Cost of Living and Performance Raises, How Much Is fair? 

When you find a nanny who fits perfectly with your family and who adores and cares for your children like a parent would, you want to hang on to them for as long as possible!

When it comes to fairly compensating their nannies and providing other benefits that lead to retention, most parents have no idea where to start. Some parents may even be surprised to hear about things like continuing education, bonuses, and cost-of-living wage adjustments for their nannies. In this post, we’ll provide an overview of the HR-related tasks you should be offering your nanny in order to keep them happy for the long haul.

Cost-of-Living Wage Adjustments

The cost of living, especially in Seattle where seattlenanny is located, is far from affordable. What’s more, we are in a period of inflation — meaning the cost of living is skyrocketing, and our budgets are going a lot less far. For this reason, offering a cost-of-living wage adjustment to your nanny is especially important these days. There’s no one-size-figure that you should offer. But consider the standard raise amount of 3-10% annually and find a number that works best with your budget and your nanny’s current and any forthcoming duties. You should also take where your nanny lives into consideration for the raise amount.

Common times to give your nanny a raise include:

• A year has passed.
• You’ve added more duties.
• You’ve had another baby.
• Your nanny received new education or certificates.
• You’re paying less than the going rate for childcare in your neighborhood.
• Your nanny is the best, and you want to show some extra love and appreciation.

Rewarding Your Nanny for a Job Well Done

Performance-based raises are another benefit becoming mainstream for nannies. At the end of each year, we recommend reviewing your nanny’s performance and salary/wage. In addition to the cost-of-living raise, we recommend a performance raise as well. As we mentioned, the typical raise is 3-10%. So, don’t forget to factor in merit-based raises.

Nannies also appreciate an end-of-year bonus — which can be anywhere from one to two weeks of paid salary.

It’s also important to reward your nanny for their performance in other ways than just compensation. Praising them and thanking them for the high quality of care will only cost you a few moments. Increasing vacation time, allowing flexibility in their schedule, and picking up a small gift for them once in a while will go a long way in keeping your nanny happy.

Adding Additional Children and/or Duties

If you’re preparing to add another baby to your brood, you may be wondering if you will need to increase your nanny’s pay. The answer is yes. Wouldn’t you expect more compensation if your boss significantly increased your workload? Many parents go by the rule of thumb of paying 1.2 times the current rate when another child arrives. For example, if you pay your nanny $20/hour for one kid, you should pay $24/hour when the second child arrives.

Continuing Education

Like any professional, your nanny may want to explore continuing education opportunities, whether it’s a full-on early childhood education degree or some supplementary courses here and there, such as CPR, water safety, newborn care, or attending conferences. You should encourage and support this kind of training and offer to pay for all or some of it.

Retaining Your Nanny

All the above-mentioned benefits will definitely help retain your nanny. But, what else can you do? Start with:

• Provide a clear and consistent job description. When making any changes, consult with your nanny and put the changes in writing.
• Introduce your nanny to your family, friends, and neighbors.
• Hold daily or weekly meetings so all concerns can be aired out regularly.
• Treat your nanny like a professional and offer employee benefits, including health care, PTO, sick leave, and those annual cost-of-living pay increases we talked about.
• Treat your nanny as part of your family and make them feel welcome and comfortable coming to you with any concerns.
• Ensure your nanny is fairly compensated and paid for all hours worked, including overtime.
• Make some time away from the home for you and your nanny to discuss the job, the children, and getting to know them on a personal level, their interests, hobbies, family, etc. We recommend coffee or lunch once a month.

Although your nanny likely feels like part of your family, they are still there to earn a living. It’s important to respect that. Make your nanny feel like a valued part of your household and show that appreciation both financially and personally, and you will have a happy nanny for years to come! A small investment in your relationship with your nanny will be well worth it at the end of the day.