living frugily to build up our savings to buy a new home.
I like the idea of giving $1/hr. and spacing it from the Christmas bonus. My fear would be that if you gave her too much (even if she's paid on the lower end) that she'd come to expect generous raises every year.
Two week bonus is customary if you are happy with her work. Your husband's bonus is a different thing - so I wouldn't worry about it.
Please don't get caught up in her financial situation at home. I promise you that your boss and your husband's boss don't do that. You shouldn't either. Pay her for a job well done. She is a good worker for you and THAT is job security for her.
Dawn
We've had a nanny for 7 years - same one. I've typically given 50 cents a year... I know she's already at the high end of the going rate so that's why not more. As well, my kids are in school now so her job is pretty easy. $1-$2 an hour is a lot unless you need to catch her up to the going rate in your area. And we've always given a bit more than 2 weeks pay as a bonus at Christmas plus I give her a bday present and gift card. Hope that helps.
Well... whatever you do this year will set the expectation for next year.
$1 this year, $1 next year, $1+ the year after....
My only concern is that if she's in the bottom 1/3 pay wise, then someone could poach her VERY easily (ESP during school breaks, but all year round while my son was young I used to be handed 1-5 business cards a week from families looking to poach me. Moms do that. They hang out at playgrounds, or keep their eyes sharp at museums/etc and hand out cards to nannies. Now, I *wasn't* a nanny, I was just a young mom in an area where most moms are in their 40s... but I was approached ALL the time. And nannies at playgrounds compare notes on pay and benefits.). If you really want to keep her, going with $2 per hour is safer. But that does mean that next year the expectation will be $2 as well.
In our area 2 weeks is a standard bonus, and 1 month is a stellar bonus. Standard as well is adding an extra paid sick day or three or an extra week of paid vacation. ((I wouldn't make it a conditional bonus... after all she's not SELLING your kids;) if her work is worth a bonus, give it. No strings attached.))
Next month will be December. That's xmas time! The bonus will allow her to plan for her xmas. 2 birds and 1 stone.
It's so great that you want to help your nanny out and acknowledge her hard work. In the longer term, I think she'll appreciate a smaller bonus and a more significant pay raise. I think everyone is understanding the economy isn't great, and I'm sure the better pay will be more of an enticement to stay than a bonus and lesser raise might.
For what it's worth, when I was a nanny (a few years ago), my bonuses weren't usually more than $100 dollars in cash, but I also worked for multiple families. Maybe you would be better off giving a bonus of one-week's pay? I don't know what you are paying her, but do what seems reasonable-- if the bonus cuts into your ability to give her a better dollar-an-hour rate, then it's likely too much.
With your situation, if I were in your shoes, I'd give her a $1.50 raise per hour and a two week pay bonus around Christmas time so she could use it on Christmas shopping if she needs to. And then at Christmas I'd give her a nice gift, either something that you know she needs or wants or some tickets to a show or a give certificate to get something for herself with a nice card telling her that you appreciate her and blessing her.
~~C.
We did two week's worth of bonus at Christmas. The first raise we gave was 50 cents an hour, the second was a dollar an hour. I did try to space out the raise and bonus so that there was double the joy!
She should definitely be paid according to what you feel she's worth. Of course, you have to balance what you can afford in with that. Personally, I would give her $1 more an hour and 2 weeks of salary as a bonus. It's more $ up front but leaves you room to give her an additional raise in the future. It also keeps you free from a long term commitment of paying her more should something happen with your finances. That said, you should consider what % of her pay is $1 more an hour. It should be AT LEAST 3-4% to keep with inflation. Less than that is an insult.
