Austin

IN THIS ISSUE:
Message from Kathy | Supernanny | Announcements | Calendar
MBF in the News | Client Corner | Referrals
Breedlove and Associates |Ask the Expert | Living Order
MBF Superstars | Serving the Community

A Message From Kathy
The start of the school year is a funny time for kids and parents alike. On one hand, everyone feels a little excitement at the end of the summer; we’ve all become a little tired of all the fun we’ve been having. As parents, we might be looking forward to a return to the quiet of daily routines which were lost with the passing of the last school year. And even though they might hate to admit it, kids, too, are always just a little relieved to be returning to some semblance of order as well.

Change, however, is always a little unsettling. The same things that can be exciting about a new school year—new classes, new schedules, new friends—can also cause anxiety, for your kids as well as for you. I’ve come to understand this anxiety first-hand. This year will be the first that all four of my children will be attending new schools. That has meant more running around for new clothes, books, and other supplies than in years past. Not only that—we are also experimenting with homeschooling my two oldest children part-time this year, which has meant adjusting to a great deal of change in our normal schedules.

As a result, I know how reassuring it can be to have support in maintaining something like normalcy in the first months of school. That’s why MBF is here to help steady things for you, whatever your needs may be. We will do our best to offer you solutions to whatever school-related dilemmas may arise (see this month’s Ask the Expert column).

For now, here’s wishing your family a safe, healthy, and sane school year ahead!

Kathy Dupuy, Founder and President

MBF Staff
We are continuing to grow at MBF and we encourage you to take a look at the new faces, and in particular the team that you work with on a regular basis: Our Staff.

September 14: Nanny Night Out. If your nanny is interested, please instruct her to send an email to austinnannynetwork@yahoo.com to join the Austin Nanny Network email list and receive complete details on this and other nanny events.

October 2: Supernanny application deadline

October 25: Annual Nanny Recognition Week Fall Festival and Supernanny Contest winner announcement

Law firm tackles workers' juggling acts
Austin American Statesman, August 22, 2007

Nanny, household staffing service expands to San Antonio
San Antonio Business Journal, July 31, 2007

Press Release: San Antonio Moms Find New Best Friend
July 31, 2007

The wonderful experiences she had with her own children and seeing other parents struggling to find good workshops prompted her to start a company called "Tiny Talk". Tiny Talk Sign Language Education Services holds Parent Workshops to teach parents and other caregivers how to sign with their children. Tiny Talk offers Parent Workshops around the Austin area and are soon coming to Seton Hospitals and other continuing education programs. They also provide workshops for Child Care staff and Sign Language Play Sessions for children in Child Care and Early Education programs around the city. For more information, or to contact Susan Withers Claunch, email info@tinytalkweb.com or check the Tiny Talk Website for upcoming workshops.

Q: I need my nanny to work 48 hours per week.  Do I have to pay overtime?

A: Household employees – including nannies – must be paid according the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  That legislation dictates that families who hire a live-out nanny, must pay her overtime for any hours over 40 in a 7-day workweek (please note: live-in nannies are exempt from overtime).  Each of the overtime hours must be paid at a rate that is at least 1.5 times that of the regular rate of pay.

So, let’s say you pay your nanny $11.50 per hour.  Based on your 48-hour workweek, she would be paid $11.50/hour for the first 40 hours and $17.25/hour for the eight overtime hours.

If your nanny is on a salary, you are allowed to manage overtime in a different manner.  Let’s say you both have agreed to a salary of $600 for the 48-hour workweek.  In this case, the contract should explicitly state that the regular rate of pay for the first 40 hours is $11.54/hour.  The overtime rate for the remaining 8 hours per week is $17.31 per hour.  Therefore, the total weekly salary is $600.

While it may seem superfluous to split the salary into regular and overtime rates, it is an important protection.  There have been many lawsuits around the country brought by former nannies claiming families did not pay overtime.  Unless overtime is explicitly addressed in writing, the judge will almost always assume overtime was not paid and force the family to pay back overtime wages plus interest.

