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How many sick days should I get?
40 hours of sick time in a year (earned at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked). That’s 3 sick days and 2 personal days.
What’s the live in and live out overtime rate?
1.5 times the hourly rate after 40 hours of work in a calendar week for workers who live out. If the worker is a live-in, overtime pay is after 44 hours of work in a week.
What are reasonable things to ask for if I’m pregnant?
The NYC Human Rights Law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees related to pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions to enable them to continue working and/or return to work promptly while maintaining a healthy pregnancy, that includes not firing someone or letting them go, when they announce a pregnancy.
What should I put in the contract about conditions around traveling for work with the family?
From Hand in Hand: All travel in which the nanny is asked to accompany the employer's family must be mutually agreed upon and shall be compensated at an additional rate to be negotiated. The nanny shall be provided their own accommodations for the trip to be paid for by the employer. If an employer requires the nanny to travel to another city/state for extended periods of time, this agreement, protections and benefits will remain in place as if working in the city/state they normally work.
How much vacation should I ask for as a part-time and as a full-time nanny?
Hand In Hand Recommends: If you are a full-time nanny, you can ask for at least 2 weeks of paid vacation and 5 paid sick days each year
If you are a part-time nanny, you should earn 1 hour of vacation time for every 20 hours you’ve worked and 1 hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked.
What should my minimum pay be for working in Park Slope or Carroll Gardens?
Hand In Hand: Recommends a base pay of $25/hour take-home pay for one child. Please keep in mind the cost of living - you can use the MIT Living Wage calculator to help you set a wage here: https://livingwage.mit.edu
Therefore, this is just the minimum and more should be allocated for an additional child.
The minimum wage of $16/hour is not considered a ‘living wage’ anywhere in NYC
How am I protected from discrimination at my workplace?
Employers cannot discriminate against domestic workers based on their actual or perceived gender, national origin, race, immigration status, religion, or any other category protected by the New York City Human Rights Law. That means that employers cannot fire or refuse to hire a domestic worker, pay them less, harass them or allow them to be harassed, or otherwise treat them less well because of their membership in a protected class.
Domestic workers have the right to be free from retaliation.
What breaks should I ask for and how are those recognized when I am the only one with the child?
Domestic Workers must be allowed at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in a calendar week.
From HiH: The nanny will take paid meals and rest breaks in such a way as to not compromise the health and safety of the child/ren. The employee should be relieved of all duties during their break(s). If they are on call, breaks should be paid. Hand in Hand recommends: ● If the shift is between 2-3 hours: one paid ten-minute rest break. ● If the shift is between 4-5 hours: one paid ten-minute rest break and an unpaid thirty-minute meal break. ● If the shift is 6-8 hours, two paid ten-minute rest breaks and an unpaid thirty-minute meal break.
How much family medical leave should I ask for?
Include at least one month of paid family or medical leave in your work agreement in the event that you or someone in your family has a medical emergency. This should include a guarantee that they may return to work at the end of their leave. In New York city, this is paid for by city funds through an application process.
Can they retain my documents when we're signing the contract?
The Domestic Bill of rights and all New York State Laws protect all workers. Employers shall not retain employees' original documents or ask for them.
What holidays should I ask for in my contract? How do I get paid if work during that time?
You should be given the major federal holidays, or agreed upon holidays of your choice. Eg. Maybe you'd like time off at Ramadan instead of Easter!
These regular holidays are: Christmas, New Year’s Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, and Presidents’ Day.
If you as a nanny are asked and agree to work during these days, you should be paid an overtime rate of 1.5 times your regular pay.