Paying a Nanny for Not Showing Up

No, I wouldn't pay her because sounds like she's getting too comfortable. did you guys have a storm today? What was her excuse for not being able to come today?
No, I would not pay her but I would have a conversation with her about how to proceed from now on. You need constant help, not whenever someone feels like showing up.

Personally I stay inside, I don't even want to take a chance on slipping on my driveway. A broken tailbone for her means she is completely out of a job. You took care of her and you will be blessed for that.
~A.

Haven't read other responses so sorry if I'm repeating, but what I do is if disd is closed, she doesn't have to come and gets paid. If disd open, she's expected to work.

I think you should pay her for today, since you already set the precedent.

However, I also think you should set down some guidelines for when she gets paid and when she doesnt. For example, you could give her a certain number of paid days off a year, and snow days, personal illness, etc. come out of them.

Or - she doesnt need to come on days when the schools are cancelled, but she will only get paid half...(or not at all... whatever you decide).

I definitely understand your frustration.

Good luck!

Oh Sweety you have your hands full with two sets of twins... ~big hug~... I wouldnt pay her.

on one hand, I think you are being more than kind. On the other.... While it didn't get that bad today, many offices were closed, schools were cancelled, etc. I didn't leave the house all day, b/c I absolutely refuse to drive in ice/snow. I think you give her a pass today, because of the weather. If your kids were in day care, you would have had them at home anyway. In the future however, explain that if she doesn't work, then she doesn't get paid. (your vacations and hers as an exeption). You might even ask her to stay the night if you know ahead that the weather will be bad.
You have to be careful with being too nice... People tend to take advantage if they think they can get away with it.

When it comes to someone watching after my children, I would do ANYTHING to make them happy, so yes, I would pay her.

A lot depends upon the "contract" you made when you hired her. Is she paid on a hourly, daily, weekly basis?

I think paying her for the inclement weather day was a really nice thing to do. However, I would not pay her for today.

The roads were really bad yesterday morning. I think she could've tried to make it in later in the day, but we had no way of knowing what the roads would be like when she went home. I would go ahead and pay her for yesterday, but would make a point to discuss future snow days with her. Figure out what is fair to you both, and what determines whether she will get paid or not. (If DISD is closed, don't come in, get paid half a day. DISD not closed, don't come in, don't get paid. Or follow Garland ISD closings... I hear they historically never close. lol)

for instances like this, it would be wise to follow the local school districts and the general closings of surrounding businesses. If the schools and such are closed, pay her, if the schools aren't closed, she doesn't get paid that day. Just be sure that you talk this over with her so that everyone is on aggreeance, make sure it's in your contract.

I personally wouldn't. You were extremely nice to pay her for the storm day, but it sounds like she didn't show up because she thinks you'll pay for it even though the weather was good enough that she could've shown up.. to me, you gotta show her with her next payday that she can't just not show up every time the weather isn't sunny.

Maybe do what Leslie said about a certain number of snow days but not half on school cancel days or days that weren't planned in the first place, but I'm taking into consideration that she is a nanny (she does more than a babysitter would) and if your her full time job then yeah, set some limits. I still wouldn't pay her for today if it wasn't bad... because I wouldn't want to give her the idea that if there's a little bit of snow she can just dip out. Because if you are her full time job then she's the employee and employees get fired for not showing up.

You definitely need to have a sit down with her and just talk about boundaries.

Seems like maybe you should put in writing what you will and will not pay for and be more like a company. You'll pay her for the 2 weeks/year that you take off for vacation (or she goes on vacation), you'll pay her for 1 week of sick/personal days (her being sick or needing to take care of something, or bad weather, etc.) other than that, she'll only get paid when she comes. Then, keep a simple journal page noting the dates and just let her know when those days are all used up so she won't be surprised if she can't come and she doesn't get paid. I don't think it has to be some big bad confrontation, just tell her in light of the recent events you thought you should be clear about how you'll be able to pay and under what circumstances.

I am going to approach this as a nanny for over 10 years. I called into work one day when the snow was coming down so hard that I could barely see the end of my short driveway. I called my employers to let them know that I didn't feel comfortable driving to their house. The dad was pretty annoyed (he worked from home), and gave me a hard time. Mom called me 1 hour later to apologize, and say SHE was going home half day anyways due to the storm. I do not call into work unless i Have to.

Does your nanny have a certain amount of sick days allotted to her? I have 5 sick days/5 personal days. I am ONLY allowed to take my personal days on days that are PREPLANNED. Mind you, I am also paid 52 weeks/year, whether the family uses me or not. They view me as a professional, if I worked in an office, on salary, I would be making the same amount every week.

I would sit down with your nanny, and say "I realize the weather was bad on X day, but I really count on you to be here on the other days. I fyou need to take a day off for personal reasons, those need to be PREPLANNED!!!"

Something families that employ nannies don't understand is: You risk losing your nanny if you don't give her room for personal or sick days/year. Or try to cut her pay for having to take a sick day. Business world people get those, why not a nanny.

