Stingy mom tries to shortchange nanny for $12.50, gets charged with malicious compliance: 'The total amount they owed was almost $2000'

Author image for Ally Perry
Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
May 31, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

It's a badly kept secret that a big part of the reason that rich people stay rich is that they often don't like to spend money. This is especially true when it comes to all the services they pay for. Why give the help a living wage if you can get them to work for the bare minimum?

You might think that monied parents would make an exception for those who take care of their kids, but according to one nanny on Reddit that could not be further from the truth. Explaining how a mom whose son she cared for tried to dispute paying her an extra $12.50 for overtime, she revealed how she swiftly got her own back in a way that was far more costly to the stingy parents she worked for. It's no surprise that all of Reddit applauded her canny efforts to receive a fair paycheck. 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 9929594368
    via Thiago Cerqueira
  • 02
    Mom splits hairs with nanny to save a few dollars and ends up backpaying hundreds
    via meowasaurus
  • 03
    tl;dr: Family I'm working for admonished me for charging them an extra $12.50 that they technically owed, so in the interest of accuracy, I tracked hours that I generously chose not to charge them and they ended up paying hundreds back to me.
    via meowasaurus
  • 04
    Karen and Ken are wealthy and extremely stingy. Their kid is Bob. Henry is an extremely sweet, generous single dad who lost his husband a few years ago and dotes on his kid Steve
    via meowasaurus
  • 05
    I have been a nanny for several years now and for the most part, I've worked with lovely, reasonable families. I have contracts for every family that guarantees the hours that I work, meaning if a family goes on vacation, I still get paid because I'm technically available to work but they chose not to use my services. Think gym membership where you pay regardless of whether you've been to the gym in a month. This is standard on nanny contracts. Another bit on my contract is called the nanny shar
    via meowasaurus
  • 06
    Karen and Ken's family went to Hawaii three weeks ago, and per my contract, I was to be paid as usual. Before they left, they asked if I could come in and watch the Bob the Sunday after they returned so that they could recover and rest. I agreed and my hours were set at 8 am-4 pm that Sunday. They went on the trip, everything was wonderful, and they texted me when they landed saying they would see me at 8 am. The next day, when I was about to head out the door at 7:30 am, I received a text sayin
    via meowasaurus
  • 07
    The week finished, and I ended up staying an extra 8 hours total for the two date nights. I asked Ken to pay me for 16 hours but he said he had to talk to Karen first to double check hours and would pay me shortly. When I got home, I received a text from Karen saying. "Hi Meowsasaurus, thank you so much for covering for us these past few weeks. Ken and I are feeling refreshed and the show was HILARIOUS. Since we were in Hawaii, you were paid for an entire week while you weren't working. We don't
    via meowasaurus
  • 08
    I was furious. I screenshotted the part of my contract that plainly stated I would be paid for any hours that their family was on vacation, and I reminded her that it was in violation of contract. She reluctantly agreed, and I texted that it would be a total of 16 hours. Karen instantly replied and WENT OFF, texting "On Sunday, we asked you to come in at 8:30, not 8. We are already being generous and paying you for the holiday we took. We expect you to track your hours better next time. This is
    via meowasaurus
  • 09
    Bob has been tagging along with Steve and me to music class and soccer twice a week outside of Karen's regular contracted hours since January. Karen has never offered to pay for those hours, but Henry was fine with paying his full rate for those hours because Steve was having trouble making friends at school and had become close to Bob. I chose not to say anything about the slight bump in pay because I loved watching them play together. MALICIOUS COMPLIANCE TIME. As Karen stated, I needed to be
    via meowasaurus
  • 10
    Henry replied, "Karen and Ken, I am so disappointed to hear that Meowsasaurus hasn't been compensated properly this entire time. I don't need my hours to be refunded for those hours bc I wanted Steve to continue his playdates but you need to pay Meowsasaurus's portion immediately"
    via meowasaurus
  • 11
    I got a huge chunk of money I wasn't expecting, and I am now on the hunt for my next nanny family. I'll be putting my 2 weeks notice with Karen and Ken as soon as I do.
    via meowasaurus
  • 12
    Edit: replaced acronyms with fake names Edit 2: I'm overwhelmed by all the support by you all THANK YOU!! I was afraid I was overstepping but I'm glad I did it. Off to work now, Steve and I are going hiking today to look for different kinds of birds! Edit 3: Steve's grandparents spontaneously decided to take him out for the morning so I have some free time. I told Henry about the post and he's here now. He says hi!
    via meowasaurus
  • 13
    coberh 23h ago Why off the nanny? It's really hard to find a good one.
    via coberh
  • 14
    • lilium_x 22h ago Rule 1: Don't be an AH to anyone Rule 2: Really really don't be an AH to (i) Your childcare; (ii) The person bringing you food; (iii) The office admin Rule 1 is basic manners, Rule 2 is basic self-preservation!
    via lilium_x
  • 15
    moonahmoonah • 22h ago If there's anything I've learned from being a parent for the past 10 years, it's that you DO NOT nickle and dime your babysitter/nanny/caregiver. Ever. And be GENEROUS. You pay them well, pay them on time, treat them well, and they will always show up. Especially if you are fortunate enough to afford it!
    via moonahmoonah
  • 16
    SoulRebel726 • 19h ago Right? The welfare of my child is everything, what a ridiculous thing to cut financial corners on. They can afford go to Hawaii but want to be stingy with the person who holds their child's wellbeing in their hands?
    via SoulRebel726
  • 17
    upset_pachyderm • 23h ago Good for you! It doesn't matter what kind of work you do, wage theft is unacceptable. If they can afford a nanny and vacations in Hawaii, they can certainly afford to pay you your contracted hours.
    via upset_pachyderm
  • 18
    killerteacell ⚫22h ago Also, I caught that she refers to your services as "babysitting", which shows how much she doesn't respect your profession.
    via killerteacell
  • 19
    meowsasaurus OP ⚫ 22h ago Holy you're right. I didn't even catch that!!! I've just realized they've never referred to me as a nanny even though I call myself that and Henry calls me that!
    via meowasaurus
  • 20
    AquaticStoner 1996 • 21h ago If I was in this situation, and i found a new job and quit, I'd be petty and say as I was leaving "imagine if you hadn't been stingy unkind people and just paid me the less than 20$ dollars you were supposed to."
    via AquaticStoner1996

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Tags

malicious compliance petty revenge nanny parenting stingy rich people Reddit mom money son
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