Helping Your Families Retain Their Nannies
– by Guy Maddalone
GTM Payroll recently conducted our annual household employment survey. We asked families with household help about their experiences hiring and retaining their nannies. The results revealed trends in household employment and offer insights for your families to make smarter hiring decisions and develop strong relationships with their nannies.
Increased Pay Rates
One of the biggest trends is significant pay increases for nannies. It’s no secret that the demand for nannies has skyrocketed due to a few factors, like a preference for in-home care after the pandemic, and limited availability in daycare facilities. This has led to some significant pay increases for nannies and for families seeking to keep their current caregivers.
In fact, 30 percent of families say that they have increased their nanny’s hourly rate by $4 or more in the last three years, while another 38% increased pay between $1.00 – $3.00 per hour. Your families should evaluate their nanny’s pay rate – at the very least on an annual basis – to make sure it’s still competitive in the marketplace so caregivers don’t look for a higher paying job elsewhere.
Performance Reviews and Feedback
Keeping communications open and listening to what nannies have to say is a critical step for your families in retaining their nannies. Their feedback on your families’ performance as a household employer is important for building a better working relationship and keeping the nanny happy with her current family. One way to achieve this is through performance reviews.
Performance reviews are standard in traditional work environments, and your families and their nannies can benefit from one too. A nanny performance review is a good time to set goals for the year, talk about personal job growth, look at areas of improvement, and understand ways your families can help their nannies improve their job performances.
While informal discussions about job performance and goals are encouraged and expected during a nanny’s tenure, it’s a best employment practice for your families to conduct a formal written performance review at the end of their nanny’s introductory period and then on a scheduled basis, which can be annually or every six months.
It is also an opportunity for your families to communicate feedback to their nanny on how well they are meeting the objectives of the household, what they have accomplished, and areas that need improvement.
Going back to pay increases, a nanny performance review may also be a time to consider a raise for merit or to stay competitive in the market. Your families should be clear, however, that merit pay increases are awarded based on significant performance and at their discretion.
Offering Employee Benefits
Our survey also showed that offering employee benefits can assist with securing and retaining nannies. Most nannies receive paid holidays (93%), paid sick days (82%), and paid vacation (79%). But the survey also revealed that 26 percent of nannies are receiving some type of health care benefits – including health insurance, a health reimbursement account, or virtual medicine – from their employers. In 2021, just 16 percent of nannies had health benefits through their jobs.
As we continue to deal with ongoing health crises, nannies are likely now more aware of the importance of receiving health care. Offering health benefits can elevate your families as they compete for their most desirable nanny candidates or retain their top employees.
Other benefits your families can offer include paid time for vacation or sick leave, a retirement plan, or flexible hours. These will help your families stand out from competing families and entice their nannies to remain with them.
Please remember that GTM is here for you and your families as a resource for all things concerning household payroll. Contact us with any questions or to request information.
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