At The Nanny Solution, we find that that the average hourly rate that nannies seek is sitting between $25 – 40+ (Across Canada), with the average being about $30 gross per hour. At $30/hour and 40 hours per week, this equates to about $63,000 annually. This is a fair wage considering the forever rising cost of living, and the professionalism shown by these nannies. If these figures are not in your budget, there are a few options to reduce your costs. Nanny shares, allowing a nanny to bring his/her own child to work with them, or hiring a nanny who is less experienced are just a few examples. The old adage of ‘You get what you pay for’ is very true!
A few other things to consider:
1) How many children do you have? Their ages? Multiple children in a household will warrant a higher wage.
2) Are you looking for full time or part time hours? How many hours/days per week do you need the nanny? Typically a Nanny will be seeking a higher wage for part time hours.
3) Will the nanny be required to live in or out? What and where are the accommodations if live-in? Live in is more cost effective but you will have someone living in your home.
4) Will you require any overtime? Depending on what province you are in, there may be overtime after a certain number of hours per week. For example, in BC, anything over 8 hrs a day or 40hrs per week, the employee is paid time and a half. Anything past 12hrs a day is double time.
5) What types of benefits do you plan to offer? (i.e. Health insurance, holidays, sick days, cell phone, car?) Many of these are tax deductible for the employer.
6) Do you need a nanny who drives? Would the nanny need their own car or do you plan to provide one? Driving nannies are paid more. If they are using their own vehicle to drive your children, they will be required to track their kms (for work purposes) and reimbursed the current government standard (currently $0.61 km).
7) Do you expect the nanny to perform any non-child related duties, such as housekeeping or errands? A nanny that can offer both child focused care as well as additional housekeeping or cooking should be paid a higher wage. Often House Managers are offered the top end of the pay-scale in any given city.
8) Do you require the nanny to have an education degree? Early childhood degree? Nursing degree? Teaching degree? Expect to pay top dollar for someone with an education background as well as nanny experience.
9) Will you need your nanny to travel with you? This should be discussed ahead of time. Plan to pay your nanny’s travel expenses including their regular wage. If they are working more, overtime rates would be included. Depending on if the nanny has their own room, you should consider a per diem as well.
10) Do you want someone who speaks another language?
11) Taxes – There are things involved other than just paying someone’s salary. You are required be paying someone as an employee as per the CRA which means remitting taxes on their behalf as well as paying an employer portion. Depending on what province you live in, this will range from anywhere from 7 – 12% over and above your nanny’s gross wage. This would also include having appropriate in home insurance with Worker’s Compensation.
Extra Tips: If a nanny is looking for a higher wage than you are willing or able to pay, consider offering a competitive package that includes more vacation (the standard is 2 weeks paid per year as well as any other time not needed), metro/transit passes, medical benefits and attentional paid sick time. Do you want your nanny to be paid biweekly, bimonthly or even monthly? Make sure you know the rules for your province before making that decision. Carefully look into what the overtime rules are as well. Pay your nanny what they are worth. If they feel that they are underpaid, they will be looking for another job in no time. Bottom line is that you should carefully consider what you can afford before hiring a nanny, so that you are not stuck making changes after someone has started.