Depends on how you are paying her. If you are paying her by the hour you may not be obliged to pay her if she is the one that decides not to come in. If you tell her it is ok to not come in then I feel you are obliged to pay her. If you are paying her a set amount during the week I would suggest that you still pay her but have her make up the time missed at a later date.

You've been very generous with your nanny; maybe too generous. Here's my 2 cents:

I would take this as a learning opportunity to sit down with her and let her know that going forward you will pay her for hours worked. (You can start off by saying something like "this ice storm has brought up a good issue about pay that I think we need to rectify..."

If you and your husband choose to pay for her to have a week of vacation; again that's very generous.

Hope the kids have mercy on you today. (:

Do you pay your nanny legally (pay nanny taxes, etc.) or "under the table?" If legally, than I suggest that you get a signed contract/agreement with your nanny (I'm not sure if such a contract would be legally binding if she's paid under the table). I had a nanny for 2 1/2 years and we had a contract which spelled out situations when she would/wouldn't get paid. She got paid when we took our family vacations, but also had a certain number of paid vacation days and sick days. So in a situation like this one of her paid vacation days would have been applied. So don't just pay her for a week's vacation -- break it down into paid days off and then be clear in your contract that the paid days off are for vacation, bad weather days, etc. E-mail me and I'll send you a copy of the contract I used.

You are lucky to even have a nanny... some moms do it on their own!

Yesterday afternoon was okay, but the roads were treacherous in the morning. However, it really does sound like your nanny is getting way too comfortable. I had to fire a nanny right after we gave her a raise and more vacation days because it went to her head and she thought she was indispensable. She was not. I will not tell you what she did to get herself fired, but I will tell you that it is the only time I literally chased someone out of my house screaming at them. That is how very angry I was, and how very out of line she was. My daughter loved the nanny, but there was no way I would ever let her back in my house. Even during her later phone call to "apologize" and try to get her job back, she had such an attitude. It all stemmed from little things like you describe and we a few meetings along the way to reestablish the boundaries and the job description, but giving her the raise and better terms really got her thinking she was running things in my house.

The funny thing is, we had a new nanny in four days, and she is still part of my family even now that my daughter goes to school full-time. We set up times for them to see one another, just because they are so close. About six months after I chased the first nanny out of my house, we ran into her somewhere, and she finally offered a sincere apology for her behavior. My daughter did not even recognize her.

Good luck to you. I hope you can work things out with this nanny, but if you can't, it is probably meant to be, and the perfect nanny is out there waiting for you.

I know im chimming in late but I agree with the lady that suggested go with your school district. If the district is closed then she doesnt have to come and she gets paid, if the the district is open she is expected to be there, if shes not then dont pay her.

I agree with following the school calendar. If schools are closed due to weather allow her to stay home "with" pay. I see no reason is asking someone to come over to your home when the news and schools are urging everyone not too go out if you don't need to. Safety first! Be considerate of her safety as well! :) Now if it's a school day like today and she doesn't come in, well that would be considered a sick day and then you'd follow the arrangement you have with her on those.

Totally depends on your contract with her.

I am with your husband, did you make a contract when you hired her.. She should only get paid for days she is there.. I do see that she may start to take advantage.. That is wrong! Make a contract - just like a business, your husband might want to help here.. or even look online for some..
You have to make sure she is doing what you are paying her for...

what happens if you make her mad and she doesn't come at all???? do you have a back up? can you survive?? do you like her other wise??

I would pay her but then have hubby sit down and outline the deal from here on out. Personally, i think if keeping her is super important right now you should offer her at least half pay on days schools are closed or what ever.

good luck
how in the world did you even find time to post this question!!

My understanding is that yes, nannies should be paid for some sick time (which could also include snow days) and even vacation time, though that's more up for question. We had a nanny for two years, and we paid both sick and vacation time. I absolutely do understand how hard it is for you ... when she doesn't come, you give up your sick days / vacation.

I would say continue to pay sick time unless you feel she is taking advantage of it, then talk with her. Yesterday actually was pretty bad ... my husband drove to work every day for the past two weeks and said that even though yesterday looked better, in the morning it was the most dangerous of all.

I'm going to tell you to "woman up". I have six children and I don't depend on anyone to care for mine. Some of them I had myself some of them are children I took on (adopted) due to their unfortunate circumstances. I'm sure you created your children out of love. So don't be frazzled when things aren't going your way. Remember they do grow up! :-))). As far as your nanny, I would look for a new one. If you must have a nanny I would want her to be dependable and love my children as much as I do. Go for a nanny that loves the children and not the money. Rain, sleet, or snow she/he will be there. That kind of nanny I would go beyond agreed salary. There would be all kinds of special perks (car, gas allowance, vacations, gifts). On the financial side, think tax write offs. Blessing to you and I hope you figure out some that leaves you less stress. God wouldn't have given you four children if he didn't think you couldn't handle it. Grace grace.