Standard Nanny Benefits

While searching for the very best nanny for your family, it’s important to offer standard nanny benefits as part of your total compensation package. The key to attracting and retaining professional, career-minded nannies is ensuring that your position will provide stable and consistent financial employment. This stability is critical for full-time and part-time nannies alike.

By starting with a foundation of fair and legal pay and standard nanny benefits, you will set your nanny up for long-term success AND ensure they can commit to your family for many years to come!

These are the standard nanny benefits that should be part of EVERY nanny job offer:

1) Guaranteed Pay

Families must guarantee their nanny’s pay 52 weeks per year in exchange for the nanny guaranteeing their availability and loyalty. For example, if your nanny is hired for 40 hours per week, they will be paid 40 hours per week, even if you need them for fewer hours. Nannies should not be financially impacted by their employer’s schedule changes when they are ready, committed, and available to work. So, on days you travel, when nanny is sent home early, when grandparents are in town, and any other time your nanny is scheduled to work and not needed, your nanny will still be paid their normal hours.

In return for guaranteeing your nanny’s hour and pay, your nanny will guarantee you their availability for the days and times they are scheduled to work and will be committed to making your family their top priority during those times. Your Guaranteed Pay commitment to them guarantees their guaranteed-availability commitment to you. Without Guaranteed Pay, if your nanny finds they cannot maintain their bills with ever-fluctuating hours, they may need to move on to a position with more consistency.

2) Paid Time Off

PTO hours are used when your nanny chooses to take time for their own needs. This covers sick time, vacation days, personal days, etc. Nannies, whether they work full-time or part-time, will start with two weeks of PTO–if their schedule is 5 days/40 hours, their annual PTO will be equal to 10 days/80 hours, and if their schedule is 3 days/24 hours, their annual PTO will be 6 days/68 hours. Nanny’s PTO time is only to be used when they are asking for time off when they would normally be working; it is not to be used when the family is giving them time off.

Guaranteed Pay vs. PTO: Rule of Thumb– If nanny asks for time off because they are not available, hours are paid using PTO; if family gives them time off even though they’re available, hours are paid as Guaranteed Pay.

3) Sick Days

Nannies should be provided with one week of Sick Days to be used when the nanny is too ill to come to work, or when the family asks them to stay home to limit exposure—if the nanny’s schedule is 5 days/40 hours a week, their annual sick days will be equal to 5 days/40 hours, and if their schedule is 3 days/24 hours, their annual sick days will be equal to 3 days/24 hours.

4) Paid Holidays

If your nanny is scheduled to work on a holiday and you do not need them, they will be paid their normal hours that day. These paid holidays are generally Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. Nannies will usually work a 1/2 day on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve if needed and would be paid for the other 1/2 as a paid holiday. If they are not needed at all on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, they will be paid as a full holiday.

5) Mileage Reimbursement

Your nanny is generally required to have their own reliable transportation with enough room to fit a car seat for each of your children. They may end up transporting them to school, to activities, playdates, field trips, or even to the store to grab things your family needs. You will provide them with an appropriate car seat for each child in your family that they will leave installed in their car, even when off duty, and you’ll provide mileage reimbursement for all miles that your nanny drives for your family while on duty.

The IRS Federal Mileage Reimbursement Rate for 2023 is $0.655 per mile. It is your nanny’s responsibility to track their mileage—using whatever means they prefer—and to report their total miles driven to you once per month. Federal Mileage Reimbursement is NON-taxable, so you can reimburse them using cash, personal check, or electronic transfer like Zelle.

Note: Michigan State law requires that your nanny must secure a Business Rider on their car insurance prior to driving your children, so the mileage reimbursement will help to cover those costs, as well as reimburse them for gasoline and basic wear and tear on their vehicle.

6) Nanny Work Agreement

Providing a thorough work agreement for your nanny before their first day of work will help you communicate their compensation, job duties and your expectations, and will explain each of the nanny’s benefits in detail. Having all of this critical important information in writing makes it easy for your nanny to meet and exceed your expectations, and easy for you as their employer to honor their agreed upon benefits!

7) Optional Nanny Benefits

If you are interviewing highly educated and experienced candidates, you may be asked to provide other types of nanny benefits to match what they’ve received in past positions. These optional benefits may include providing financial assistance for health insurance, offering education assistance, and offering ongoing professional development funds. You can learn more about these optional benefits—and their included tax-free benefits!—here: https://minannysolutions.com/optional-nanny-benefits/

Pay and benefits together create your nanny’s Total Compensation Package, and the most attractive Total Compensation Packages will bring in the highest qualified and most educated candidates! As your employment relationship extends from year to year, you’ll also be able to add or increase benefits at each annual review to help show your appreciation for your nanny’s ongoing commitment to your family.

Helpful Resources:

Not sure where to find a quality nanny work agreement?

Clients of Michigan Nanny Solutions are provided with lifetime access to the most comprehensive nanny work agreement on the market–Nanny Care Hub’s A-Z Work Agreement Template & Guidebook. You can purchase your own copy at https://atoznannycontract.com/product/2022-a-to-z-nanny-contract/

Feeling overwhelmed with implementing benefits?

Hiring a payroll company that specializes in household employment makes it easy for families to set up and maintain employment benefits. Payroll companies are especially helpful in making sure families get all the available tax breaks involved in paying their nanny and providing these benefits. Get a free consultation from our Preferred Payroll Partner GTM Payroll & HR by going to https://gtm.com/household/michigan-nanny-solutions/.

Wondering what else you can do to make your job offer the one that stands out? Or have more questions about how to implement these benefits? We’re here to help!

Advice is always free at Michigan Nanny Solutions, and we would love to learn more about your family’s needs and discuss further how offering a lucrative compensation package can help you hire the nanny of your dreams! We can help you brainstorm childcare solutions for your family, and would be honored to take the lead for your part-time or full-time nanny search. Email Jaynie at jaynie@minannysolutions.com to start a conversation!