Unpaid childcare expected after agreeing to stay
Looking for perspective from other nannies because I need to know if I’m being unreasonable or if this is actually as off as it feels.
I work for a family whose position is ending on June 1st. Originally, the plan aligned with their move to the suburbs since the commute would go from about 5 minutes to roughly 45+ minutes each way. My lease also ends around the same time, so the timing actually worked out for me.
Recently, their move date was moved earlier, but my job end date is still June 1st.
MB mentioned I could stay with them in their new house until June 1st (I’m going on vacation for a few weeks after that and didn’t want to sign a new lease just for a short gap). At first, it sounded like a simple, mutually beneficial offer.
Then things started shifting.
Two weeks after that conversation, she asked if I could watch NK outside of my working hours without additional pay. I said yes in the moment because I felt kind of put on the spot.
A couple days later, she followed up saying I wouldn’t be charged for staying there, and then added that it would be helpful if I could also help with childcare while they unpack during non-working hours, again unpaid.
What’s throwing me off is that it keeps changing and getting added onto, when none of this was laid out clearly from the beginning. It feels less like a simple place to stay and more like “we’ll figure out the expectations as we go,” which makes it hard to actually agree to anything.
For context, they recently bought a house that was close to $2 million.
I’m honestly just pissed. We’re both a week out from moving from our places. If I knew they would try to take advantage of me earlier I could’ve just rented a new place but now it’s too soon to rent somewhere. Now I have to find someone to stay with or ask them to not take advantage of this situation and pay me for my work.