Work Hours Help

Regardless of whether the nanny lives-in or out, the work agreement should clearly set forth the hours the employee is expected to be at work or "on-duty." This can be described in many different ways - daily; weekly or monthly - the important part is that both parties understand and are comfortable with the schedule.

Nannies should be encouraged to make all personal appointments outside of work hours. Dependability is of the utmost importance here as the parents are counting on the nanny to allow them to meet their outside obligations.

Parents who will be late or working unusual hours should communicate this as quickly as possible and not forget to compensate the employee for the extra time. Parents are encouraged to be respectful of the nanny's outside commitments - night school, volunteer commitments, etc.

NOTE: Nannies in the United States are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act. This means that nanny salaries must meet minimum wage tests, and live out employees are entitled to the overtime differential (time and one-half) for all hours in a week over 40. Hypothetically, if a live out nanny works 50 hours per week, her salary cannot be below $283.25 weekly (minimum wage = $5.85/hour as of 7/24/07). Mathematically, this is calculated as follows:

First 40 hours [40 * 5.85] = $234
Overtime hours [ (10 * 1.5) * 5.85] = $87.75
Total minimum salary: $321.75

Be very careful to state the nanny's wage as an HOURLY wage to avoid wage and hour claims. HomeWork Solutions' Hourly Pay Rate Calculator, a free online tool, will help you translated a weekly salary to the appropriate hourly pay rate.

As a practical matter, US nannies will rarely be compensated at minimum wage; salaries are almost always higher. Refer to the Salary Help for more information on compensation issues.