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Top 10 Things Nannies Get Reimbursed For
January 5, 2012
A nanny’s wage is meant to cover her hours of work only. Typically, a nanny should not expect to be paying for any family related expenses herself; when she does cover those expenses out of her own pocket, she can and should expect to be reimbursed for those expenses promptly in her pay check. Some employers will also reimburse a nanny for some of her own expenses as part of their employment agreement with the nanny. Here is a list of the top 10 reimbursements that nanny’s receive in their paychecks.
- Mileage – Reimbursement for the use of their personal vehicle for work related travel is the most common reimbursement that nannies receive with their pay checks. The IRS sets standard mileage reimbursement rates each year. These mileage reimbursement rates are meant to cover the cost of fuel, maintenance and insurance of a vehicle on a per mile basis. Occasionally, the IRS will make adjustments to these mileage rates in the middle of a tax year, when there has been large fluctuations in fuel prices, so it is important to keep up to date on current rates.
- Parking – When a nanny is transporting the children or performing other family related errands, any parking fees that she may pay out of her own pocket should be submitted for reimbursement from the employer.
- Public Transit – Use of public transit to escort the children to the library, lessons or any other destinations that are part of the nanny’s care duties would be another reimbursable item if the nanny pays for it herself or uses her personal transit pass for these excursions.
- Family expenses – Although it might not be considered a normal part of a nanny’s duties, it would not be unheard of for parents to ask their nanny to pick up a needed household item while she is out with the children. A prompt reimbursement upon her return to the home or in her next pay check should certainly be expected in this case.
- Dining – Normally, employers should provide a nanny with the funds necessary for a meal out with the children, such as lunch during a day spent at the zoo. In the case where the funds were not provided ahead of time, a reimbursement for the dining expenses of the children and the nanny would be in order.
- Entertainment – As with the dining out, any costs for taking the children on outings should be either provided in advance or promptly reimbursed following the providing of receipts for these expenses.
- Cellphone – Most parents will want their nanny to have a cellphone with her whenever she is out with the children for contact and emergency purposes. If the family is not providing the cellphone itself, then a reimbursement for all or a portion of the nanny’s cellphone bill could be expected on a monthly basis.
- Education – Educational classes that relate to a nanny’s employment and professional development are often included as a reimbursable expense in a nanny’s employment agreement.
- Health insurance – There may be situations where a family chooses not to provide a separate health insurance policy for their nanny; instead, they may reimburse her for a portion of or the full monthly premium she pays for her own personal policy.
- Taxes – Not all employers include this benefit for their nannies, but it is fairly common. Rather than deducting social security taxes from the nanny’s wages to submit to the government, some employers will pay both their portion and the matching employee portion of social security taxes to the government. This is not technically a reimbursement, but amounts to a similar benefit as it is covering a cost that the nanny would normally be responsible for paying out of her own income.
I agree that most of these are pretty standard, but I hadn’t heard of reimbursing for cell phone usage before. I wouldn’t reimburse an entire cell phone bill because my nanny isn’t on the clock 24/7, but I guess I can see how reimbursing for some of the bill would be helpful…
That’s what we do – a portion of our nanny’s cell phone bill, largely because I do expect her to be available for me to call whenever I need her on the job.
That is a lot of things to reimburse for… especially when you’re already paying a salary on top of it. I love my nanny, but we definitely aren’t those employers who have an endless stream of money. We reimburse for mileage & costs incurred on the job for entertainment and food, but we can’t afford to pay for things like education!
Thank you for publishing this! I think sometimes families forget that we nannies shouldn’t be responsible for paying to take their kids out to eat and driving their kids around in our own cars. I don’t expect to get paid for my commute to and from work because that’s not standard in a regular job, but I do think that they should pay for any driving done ON the job.
that’s a valid point – being reimbursed for driving on the job but not to and from the job. i’ll be reimbursing my nanny for that from here on out!
These seem pretty standard – we actually reimburse for all of them.
We do too, I agree that these seem like typical things to be reimbursed for.
I wish I was your nanny. I have never received any if the above and I am college educated and tri-lingual.
In many states, nannies should double and triple check with their auto insurance as well. If you are driving nanny kids, you likely need to inform your insurance company and purchase an added policy as this is a business driving time frame. As a former nanny, then home child care provider, now returning to a nanny position, this is vital. Driving while working is a commercial operation, not a personal one. Please make sure you are covered, and ask your nanny employer families to pay for this policy (or provide a car of theirs for transporting their children about). If something happens, a family can sue the nanny/ins company and said nanny can be on the bad side of things forever. Be covered and safe. As far as educational compensation, if a family wishes you to be CPR/SUIDS/First aid certified, I agree, they could compensate for that. They would want their employer to cover training.