Legal Question in Business Law in California

I suggest you contact the Industrial Welfare Commission in your area for an opinion based upon further specifics. The minimum wage in California was $8.00 an hour starting 1/1/2008, and your schedule suggests there may be time-and-a-half owed for on-duty time in excess of eight hours per shift or 40 hours per week, but there may be exceptions for off-duty time during the night that might apply in your case.

California's minimum wage is $8.00 per hour, as Mr. Whipple points out. Nannies are governed by Industrial Wage Order # 15, which you can find here: http://www.dir.ca.gov/IWC/IWCArticle15.pdf

Of pertinence to your question is section 10, on page 7 of that order. That section provides that meals "or lodging may not be credited against the minimum wage without a voluntary written agreement between the employer and the employee." If it is credited, it is subject to the limitations set forth in that section.

Industrial Wage Order 15 doesn�t use the term �nannies,� but defines �Personal Attendants� as babysitters and �any person employed by a private householder or by any third party employer recognized in the health care industry to work in a private household, to supervise, feed, or dress a child�� (California Code of Regulations, Title 8, Section 11150(2)(J)). Certain provisions of the Order apply to Personal Attendants, while others do not. (C.C.R. 11150(1)(B)). Casual babysitting, as opposed to �nanny-ing,� is not subject to the minimum wage and overtime issues.

If a nanny spends 20% or more of his time performing household chores other than supervising, feeding, or dressing a child, he is no longer considered a Personal Attendant and must be paid overtime.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (�FLSA�), nannies are entitled to overtime if they work more than 40 hours per week (29 Code of Federal Regulations section 552).

I would be on the safe side, and provide overtime, without getting into a dispute over whether the nanny is doing household chores, or just watching the children.