These nurse have seen it all — and now they have thought about their piece of work boundaries .
There are2.2 milliondomestic workers in the U.S., and a lot of them arenannies.
Nannies have busy , demanding jobs with project that can completely vary from family to family . They may be responsible for for labour kid to shoal , making meals or live - in caregiving .
Nannies work in private homes , often put them outside of public thought , so their critical roles in family and society can beundervaluedand overwork . misapprehension can pass off between what parents think they want in a nanny and the reality of what it ’s actually like to employ or be one .
That ’s why HuffPost reached out to nannies for what they think about work for syndicate and the biggest “ won’ts ” they have learned . These are their firmly - garner deterrent example .
response have been edited for clearness and length .
1. I won’t accept money under the table.
“ I ’ve been in the manufacture for over 25 years now . And I remember when I first started , that was the cock-a-hoop affair : mass paying you under the tabular array and not paying their taxation .
“ I remember even work for a family and they were attorney , so they figured out how to get around it . I was like , ‘ I ca n’t bribe a gondola because I do n’t have any substantiation of income , ’ because I got paid in John Cash . … It was really weird . At the metre , I was youthful and I did not understand the whole patronage of it . It in spades was done and it ’s still done even though it ’s illegal . People still render to pay you under the table .
“ On a self-aggrandising scale , when COVID encounter , so many nannies who were getting pay under the table could n’t file away for unemployment . It ’s a braggy ‘ no ’ for me . ” — Kimberly C. Brown , the CEO of the Nanny Kim on the Go consulting agency in Jersey City , New Jersey .
2. I won’t be paid less than a livable wage.
“ About 10 years ago , I direct a nanny job that paid $ 200 a week , so a lot of the stuff that I place [ on TikTok ] is establish on genuine experiences that I have gone through within the last 10 years .
“ A set of citizenry sabotage our education and our professionalism because they assume it ’s a small girl job . I am a professional and I have tons of education , and it is not comparable to being a teenager [ babysitting ] . ” — Cocoin Scottsdale , Arizona . ( Coco ’s last name has been withheld for privacy reasons . )
3. I won’t forbid a nanny from answering a phone or leaving the house.
“ I would never enjoin the nursemaid they ca n’t take the small fry outside or ca n’t do their phones at work . mass have to realize that nannies play during the day when most yell come in .
“ A set of people , they feel like nanny-goat necessitate to be ‘ on ’ all the time . That could be exhausting and wear your nanny out really quick . [ I would never ] acquire that they do n’t have emergency margin call that may come in .
“ I ’ve definitely had that at body of work or at a job where they ’re just like ‘ Oh , I do n’t desire you to answer the phone for anybody but us ’ or ‘ I do n’t want you to have your phone on at all . ’
“ I ’ve operate with families where they wo n’t give me a headstone to the house , because they do n’t need me to go in and out . They do n’t want me to take the kid to the park . I just sit in the house all day with them until they make out back . And that ’s just not normal . ” — Brown .
4. I won’t assume a nanny isa housekeeper.
“ I am more than happy to aid out and I understand that managing their home is part of my billet , but it ’s not my chore to scrub your skirting board . It ’s not my Book of Job to moisten your windows . It ’s not my Book of Job to clean out your pantry and your fridge . I ’ve even been asked to take the heel to the vet or come over if I have a twenty-four hours off , let ’s say , and they say something along the credit line of ‘ We do n’t need you today , but we just need you to stop by and irrigate the plants . ’ Something like that , to me , is inappropriate . I subsist an 60 minutes off , and I ’m not going to drive an hour to water your plant .
“ This job is very weird because you’re able to be family with your bosses . It ’s strange . You do n’t require to be treated like any ‘ regular - degular ’ employee , because if I want to do that I would work at a day care . ” — Coco .
5. I won’t contradict a family’s decisions.
“ As a nanny , I wo n’t controvert my employers , even in the modest ways . parent merit to be respect in their absence , and my role is to be a supportive team member .
“ I may proffer advice or information , but at long last will set back to the parent ’ judgment . As long as the child are safe , I follow the counsel and orientation of my bosses when making decisions in their house . ” — Amber Semblyin Atlanta .
6. I will not work without guaranteed hours in my contract.
“ An return that I ’ve seen happen to other nanny and even to myself as well a couple multiplication is a family will charter you , they ’ll say whatever hours they require , say it ’s Monday through Friday , 8 to 5 . Those are the set hours you ’re fail to base your liveliness around , you ’re going to keep your agenda open . But then every once in a while , the parent might get home early . But that regard your pay at the final stage of the twenty-four hour period . So those guaranteed hour just keep you dependable in case they do send you home early .
“ Vacations — that ’s a big one as well , peculiarly with leaping falling out occur up right now . [ The family I work for is ] going out of town with the kids for saltation break , but I ’m still getting pay up for that workweek because of my guarantee hours in my contract . ” — Maiya Mosleyin St. Louis .
7. I will not hire a nanny without meeting them.
“ If I were to lease child care , whether it ’s unretentive - term or retentive - terminus , I would definitely make certain my kid are comfy with them and do a tribulation , even a few hours or so . Luckily for me , I ’ve never had any issues . But I always call back it ’s crazy when people are like ‘ OK , come over tomorrow night and watch over them . ’ And I ’m like : ‘ OK , you have n’t even met me yet . Are you indisputable ? ’
“ Calling references , too — you want to do your due diligence . fortunately I have very honorable references and kid really like me , but I would never message someone on an app and be like , ‘ You vocalise great , come over tomorrow . ’ ” — Teniya Reneein Boston .
8. I will not arrive home late.
“ I would n’t come home of late . Obviously , it happens , but I would definitely lease the nursemaid know ‘ Hey , I ’m run behind , ’ because nannies also have things to do after body of work . Being a nurse can often seem like , to a mob , that you ’re beholden to them . That ’s a grown one that comes up for nannies . ” — Danny Rosenthal , the owner ofUnited Nanny Agencyin Chicago .
9. I will not assume a nanny knows what I need.
“ Most families do n’t recognize that hiring a she-goat mean opening a small business in their abode . Families have a huge learning curve … [ and ] hardly ever set expectation or explain how to accomplish the labor they have set out for them to do . Families have no approximation that they prefer their dress fold a sure way or that they prefer one brand name of newspaper towel over another — that ’s real — but every family is particular . Very particular .
“ If you want a nanny to do something , you need to show them . If you want a nanny to bribe something , you involve to tell them what brand , what store and which aisle . Years of experience means a nanny-goat is able of learning how to work with a kinsfolk , but it does n’t mean they know how to do everything the way you wish it . ” — Rosenthal . This clause in the first place appear onHuffPost .
