How much might a sleepover nanny charge?

June 30, 2014 7:05 AM

How much might a sleepover nanny/childminder charge per 24 hours? As a guide, this would be in the U.S. Say for example the nanny currently charges about $100 for a full day (it's actually more), but has not done sleepovers before. We want to arrive at a fair rate for the 24 hours.
posted by carter to Grab Bag (8 answers total)

Would the extra time put your nanny at over 40 hours per week? Domestic employment is by definition non-exempt employment, which means nannies are entitled to be paid overtime at a time and a half rate for any hours worked above 40 per week. If your nanny is already working 40 hours, then you'd pay time and a half (in your example, 1.5 x $10 = $15.00 per hour.)

If you're paying your nanny under the table then paying time and a half per hour over 40 would still be the fair thing to do.

If this is an "I'm going away for a weekend and our daytime nanny will be staying overnight," then a flat rate can be fair. In suburban Jersey we paid around $175 for one kid per 24 hours over a weekend, so $350 total for a Friday / Saturday sleepover.
posted by qi at 7:35 AM on June 30, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks, qi. It would be a one-off deal for 3-4 days or so.
posted by carter at 7:42 AM on June 30, 2014

Best answer: I don't know what a "fair rate" would be for your family and your nanny, but when my children were in need of a sleepover childminder we had two principles. Actually the first principle was applicable all the time, that for good child care, we paid well. The kids are and were our most precious asset, one where we could not afford a bargain. We paid baby sitters that had demonstrated responsibility and a good rapport with our kids well. Second, we asked our sitter what they thought was appropriate. Usually they would low ball themselves and we would agree to pay more. That made them happy and resulted in a better experience for us and our kids.

If I had to give a number I would say about 1.75 - 2x what a full day would be.
posted by 724A at 7:51 AM on June 30, 2014

Best answer: I just read a posting on my local (East Coast metro area) family listserve where a couple of people say they pay the regular hourly rate while kids are awake, then $50 for each overnight of sleeping hours. If your kids are younger and/or needing nighttime attention, I imagine you'd offer the hourly rate for additional hours you predict they may be awake at night.

Like so: $15/hr 7am-8pm, +$50 flat from 8pm - 7am, plus 2hrs at $15/hr because Baby Carter is usually up from 3-5am = $275/24-hrs.
posted by cocoagirl at 8:01 AM on June 30, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks so far, everyone! Your suggestions are pretty close to what I have scribbled down on a piece of paper here ...
posted by carter at 8:37 AM on June 30, 2014

Would the extra time put your nanny at over 40 hours per week

This only applies to payroll employees, for contractors the standard is you get 1.5x after 10 hours worked consecutively. ie. if you pay $200 for a day rate after 10 hours they get $30/hr.
posted by bradbane at 9:14 AM on June 30, 2014

I hope this isn't a derail, but bradbane, there's no such thing as a "nanny contractor" in the US. Nannies are domestic employees.
posted by santry at 12:00 PM on June 30, 2014

bradbane, there's no such thing as a "nanny contractor" in the US. Nannies are domestic employees.

What's Wrong With Hiring My Nanny as an Independent Contractor?
posted by qi at 12:38 PM on June 30, 2014