Now that you have selected a candidate that you like and who meets your family’s needs, it is time to finalize the hiring process and negotiate the salary and specific details of her responsibilities with your future nanny.
There are two things you should do to calculate the appropriate salary: make a list of the tasks you want the nanny to do (cooking, light cleaning) and inquire about the average salary in your area. Indeed, the cost of living is not the same in a big city and in a rural area so this is definitely something you want to take into consideration. In addition nannies talk to each other and your candidate would quickly realize that your offer does not match the market. Lastly, it is your child well being we are talking about and you do not want his caretaker to be dissatisfied with how you treat her.
Once you’ve set this base salary, you’ll need to adjust it depending on the additional tasks that you expect from your babysitter. You should also take into consideration her experience and qualifications (education and certifications). And if you need her to use her car to drive the kids, add a little extra for gas.
Ideally, you should offer your babysitter a competitive base salary corresponding to a very detailed job description and a year-end bonus depending on your satisfaction with her work. Therefore, now is the time to write down what is important to you: number of hours of work per week, rates for overtime, weekend availability, number of unpaid vacation days accepted, punctuality rules, no personal calls on her cell phone during work hours (except emergency), etc.
Define a range of what you are willing to pay and do not start the negotiations at the lowest rate: you do not want to offend your future nanny. If you can not afford to increase wages, offer instead additional side benefits such as meals, a contribution to the cost of transportation, a subscription to the gym, etc.