Tuesday, June 18, 2013

The Answers to 10 Top Nanny Compensation Questions

Writer Kimberly Coleman looked to Deborah L. Smith (DS) the President of Parents With Nannies, Inc. and Kathleen Webb (KW) the co-founder of HomeWork Solutions for expert advice regarding common questions that parents ask regarding nanny pay.

1. What is an appropriate birthday present for a nanny?
(DS) Money is always the most appreciated gift. Birthdays don't have to be quite as expensive as Christmas. It all depends on what you can afford. If you appreciate your nanny, let her know it.

(KW) Birthday gifts vary greatly according to the tastes of the nanny and the means of the employer. Some examples are concert tickets, a spa treatment, camera, gift cards for restaurants/movies/stores, flowers, etc.

2. What is an appropriate holiday (i.e. Christmas) present for a nanny?
(DS) Money is always the most appreciated gift. For Christmas a week or 2 weeks salary plus maybe a small gift to unwrap is appropriate.

(KW) Christmas is an unusual holiday, as many families give a gift similar to the birthday gifts above as well as providing a holiday bonus. Again, the relationship between the nanny and the family and the family's means play roles here. We found in our payroll practice in 2005 that 69% of the families provided a year end bonus payment. 1 - 2 weeks salary was the average span. Amounts ranged from $250 - $5000.

3. Should you pay nannies for holidays when you (and they) don't have to work?
(DS) Yes, most full time nannies get the major holidays off and paid.
(KW) Yes.

4. Should you pay nannies when you are sick and can't work?
(DS) Yes, it is not the nanny's fault that you are sick and can't work. The nanny still has to pay her bills. This should be the rule of thumb for days off that the nanny does not request. If it is the family's choice to go away or to excuse the nanny for a day or two, it is not fair to expect the nanny to do so without pay.
(KW) Yes.

5. Should you pay nannies when your kids are sick and you stay home from work with them?
(DS) Yes. Also, nannies are used to caring for sick children. It is one of the reasons that you hire a nanny.
(KW) Yes.

(KW) (For questions three through five) The golden rule is the best to fall back on in these situations - do unto your nanny as you would have your boss do unto you! In general, the nanny should be paid for every day that they are regularly scheduled to work, whether the family decides to use them or not. A full time nanny will expect to be paid for all holidays when the parents are not at work (July 4th, Christmas, etc.). What these holidays are vary, particularly with the parent's occupations (medical and emergency personnel, airline and hospitality employees might get different holidays).

(KW) (For questions six through eight) Most full time nannies have some vacation and/or sick time negotiated into the employment agreement. Moms beware - the first time you dock your nanny for missing work because they caught your kid's cold could be the last time she works for you. The total paid days is most commonly 10 per year, and flex days are the way things are going. So, the nanny has a pool of 10 flex days she can use for sick time, vacation time, personal time, etc. This will vary among nannies and families - the work agreement is vital here to determine this in advance of the problem.

6. Should you pay nannies when they are sick and can't work?
(DS) I think it is probably advisable to include some sick days in her contract. I have seen numbers from 3 per year to 10 per year. (See more on sick days below)
(KW)Flex.

7. Should you pay nannies when their kids are sick and they have to stay at home from work with them?
(DS) This should constitute a sick day. Many parents have commented to me that they do not specify a number of sick days in there contract, they simply "cover" for nanny if she is sick. I think it is probably advisable to include some sick days in her contract. I have seen numbers from 3 per year to 10 per year. The decision basically depends on how generous you are and your ability to make other arrangements if the nanny gets sick. If you have to pay for expensive "alternate" care when your nanny is ill, you may want to stop the paid sick days at 3. If, on the other hand, you can make arrangements when the nanny is sick and you'd rather not have her bringing her germs around the kids, offer more paid sick days so that she doesn't feel financially obligated to show up to work with strep throat or worse. Some parents require their nanny to work six months to a year before offering paid sick days.
(KW) Flex.

8. Should you pay if your nanny has to miss work for uncontrollable reasons (i.e. death in their family, jury duty, weather prohibitions, and transit strikes)?
(DS) Families should use their own discretion in this matter. Nanny could use a sick day or vacation day. Or, as in my case, I would just pay my nanny if she had to miss a day because her brother died for instance or she got snowed in. It seemed too cruel to dock her pay when these things were beyond her control. This is where the family needs to look at nanny as more than an employee if she has been loyal and conscientious, on time and not taking advantage of time off. My own personal nanny was so dedicated in 3 years that she was never late and only took a few sick days because of stomach flu. There was no reason to dock her pay in my opinion.
(KW) Flex.

9. Should you pay if your nanny needs to go on maternity leave?
(DS) Maternity leave is usually too financial impossible for most families. Some families who love their nanny and want her back will hire a temporary nanny to take her place until she is ready to come back. If the family is financially able to pay maternity leave, then it is up to them. Rule of thumb in all instances...if you love your nanny, do what it takes to keep her.

