As you embark on your search for the right nanny for your family you will want to consider the important topic of benefits. Knowing what benefits to offer potential nannies will help you secure a professional and top notch nanny.
Vacation time: Standard for nannies is two weeks per year of paid vacation taken when they choose. Paid Holidays : New Years eve, New Years day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day. If your nanny works on weekends Easter is included in paid Holidays off. If you are able to with your schedule it is always nice to offer other holidays in addition to this list such as Presidents Day, Christmas Eve, and the day after Christmas .
You will want to offer your nanny paid sick time as well as some personal time off. Three to five days a year is average. A well rested nanny is a happier, healthier, and better nanny!
Paid Bereavement time for a close family member (Standard is three days) and Inclement Weather days due to Blizzards, Hurricanes, or other dangerous storms that prevent her from coming to work.
Other benefits that are a part of the nannies daily routine include gas mileage reimbursement for the use of her car during work hours. Overtime pay: This one is actually a law rather then a benefit. Any hours that your nanny works over 40 in a week is considered over time and should be paid at time and a half. Guaranteed Hours, we will dive into this topic a little deeper in a future blog, but you will want to offer your nanny guaranteed pay for an agreed upon amount of weekly hours every week.
Let’s touch on the topic of raises and bonuses. At each year mark it is customary to offer your nanny a raise. During this time it is a nice idea to offer her a small annual bonus as a gesture of your appreciation. This can be done at the annual review while you are making contract revisions and such. Another time to absolutely plan on a bonus is at Christmas. The standard nanny Christmas bonus is one weeks pay. This is in addition to any paid time off that she may have during the holidays. This bonus shows your nanny how much you value her all year long and goes a long way in keeping a top notch highly professional nanny happy and continuing to grow with your family.
While this covers all of the industry standards for basic nanny benefits, when hiring that nanny that you know is just right for your family you may consider a few additional benefits. Health insurance, dental and vision insurance are things to consider. If you can add her to your plan, or discuss a stipend with her this is a great benefit to offer. How about the gym? Can she be added to your membership? This is a great way to go the extra mile! How about a cell phone? She uses hers much to communicate with you, you may consider paying some of her cell phone bill or simply purchasing her a separate work phone. Retirement benefits are another thing to consider which is yet another reason why paying your nanny on the books Is so important! You should consider reimbursing her for continued education. This can be updating her CPR and first aid certification every 2 years, as well as for other nanny training she may be interested in taking. One final thing to consider that will make your nanny feel like more then just a household employee but rather part of the family is meals! Allowing your nanny to partake of food in your house is a great way to make her comfortable and helps her save money on food. Consider asking her what some of her lunch favorites are and adding them to your grocery list so that she has them while she is at work. I can honestly say from experience this extra step makes your nanny feel appreciated! If you are running late to get home and have the crockpot set to be done, offer your nanny a bite to eat since she is staying late and may be ready for dinner.
This may sound like a lot, but as with any profession a proper benefits package is so important in securing an employee that will be happy, hard working, grow with you, and stay with your family! A happy nanny will not be out seeking another family to work for. To ensure hiring and keeping the a high quality nanny you will want to offer her these benefits upon offering her a position.
Best!
By: Anne-Marie Ferraro