For those families, it’s a very costly situation.  The good news is it can easily be avoided with a couple of simple sentences. 

As a partner of MBF Agency, we’re happy to give you a complimentary, no-obligation phone consultation to provide answers and advice to any and all tax and legal issues related to household employment.  It’s free and painless – and it will likely save you money.

Founded in 1992 — by household employers for household employers — Breedlove & Associates has served more than 10,000 clients and processed more than $1 billion in household payroll. By focusing on the unique needs of household employers, Breedlove & Associates’ expertise and efficiency has been recognized in The Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger’s, Business Week and SmartMoney.com. For more information or a free phone consultation compliments of MBF, call 1-888-273-3356 or visit www.breedlove-online.com.

A: With back-to-school upon us, we have been asked this question quite a bit lately. Let me start off by saying that, while we always try our best to respond to the ever-evolving needs of our clients, we also adhere to a policy of scheduling our caregivers for a minimum of four consecutive hours per shift. This is largely out of professional courtesy to them. In order to maintain a livable salary, a nanny hired for the split shift you suggested would most likely need to find regular work to fill in those hours in the middle of the day when she was not working for you. Since it can be difficult (or even impossible) to find work strictly limited to the hours between 9 and 2, and with gas prices always on the rise, the cost of daily transportation between multiple job sites can be a true drain on finances, we feel this sort of arrangement is just too much to ask of our nannies.

We can offer you a possible solution to your dilemma: a full-time nanny manager. If you are not already familiar with the role of a nanny manager, you can hire her to perform all the regular childcare functions of a nanny—but a nanny manager can take on other responsibilities as well. These can include chores and errands you might normally take care of yourself in the precious few hours you have after work, such as shopping for groceries, picking up the dry cleaning, etc. In other words, a nanny manager can utilize those school hours to handle all sorts of tedious but necessary household functions, creating more time for you to spend with your family and recharge yourself in the evenings. And, while we understand a full-time nanny manager may not fit into everyone’s budget, you do have the option of sharing your caregiver with another family—and splitting the cost for her services as well.

If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of hiring a nanny manager, I discuss more in-depth the tremendous benefits this type of caregiver provides in my latest blog post on our website.

Until next time!
Kathy Dupuy, Founder and President

Traditionally, the gallery has been the refrigerator. Many people have refrigerator surfaces that do not hold magnets, and people also have the problem of filling up the fridge surface and needing more gallery space.

One solution for additional gallery space is the “clothesline” technique. You can use a beautiful ribbon and pins for hanging up the line, and then get attractive clips to hang the items from it. This clothesline can be hung up either vertically or horizontally on whatever wall space you can spare, or even across a window.

To manage your gallery, use the “one in, one out” technique. When you are ready to take down older items, ask your child which pieces are most important to him or her, and keep those, along with your own favorites. If you have too many items, you can consider taking a photograph of the artwork with your child, and then discarding it and keeping the photo as a memory.

To archive these items, make sure you label each item with the child's name and age and the date. Usually we recommend using one large plastic bin for each child’s work. For larger items, the Container Store sells art portfolios that store easily behind a shelving unit or under a bed.

Don’t fall into the trap of feeling like you need to keep it all! It’s not realistic to keep every scribble. Taking just a few moments to organize the masterpieces will provide many memories for years to come.

Austin Pernanent Nanny Virginia		Austin Temporary Nanny Amy
Virginia recently completed a short-term nanny position with an MBF family. She has her Ph.D. from the University of Texas in Educational Psychology. She was a principal for Sacred Heart Church School for over five years and has served on their school board. She has years of sitter experience, and she is a grandmother of a 5 and 8 year old. She has worked with all ages of children over the years in school. She adores children and has a deep passion for them.		Amy has been both a full-time professional nanny and a temporary nanny. She holds her masters degree in Family and Child Studies from Texas State University. She has also assisted in teaching Child Development classes at Austin Community College. Amy is very outgoing and she does an excellent job interacting with all children. She has experience with all ages and always arrives at a job prepared with activities and games!