The rights every nanny should recognize
Minimum wage
NYC’s general minimum wage is $17 per hour as of January 1, 2026. A professional nanny rate may—and often should—be higher.
Overtime pay
Live-out domestic workers generally receive 1.5 times their regular rate after 40 hours in a week. For workers who live in the employer’s home, the threshold is generally 44 hours.
Rest and protected time
Domestic workers have weekly-rest protections. NYC law also provides covered workers protected time off for health, safety, childcare, appointments, and other qualifying needs.
Freedom from discrimination
NYC employment protections cover most full-time and part-time domestic workers, including nannies, and prohibit discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.
Guaranteed hours protect a nanny’s livelihood
If a written contract guarantees a nanny 10 paid hours each day, the family should pay all 10 hours when the nanny is ready and available to work—even when the family sends the nanny home after eight or nine hours, no longer needs care that day, takes a vacation, or changes its plans.
Guaranteed hours reserve the nanny’s availability. They are not “banked” so a family can subtract two hours today and add them to another day or week without additional pay. Hours actually worked beyond the guaranteed schedule must still be paid, and overtime rules still apply.
Your pay and hours must be counted correctly
Keep your own record of each day’s start time, end time, breaks, and pay. Your regular hourly rate cannot fall below the applicable minimum wage. Overtime is calculated by the workweek—not averaged across two weeks—and a flat weekly salary should not be used to erase overtime that is owed.
Example: A live-out nanny earning $32 per hour who works 45 hours generally has 40 regular hours plus five overtime hours paid at $48 per hour.
You should receive clear written pay information
New York employers generally must provide a written notice showing the rate of pay and regular payday, in English and in the worker’s primary language when an official translation is available. Pay records should clearly show the hours and wages used to calculate each payment.
A separate written work agreement is also strongly recommended. It should confirm guaranteed hours, duties, overtime, paid time off, transportation, travel, overnight care, cancellation rules, and how either side can end the job.
You have rest and leave protections
New York’s Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights provides a 24-hour day of rest every seven days, or overtime pay when a worker voluntarily agrees to work that day. After one year with the same employer, a domestic worker is entitled to three paid days of rest each year.
NYC’s expanded Protected Time Off Law provides covered employees up to 40 or 56 hours of paid protected time off, depending on the employer, plus 32 hours of unpaid protected time off available from the beginning of employment. Qualifying uses include health needs, medical care, safety, childcare, certain public-benefit or housing matters, and specified emergencies. Separate paid prenatal leave may also apply.
Harassment, discrimination, and retaliation are not acceptable
The NYC Human Rights Law covers most full-time and part-time domestic workers. A household employing even one domestic worker can have responsibilities under the law. A nanny cannot legally be discriminated against or harassed because of protected characteristics such as race, color, national origin, immigration or citizenship status, religion, gender, pregnancy, disability, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Retaliation can include firing, cutting hours, threatening, intimidating, or otherwise punishing a worker for asking about legal rights, opposing discrimination, or making a protected complaint.
Cash or off-the-books pay does not make the work invisible
A nanny may still have wage and workplace protections even when paid in cash or without formal payroll. Write down the schedule, agreed rate, duties, payments received, and important messages. Save copies somewhere the employer cannot access.
Tax, immigration, and employment issues can overlap, so confidential advice from a qualified worker organization or attorney may be helpful for an individual situation.
Where to get help
What happens when the family changes the schedule?
The family comes home two hours early. Should I lose two hours of pay?
If your agreement guarantees a 10-hour day and you remained available to work, the community standard is that you receive all 10 hours of pay. Guaranteed hours are contractual, so the written wording matters.
What if the family takes a vacation?
When you reserved the guaranteed schedule and remain ready to work, the family’s vacation generally should not reduce the contracted pay. The agreement should say this directly.
Can unused guaranteed hours be moved to another day?
Guaranteed hours should not become an hour bank. Hours not used by the family on Tuesday should not be shifted to Saturday without following the agreement and applicable overtime rules.
Are guaranteed hours legally required?
Guaranteed hours are usually a negotiated contract benefit, not a substitute for statutory minimum wage or overtime. Put them in writing so both sides understand cancellations, vacations, early dismissal, and nanny-requested leave.