(KW) Maternity leave is not commonly paid by nanny employers. They may cash out flex days, but that is the extent of it. Nannies also do not always take the 6 - 8 weeks professionals do, but are often back at work within a few weeks with their infant (assuming that was the agreed arrangement when she left).

10. How much vacation time should a nanny receive?
(DS) Nannies get at least one week paid vacation, usually two. Families commonly ask nanny to plan one of those 2 weeks around the family's vacation to save on alternate childcare expenses.
NOTE: All of the above variables should be covered in a Work Agreement between the employer and nanny at the time of hire. Sample agreements that you can use can be found at http://4nanny.com/work_agreement.htm

Kimberly Coleman is the founder of Mom in the City http://www.mominthecity.com a social and support group for expectant moms and moms with children five and under in the New York City metropolitan area. She is also the NYC Metro and Long Island parenting guide for ParentZone.com/BabyZone.com ([http://nyc.parentzone.com] ).
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kimberly_Coleman

For more reading on finding a nanny and nanny jobs :
 




















Monday, June 17, 2013

How to Find a Nanny

Source : http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-to-find-a-good-nanny_5933.bc

The key to find the right caregiver for your child? Be willing to keep looking until you find the person who will be the best fit for your family.

You shouldn't compromise on this issue one bit, so be prepared for a long search. You'll need to be patient and resourceful, and consult everyone from friends and family to online nanny agencies to find possible candidates.

This list may help you find the nanny of your dreams:

Step one: Identify your priorities

First, decide what you want. Talk to your partner about what your ideal nanny would be like. Do you want someone older who's mature and experienced? Is a nanny with a degree in early childhood education your top choice? Make a list you can refer to when you start interviewing applicants or talking to nanny agencies.

Step two: Do your research

Get the word out. Have friends and family let their contacts know you're looking for help – personal references can be the most reassuring. Put a notice in school newsletters and post a flier at local parenting resource centers and even on bulletin boards in gyms, shops, and cafes.

Go to the pros. Find out if there's a nanny training program in your area, then call the staff for referrals. In many communities, nanny and babysitting training programs are run by community centers, charities, and other organizations that may not be easy to find on the Web. Also ask friends and neighbors or call your local community recreation organization.

You can also contact a private nanny placement agency. These firms screen candidates before agreeing to represent them and can help you find candidates who meet your criteria. They verify a nanny's work experience and should check for any driving violations or a criminal record. Some also require nannies to have a physical exam including blood and tuberculosis tests.

You'll have to pay a hefty fee for this service – between $800 and $5,000, depending on where you live and which services you want – but you'll save time.

Go online. Try Web sites such as 4nannies.com and enannysource.comOnline nanny referral services like these – which post listings from parents and prospective nannies – are less costly than local agencies, but not free. Fees range from $20 to $800 or more, depending on how long you keep your listing active and the type of service you need.

Basic services usually include helpful guidelines and forms, with background checks available for additional fees. Some services make you pay a finder's fee. But websites sometimes run promotions to waive fees or offer discounts, so check back from time to time.


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How to Find the Best Nanny for Your Family

Source : http://pregnant.thebump.com/new-mom-new-dad/newborn-basics/articles/how-to-find-good-nanny.aspx

Start Out Right
You can begin your nanny search by asking friends and family for recommendations; by going online to caregiver listings websites, local message boards and college job boards; or by registering with a nanny placement agency. Katie Bugbee, executive editor at caregiver listings website Care.com, recommends that parents give themselves three months to find a nanny. It can take awhile to find someone you love. Plus, it’s not uncommon for there to be heated competition with other families, so the right one could get away, lengthening your search.

Caregiver Listings Sites
Websites that provide listings of prescreened nannies let you in on a lot of information about a caregiver -- such as their experience, availability, salary requirements, background check and references -- to help you decide whether you want to meet them. These are a few popular ones:

Sittercity has a database of over 2 million caregivers, including nannies, babysitters and pet sitters. For $35 a month, $70 for three months or $140 for a year, you can post a job and get access to caregivers’ profiles that include a description of experience, a photo, availability, a background check, references and referrals.
Care.com has a free basic membership that allows users to post a job description and to have access to prescreened caregiver profiles. In order to contact a caregiver and be able to view basic background checks, a user must upgrade to a premium membership for $35 a month. For an additional $59 fee, members can get a comprehensive background check that includes a search of county, state and federal courthouse arrest and conviction records. Want a deal? The Bump readers can use coupon code “thebump2012” for 20 percent off the usual cost of a premium membership (expires March 31).

Nannies4hire.com offers three different member packages. All memberships allow parents to post jobs and view caregiver profiles, save their top picks and conduct an advanced search. Basic membership is $100 for 30 days. For $130, members receive 60 days of access to a multistate criminal history search, and for $200, members receive 99 days of comprehensive background checks.

