Fair pay for fair work—it sounds like a simple, straightforward, and easy-to-understand concept, right? The sad reality is that there will always be some clients or organizations that try to weasel out of paying you what you’re owed. In those cases, you need to stand your ground and protect your interests.
Internet user u/SecretiveGurl went viral after turning to the AmITheJerk online community for advice. She revealed how a family that she usually babysits for suddenly tried to pay her less for her services because their baby slept through most of the evening when she was over. Naturally, this frustrated both the babysitter and a huge chunk of the internet. Scroll down for the full story. Meanwhile, Bored Panda has reached out to the author for comment, and we’ll update this article as soon as we hear back from her.
Babysitters ought to be paid for the time they work. Unfortunately, some parents have different ideas
Image credits: AnnaStills/Envato (not the actual photo)
A teenager asked for advice after sharing how one family tried to trick her to avoid paying the full amount of money she was owed
Image credits: valeriygoncharukphoto/Envato (not the actual photo)
Image credits: SecretiveGurl
It's unfair to babysitters if their clients suddenly start changing their mind at the last minute
Image credits: Andrej Lišakov/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
To be clear, whether or not someone’s child was asleep or awake has no impact on the amount of money you owe your babysitter. You’re hiring them for a service—looking after your child for a specific period of time. As long as they’re doing their job, they should get paid for every hour they’re there.
If your child has unique needs or you want to be very transparent about your expectations, then, as a parent, you should consider hiring a professional babysitter or drafting a contract with everything listed. Having a contract to fall back on might be good for the sitter, too, as it’s a clear indication of what they’re owed for their time.
Babysitters of Boulder encourages parents to change their perspective and not to think about a babysitter’s job as something that’s ‘easy.’ The parents often approach their interactions with the babysitters from a position of power and safety, and they should be more mindful of how difficult it can be for the people they hire to interact with them in some cases.
It is very important that everyone's on the same page when it comes to money and expectations
Image credits: Alexander Grey/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
“Most of us tend to believe that we are easier to work with than we truly are. We tend to think that we communicate more clearly than we actually do. Your sitter or nanny may misinterpret your instructions, or do something that irks you in a sincere attempt to be helpful,” the organization points out.
According to Babysitters of Boulder, when it comes to money, parents should:
- Pay their babysitters when they book and then cancel their services;
- Pay more when they have their babysitters supervise playdates or carpools;
- Not ask to pay later;
- Not forget to pay.
The name of the game is transparency and good communication. If you keep springing surprises on your babysitter, not only are you making things more difficult for them, but you’re also harming your interests. Soon, you might develop a reputation as a difficult family to work with and fewer people will want to babysit for you.
Meanwhile, trying to go back on your agreement with a teenage babysitter after they’ve already done what you asked is just plain unethical.
As the woman's post went more and more viral, people rushed to share their opinions and advice
Image credits: Wesley Tingey/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
After reading through many people's advice, the babysitter decided to stand up for herself. Here's her update
Luckily, after confiding in the AITJ online community and getting some genuinely useful advice, the babysitter decided to confront her clients and actually got what was owed her.
“I went back to their place and firmly asked for the full payment. You gave me the push I needed. I got what I was owed and won't be babysitting for that family again,” u/SecretiveGurl wrote in a small update.
The author’s post went massively viral, and it just goes to show that many people can’t stand workers being taken advantage of. At the time of writing, the author’s post had 28k upvotes and also garnered a whopping 9.2k comments.
What are your thoughts about the entire situation, dear Pandas? Have you ever worked as a babysitter? If so, what are some of the worst clients that you’ve ever had the ‘pleasure’ of babysitting for? Has a client or organization ever tried to trick you out of paying you what they owed you for your job, no matter the industry? We’d love to hear from you! You can share your thoughts in the comments below.
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