Nannies & Babysitters

If you care for children in a private home, your entitlement to minimum wage and overtime pay depends on whether your work is regular or casual.

Full-Time Nanny

Nannies and babysitters provide care, supervision, and protection for infants and children in or about the private home where the children live, at any time during the day or night.

This category generally does not include services provided by trained professionals, such as nurses, whose primary duties involve specialized medical care. However, workers employed in a private household may still qualify as domestic workers even if they are not considered casual babysitters.

If any of the following apply, you are entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay:

  • Babysitting is your full-time occupation;
  • Employed by an employer or agency other than the family; or
  • You regularly work over 20 hours per week as a babysitter.

Your Rights:

  • Minimum wage: $17.00 per hour in New York City, and in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties; $16 per hour throughout the rest of New York State.
  • Overtime Pay: One and one-half times your regular rate for all hours worked beyond 44 hours in a 7-day workweek.
  • Weekly pay: Wages must be paid every week.
  • Wage Information: You are entitled to receive a wage notice at hire and weekly wage statements both in English and your primary language.
  • Weekly Rest Periods: At least 24 consecutive hours of rest each week. If you voluntarily work on your designated rest day, those hours must be paid at the overtime rate.
  • Paid Rest Days: After one year of employment, you are entitled to three paid rest days each year.
  • Meal Breaks: If you work a shift of more than 6 hours on any day, you are entitled to at least 30
    minutes free from duty for a meal period. The employer does not have to pay you for
    this time. If your employer gives you short (10 to 15 minute) breaks, these are
    considered time worked and cannot be deducted from your pay.

Casual Babysitter

Babysitters who work on an irregular or intermittent basis, typically fewer than 20 hours per week, and who do not rely on babysitting as their main source of income are considered casual employees and are not entitled to minimum wage or overtime pay.

What about non-childcare household work?

A casual babysitter may perform some household duties that are not related to caring for the children, such as cooking and laundry. However, if those duties exceed 20% of the total hours worked on a particular babysitting assignment, you are employed on a “non-casual basis” and entitled to minimum wage and overtime for those hours.

I care for children in my own home

This is considered non-covered employment under domestic worker law — but may be classified as daycare and subject to different licensing and regulations.

Related resources

Resources

Related blog content

Blog posts

No blog posts are tagged for this category yet.

Need an attorney?

Need help understanding how these rules apply to you?

Contact Pechman Law Group for a confidential consultation.