University Job Boards
Most universities have job boards that allow individuals to post for a position that they’re seeking to fill. If you’re looking for a part-time babysitter or a graduate student who’s available for a full-time nanny position, this may be a good option for you.

Local Message Boards
If there are local message boards for new moms in your area, chances are they’ll feature “nanny available” listings. These are usually posted by moms who are trying to find a new position for a nanny they no longer need. These boards are also an ideal place to put up a “nanny wanted” post. If you live in a small community, the recommendations for nannies that you receive might even come from an acquaintance or a friend of a friend.

Nanny Placement Agencies
Agencies offer the highest level of service, and with that comes a hefty price tag. So what’s the advantage of using an agency? According to Kathleen Webb, cofounder of the company that runs NannyNetwork.com, “Agencies are a great route for families that are pressed for time and especially for first-time nanny employers. The agency can cut 40-plus hours of effort out of the hiring process.” An agency prescreens nannies and interviews couples to get a detailed snapshot of what they’re looking for and will send only those candidates’ portfolios that meet their requirements. Once a nanny is selected, agencies will help their clients prepare the employment offer and work agreement.

For more reading on how to find a nanny :

























Saturday, February 9, 2013

How to do SEO

Websites without traffic (visitors) are not useful to have. Either those websites are commercial or for non-profit purposes; if there is no visitors, the message that the website tries to convey cannot be communicated or spread out to a particular community or the world. Getting more traffic(visitors) is the main intention of every website owners (or web masters). There are various ways to get visitors to a website. Such as referral traffic (from other websites), social media traffic (from Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+ and etc), direct traffic (visits by offline marketing like news paper advertisements, radio/television advertisements), organic traffic (traffic from search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing), paid traffic (traffic from cost per click services like Google adwords, Bing adwords) and etc. Even though all these methods are existing to get traffic to a website, usually search engines used to drive more traffic to a website (this is true for many websites, but there are websites still survive without traffic from search engines). So, on this article, let’s discuss on how to drive more traffic from search engines (specially from the most popular search engine Google) and how to make your website to be search engine friendly.

How we are getting traffic from search engines like Google?
Usually people used to search on search engines to find out the sites to get their needs satisfied/fulfilled. Based on the query that is entered into the search engines, the search engines scan their own index of websites which are related to given query by its users and filters out and rank the websites (URLs) that are more related to given query by its user. In that way, user of a search engine can enter into your site. So, now question is, how we can get a website on top ranked on search engines to get more visitors? As well as, what is the volume of search for the particular keyword/key phrase?

Usually, many people just think of a keyword and start optimising their website for that keyword. But those people may not have any ideas of the volume of search for the keyword that they are trying to optimise. This leads to get frustration at the end as they forget to estimate/filter the keywords with good search volume. So, it is clear that, we should do a better keyword research and find the keywords that are related to a website and the keywords that have more search volume on search engines. That is kind a base for a building. The base should be strong, then only the building may last for years. Now the question arises, how to do keyword research? There are many FREE and paid keyword research tools available online. Like Google adwords tool (Gives details of Google only), SemRush.com and etc. Using such tools experienced SEO consultants can suggest the best keywords that has enough search volume. Once the keyword research is completed and better keywords are identified, next thing to focus is On-page search engine optimisation.

Read more..

http://jasonmichelle.webs.com/apps/blog/show/23559013-how-to-do-seo

http://jasonmichelle.webnode.com/how-to-do-seo/

http://talkwhatiknow.blogspot.com/2013/02/how-to-do-seo.html

http://jasonmichelle.inube.com/blog/3021688/how-to-do-seo/

http://melanis.blinkweb.com/1/2013/02/how-to-do-seo-aea8d/

http://jasonmichelle.devhub.com/blog/1446524-how-to-do-seo/

http://aswinjames.tumblr.com/post/42666051037/how-to-do-seo

http://findananny.newsvine.com/_news/2013/02/09/16911338-how-to-do-seo

http://stephenydavid.typepad.com/blog/2013/02/how-to-do-seo.html


Monday, January 28, 2013

Investing in Residential and Commercial Elders Real Estate Gladstone

Investing in property can be a very rewarding business; this is why many people from the older generation are using their wisdom to enter such market. Some of them put their entire live savings into this investment because they know that with the suitable approach; they will be able to gain a lot of profits. Many of them invest in Australia in Gladstone because the elders real estate Gladstone market is flourishing and it presents investors with numerous business chances.  If you are looking forward to enter the market, you will have to make sure that you are up for it. You have to be motivated and you have to know that profits solely depend on your expectations. For example, if you are looking for an extra source of income per month, you should look into renting a property. The extra income will be in the form of monthly fees. On the other hand, if you are looking to invest in the capital itself, you should buy a property because the value of this property will increase over time.

