Not sure what to think…
I don’t know if I just want to vent or if I need advice. I’m honestly just very confused at the moment.
I’ve been nannying for 12+ years. During that time, I haven’t always had great nanny parents, and I definitely haven’t always been treated fairly.
I recently took what I thought was my “dream job.” Long story short, my last long-term position caused me extreme burnout. I had a four-hour commute every day—two hours each way—and I did that for five years.
After that, I decided to take a part-time position closer to home. My commute was only 15 minutes each way, and I was working six hours a day, Monday through Friday. However, during that time, I accumulated quite a bit of debt. When the part-time family moved, I knew I needed to find a full-time position with decent pay so I could catch up on everything I had fallen behind on.
Thankfully, I found what I thought was a “rainbow family.” They offered guaranteed hours, vacation pay, sick pay, and parents who seemed genuine, supportive, and very willing to work with me. I work my 40 hours over three to four days a week, which has been a great arrangement for me.
The problem is that I have guaranteed hours, and recently I was asked to work on a Sunday as one of my regular days because NK was sick and they needed the extra support. I agreed because, up until that point, they had been great to me, and I wanted to help wherever I could.
Little did I know that the reason they wanted me to work Sunday was because they were going on a little vacation and didn’t want to pay me my guaranteed hours.
It honestly really hurt to find this out. I wasn’t even made aware of the situation until the end of my last 13-hour workday of the week, on Tuesday, when I saw them packing for their trip.
I’m feeling really conflicted because, on one hand, they have been wonderful to me overall, and I don’t want to make a big deal out of one situation. But on the other hand, I feel blindsided and taken advantage of, especially because I agreed to change my regular schedule and work on a Sunday because I genuinely thought they needed me for their sick child.
Now I’m questioning how I should handle this. Am I overreacting? Is this something I should bring up with them, especially since I have guaranteed hours? Or should I just let it go because they have otherwise been such a good family to work for?
I think what bothers me most is that I would have been completely understanding if they had simply been upfront with me and said, “We’re going away and would rather have you work your guaranteed hours on Sunday instead of paying you for hours you won’t be working.” It’s the fact that I was led to believe they needed me because NK was sick, when apparently that wasn’t the whole story, that really doesn’t sit right with me.