| SEPTEMBER 2008 ISSUE:
Message from Kathy | Announcements | MBF Calendar & Special Events
Tax Tips From Breedlove and Associates | Ask the Expert | MBF In the News
MBF Superstars | What Clients and Nannies are Saying | Serving the Community  Well, it’s that time again…back to school!
First off, I hope you and your families are recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. Please let us know if we can accommodate your needs during the process of getting your families back to normalcy. No more lazy days of summer! On one hand, it’s tough to get back into that strict schedule with definitive deadlines. On the other, it’s a relief to have some renewed sense of structure to guide your days! By now, you have most likely made your childcare arrangements for the fall if you have little ones still at home or bigger ones that need afterschool care, but what happens when you have a sick child or those arrangements temporarily break down? Mom’s Best Friend has continued to grow in the area of corporate emergency backup childcare and now a significant piece of our business is working with businesses, as well as individual client families. We work with more than 20 companies in Texas, helping families get to work with significant subsidization from their employers. These companies typically provide 80-100 hours of backup care to all employees, to be used in the event that the employee would have to miss work to care for a dependent, whether that be an elderly parent or a young child. Approximately 10% of companies nationwide are now offering some version of backup care as a part of their benefits package. Companies are starting to recognize the need to support their workers on both a personal and professional level. They also want to attract female executives, decrease absenteeism and increase retention, etc. While a sick child will want Mom initially, a transition period exists where the child is on the mend but has not yet been fever free for 24 hours. This is when our backup care serves to fill the gap. A regular nanny is sick or on vacation, a child is on a daycare waitlist for a few weeks, a school holiday falls on a day that parents have to work …these are some of the many scenarios in which a parent may choose to take advantage of this benefit. If you are already one of the fortunate employees to have this benefit at your workplace, don’t forget to schedule and utilize your hours before the end of the year, for any upcoming days you know you might need help. If you do not already have this benefit and would like more information, or a proposal to add this to your company’s benefits plan, please email leanna.hart@mbfagency.com. As a client member, you can also personally take advantage of our emergency pager for last-minute needs and reach us after hours (from 6am until 9pm Mondays through Fridays and 9am-9pm Saturdays and Sundays). Good luck with your school year and let us know how Mom’s Best Friend can help you! Kathy Dupuy, Owner
Transitioning Your Nanny to Part-time Now that School Has Started
Before you reduce your nanny's hours, read this helpful best practices article about after-school nannies.
New Website
We have recently created a new Mom's Best Friend website which we believe provides greater usability through a cleaner, newly organized design, complete with localized information. Below are several quick links to explore: Houston Home | Frequently Asked Questions | Staff Introductions
Charity Program | Testimonials | Book a Sitter Form
Feedback Form | Request Information Form Four-Day Work Week
As the cost of gas rises, our office has instituted a four-day work week along with many other local companies. This helps many of our staff who commute from all over the area. We are still open five days per week (half of our staff works M-Th for 10 hrs/day, the other half T-F for 10 hrs/day), and each person has a backup staff member here in the office to field inquiries and manage any issues that might arise.Thus, the changes have been made with little impact to our clients and candidates. We appreciate your patience as we adjust to this new schedule.
Remember to book your sitter for the following school holidays:
- September 26: Holiday-Ft. Bend ISD
- October 2: Early Dismissal- Ft. Bend ISD
- October 9: Fall Holiday-Houston ISD
- October 10: Staff Development Day-Aldine ISD
- October 13: Columbus Day- Magnolia ISD, Tomball ISD, Klein ISD, Conroe ISD, Humble ISD, Spring ISD, Aldine ISD, North Forest ISD, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, Spring Branch ISD, Alief ISD, Pearland ISD
- October 23-24: Early Dismissal-Spring Branch ISD
- October 31: Early Dismissal Day-Galena Park ISD
- November 4: Student Holiday-Klein ISD, Spring ISD, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, Pasadena ISD
Q:My nanny drives her own car on the job. How does mileage reimbursement work?  A: The IRS has a mileage reimbursement rate which is designed to cover the cost of gasoline plus general wear and tear on the car. With gas prices being sky high, Congress recently passed a mid-year adjustment – raising the reimbursement rate from 50.5 cents per mile to 58.5 cents per mile.
Therefore, your employee should log her miles and turn them into you prior to payday. If she drove 100 miles this pay period, then you would add $58.50 to her paycheck. This compensation is not taxable, so neither you nor your employee would owe any taxes on this portion of her pay. If you have any questions about mileage reimbursement – or any other tax or labor law issue – just give us a call at 1-888-273-3356 or visit us online at www.breedlove-online.com. As a client of MBF Agency, we’re happy to provide you with a complimentary phone consultation.  Founded in 1992 — by household employers for household employers — Breedlove & Associates is a full-service, full-support tax & payroll service. They have served more than 11,000 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.