You should also know that investing in residential buildings is very different from commercial buildings. This is why you have to choose wisely. Residential property does not need a huge capital investment and it doesn’t have a lot of risks. As a result, the profit is slow and less than the profit of commercial property. Commercial property on the other hand needs a very large capital and it has a lot of risks involved. As a result, the profits are very huge when compared to residential buildings. This is why you have to know what you can afford and what is your tolerance for risk. This will enable you to make the best choice, whether investing in commercial or residential property.

How to Approach The Property Investment Market Correctly in Australia

Investing in property is one of the most popular methods of investing capital. This is because investing in property, if approached correctly, can be very lucrative. All you have to do is choose a property market and case study it so you can know all of the pros and cons of the market.

Investing in property is one of the most popular methods of investing capital. This is because investing in property, if approached correctly, can be very lucrative. All you have to do is choose a property market and case study it so you can know all of the pros and cons of the market. Doing a good research and studying the market is the first step to enter the property market. In this article, we are going to talk about the Australian property market and study it.

There are a lot of experts in market of properties that agree that the Australian real estate market is very mature. They will also agree that the average prices for homes in the country peaked in 2005 and that it has been going downhill since then. Although there is truth behind these allegations, there are still numerous property investment opportunities in the property market of Australia. These investments if accompanied by a smart approach, the investors can increase their profitability despite the current condition of the Australian market. Before deciding to engage the Australian property market, it is very important to realize that the market has an affordability problem that affects the middle class of Australia. For example, the prices of property have increased drastically. They have multiplied by three and four times the average wage for most Australians who live in the different cities and towns. This means that even the people who theoretically can commit, will have problems in paying off the loans due to the increasing prices. This affordability problem can be quite an obstacle for house buyers but for the investors, it is a very lucrative opportunity. This is because the situation shows that the demand for rental stocks is increasing rapidly, especially since 2007. There are also no present signs that show that the rental stock demands will ever decrease. This translates into a lot of money for investors. Another encouraging fact for the investors is that all of the real estate and coastal land in all major towns and cities are valued for more than one and two million $AUS. These lands have high demand on them.

If you want to become successful, you will have to consider many factors before you start buying property. We will discuss two of the most important ones. The first one is the Fuel Price Factor. It is a known fact that the fuel price is only going to increase. This is why people tend to use public transportation instead of their cars to save on gas money. This is why you should invest in property that is located in an area that a metro or a bus route goes through it. This will attract a lot of potential buyers who do not want to pay a lot of money on fuel.

The second factor is the Ripple Effect. It is known that everyone wants to live by the sea but not every can can pay for a property that overlooks the sea. This is why a lot of people tend to buy homes that are close to the sea as possible. So if you invest in these areas you will find a lot of buyers.

Find Elders Real estate Gladstone with help of nodeposithomesgladstone.com.au

How Can You Begin Constructing an Elders Real Estate Gladstone

Entering the real estate market of Australia and investing in properties can be a very successful investment. One of the best places to invest in property is Gladstone. This will not only increase your investment portfolio but you will also be able to use that property in order to genera extra income for you and your family. There are numerous ways to achieve that. One of the most common ways is to build or purchase any dual occupancy kind of property such as a duplex. This property can be attached or it can be separated, which is one of its advantages. If you are planning to build the duplex property yourself, you have to seek the help of the people who already went through this experience. You should ask them for their advice on how to successfully achieve your target.

The first thing that you have to know about is the law. Constructing a granny flat or a duplex is done according to the rules and the regulations of the real estate law. You cannot start constructing without having the needed permits. You should also consult an accountant because if you are planning to build any kind of property in order to invest in it, you will have to pay taxes. Therefore, check with your accountant before making any moves. Apart from the permits and the taxes, you have to fulfill the requirements of the council building. This means that your buildings will have to meet all of the floor space, structure and height requirements. In order to do that, you will have to submit the blueprints of the buildings to the council so they can approve the drawings if they meet all of the requirements.

Before starting the construction phase, you have to put numerous factors in mind. The first factor is thinking about the usage of this duplex. The best usage for a duplex is to serve as an elders real estate Gladstone. This is because granny flats and duplexes have the required area and space that would allow people to take care of the elder members of their family. Another usage for a duplex is for the recently graduated high school teens. These teens have just finished school and they want to get out of their parents house but they can't afford moving out. Parents use the duplex to let their children stay in it until they can afford buying their own house.

The last thing that you have to think of is the design of the duplex. You have to make it appealing for the potential buyers or renters. You have to choose appealing materials. If you are not good with design and choosing the materials, you can seek the help of an architect or an interior designer. He will be able to help you in designing the duplex in order to make it appealing. He will also be able to draw you the blueprints needed for the building council so you can get the needed permits.