Expectations, Disappointment, and Poor Communication

Occasionally our office email resembles "Dear Abby" correspondence more than professional payroll and tax service questions.

Today we received an email from a Household Manager for a socially prominent family. The employee was disgruntled and looking for us to help him secure his 'rights.'

At issue were the following:

1. He has worked 3 years without a raise.
2. He has worked overtime and never been paid for it.
3. He doesn't have medical or retirement benefits.

He states the employer is constantly telling him what a great job he does and how happy they are that he is working for them. He wonders why, then, if they are so happy they will not "Show Me the Money" and to whom/where he should 'report' them.

An annual performance appraisal and possibly a salary increase are common expectations in the US workforce. One has to wonder both why the employer has ignored this for three years running, and also why the employee has not ASKED the employer to meet about these issues. A salary review and benefits, however, are not rights guaranteed by law. Rather, they recognize the expectations of the workforce, the competition for competent employees, and the employer's understanding that employees who are not suitably rewarded for good and loyal service will begin looking for greener pastures.

The employee has stewed about this for better than two years, ever since he missed his first annual review. Over time, I sense he has become bitter. Instead of asking for advice on how he can make this situation better, he wants to get even. This particular relationship may not be reparable at this time. However, it illustrates the larger problem about poor communication between household staff and their employers.

The employer who offers words of praise with no meaningful salary or benefit recognition to back the words up ends up in a situation where the employee is unhappy, and further words of praise when a job is well done are meaningless. The employee who avoids asking the employer to sit down and talk about salary and benefits for two years shares the guilt in the communication breakdown. Granted, the employer should have initiated to conversation. Consider, however, that the employer may be clueless or so overwhelmed with day to day life that it simply never occured to him. Why wouldn't the employee simply say "Sir, could we schedule a half hour meeting to go over my job performance in the next week or so?" The employer could say NO, at which point the employee would KNOW where he stands, rather than sitting silently on the sidelines wondering.

Michigan Minimum Wage Increase

Effective October 1, 2006, the minimum wage in Michigan increases $6.95 per hour.

This is a good time to remind nanny employers of a few payroll rules that commonly trip up employers and lead to unfavorable rulings when wage and hour disputes occur.

• Nannies are non-exempt workers. You may pay a salary, but you must stipulate the hourly wage the salary is based on. Absent a statement of hourly wage, a court will divide the salary by a 4o hour work week to determine the hourly wage.
  
• Nannies are entitled to overtime. The live out nanny must be paid the overtime differential (time and one half) for all hours over 4o worked in a week. The live in nanny must be paid for every hour worked but is not entitled under law to the overtime differential.
• Most states have established minimum pay frequencies for non-exempt workers - the maximum interval between wage payments to the worker. Find your state's pay frequency rules here.

There are many increases to state minimum wages scheduled to occur within the next several months. Please insure that the salary and work agreement you have in place with your nanny is fully compliant to current regulations.

Prepare for Emergencies

NannyNetwork.com, a directory of US nanny placement and referral agencies, is encouraging nannies and families to prepare for emergencies together.

Emergency preparedness is a subject many families discuss with their school aged children, but it is often overlooked when the family has their pre-school children at home with a nanny.

Find nanny emergency preparedness tips online here.

The US Department of Homeland Security has a site designed for elementary aged children that can help make planning for an emergency fun as well as educational.

Standards: Have you set them?

The vast majority of families are quite satisfied and content with their nanny arrangements. There are some families, however, who never seem to get the right match.

I hear a litany of common complaints. Do any of these sound familiar?

• Our nanny spends so much time watching TV and never gets things done.


• It is so discouraging to find dried clothes left in the dryer every day (or dishes in the dishwasher). Why can't our nanny finish the task?


• I love it that our nanny does crafts with the kids, but there is always such a mess to clean up later.

I often ask the family "Does your nanny have a written job description? Does she have a clear list of childcare and housekeeping responsibilities? Does she know what your standards are?" All too often the family 'assumes' that the nanny just 'knows' what is expected of her.

If you find yourself in a less than satisfactory arrangement, consider what you can do to either repair the situation or to find a more satisfactory arrangement going forward. Take the time to work up the job description. Articulate what is important to you. Establish your standards. Check them for reasonableness - or better yet have a friend or colleague whose opinion you trust check them for you. Communicate. Correct you employee when standards are not met. Praise your employee for a job well done.