Q: My nanny’s annual raise evaluation is coming up and I don’t really know how much of a raise to give her. Can you give me some pointers to keep in mind when making this decision? A: Congratulations on a successful first year! If you are talking about renewing your contract, that’s a good sign that things are going well. Following are some recommendations for your review. Make sure to provide your nanny with some homework prior to your review date so she can prepare well for your time together. I would encourage her to include such agenda items as how she has met the goals you all jointly established for her position and each of the children in her care, as well as caring for the household if applicable. (Note: if you did not previously establish any such goals, now is a good time to start). Ask her to evaluate herself against these areas and so she can let you know how she thinks she is doing. You then have the chance to let her know how you think she is doing in these areas. If you are in agreement that she is meeting or exceeding these goals, you should factor that into your decision about how much of a raise to provide her.  These are tough times economically for some so you may want to brainstorm about non-financial perks that you can provide if you are unable to provide the raise you believe she merits. Some great non-salary perks include some type of savings plan, a health club membership, contribution toward her health insurance policy, extra time off, or a slight reduction in hours (in lieu of a raise). Mom’s Best Friend has recently implemented a 4 day work week in our office to save on commuting costs, also netting a 2 hour a week reduction in hours, effectively giving our staff a “raise.”
Even though your nanny is working in your home (and not in sales job), you can still provide incentives for meeting certain agreed upon goals, whether it’s a “bounty” for a one-time goal (ex. potty training) or a pay raise (mid-year) upon completion of a specific goal for a certain length of time. Studies show that salary increases based upon merit or job performance are much more meaningful than a certain dollar figure that simply factors in cost of living increases. With all that prefaced, typical market salaries for nannies in Texas currently range between $12-15+ per hour (based mostly on the education and experience of your nanny, her expected job duties, and the number and ages of the children in her care). If your nanny is being paid less than this average, I recommend bumping her up right away to remain competitive and gain her loyalty so neither of you will be in the position of finding a replacement anytime soon. Next, determine her worth to your family based upon her and your review of her performance in the job. Annually, most families provide an increase which is the greater of at least a $1 per hour or the equivalent of 5-10% of her annual salary. Then make sure to set expectations and goals moving forward so she knows what exceeding expectations means to you and make sure to review monthly during your one on one meetings. Our family just went through annual evaluations with our nannies, and the most important job to me was communicating my appreciation for all they do for my family! The kids made special cards (I wrote a letter), picked out a special gift, took them out for a special dinner and made sure to communicate how loved and priceless they are to our family! Good luck in your evaluation and let us know how we can continue to support you! Kathy Dupuy, Owner
 Exhausted parents turn to night nannies to catch some Zzz's
Mom’s Best Friend was quoted in a recent San Antonio Express article about night nannies.
August 23, 2008
New Background Check Does Work for Parents
Mom’s Best Friend was featured on CBS News regarding the exceptional new background checks provided by CSIdentity.
August 7, 2008 New Background Check Does Work for Parents
Tips for choosing a nanny and the description of Mom’s Best Friend’s new stringent background checks provided by CSIdentity as featured on Fox News.
August 6, 2008
| | | | | | | | | Courtney has been a temporary nanny for the same family since 2003. She enjoys play time, taking the kids to and from activities, making sure they get their homework done, and helping in any way possible. She has experience working with multiple children at one time. Most of experience is with taking care of toddlers through school aged children and teenagers. One of her references couldn't say nicer things about her including, " She is always available, always went above and beyond her ''normal' duties, absolutely no complaints, and she has a great attitude towards children". | | Carla is a fantastic caregiver who has been both a teacher and a babysitter for many families. She has worked with newborns, as well as school aged children, helping with all duties related to the children. One of Carla's references raved that Carla is "very proactive and communicates well", that she "always has projects" for the children, and that she is "considerate towards children's feelings". Carla is currently attending Texas Southern University. |
 Jenny was great with my son. She did great activities with him and he really liked her and looked forward to her coming. --Jennifer Despins, Sitter Client
Everyone that I met with and worked with at MBF was amazing! I was very impressed by how helpful, organized, professional, kind and caring everyone was. –-Christiana Elmer, Nanny I was very pleased with the permanent placement experience. Kate Joubert was very responsive, and worked very quickly to find nannies to interview. She was very open about the process. –-Juliet Davis, Nanny Client
 Our staff recently spent a Friday afternoon with the girls at The Settlement Home.
Together we painted wooden animals and flowers to create fun decorations for their rooms! We also got their creative juices flowing as they built and created an edible snack with graham cracker, icing and some fun candy!
| <>