How to Approve Your Nanny's Hours: A Weekly Routine

To approve your nanny's hours, compare what she logged with the schedule you agreed on. Settle any difference in writing before payday, then save the approved record. Do this weekly, not at the end of the month. The legal responsibility for accurate records rests with you as the employer, even when your nanny is the one who enters the times.

This guide walks through the routine step by step. It covers what to look at, how to handle guaranteed hours, late nights and overtime, and what to keep on file. You will also find the points that most often cause friction between families and nannies.

TL;DR

• Review hours once a week, on the same day, while the week is still fresh for both of you.
• Check each entry against the agreed schedule, then approve it or write down the reason for a change.
• Hours "worked" include time your nanny must stay available, not only time spent actively with the children.
• Keep dated records. Federal rules require employers to keep them, and no special form is required.
• A shared app or a simple timesheet works. What matters is that both of you can see the same numbers.

Table of Contents

• Why approving hours is your job, not just your nanny's
• A weekly approval routine in six steps
• What counts as hours worked
• Guaranteed hours: approving hours she didn't work
• Write the rules down before the first week
• What to keep, and for how long
• Paper, spreadsheet or app?
• Our perspective
• Where Caretracker fits
• Common problems and how to handle them
• FAQ
• Sources

Why approving hours is your job, not just your nanny's

Many families assume a nanny's own report of her hours is enough. In practice, the duty to keep accurate records sits with the employer. The U.S. Department of Labor says employers covered by the FLSA must make, keep and preserve records for each domestic service worker entitled to minimum wage or overtime. The law requires no particular form, but the records must be complete and accurate. A dated written log, even a handwritten one, is stronger than a verbal "sounds right."

Approval is how you turn your nanny's log into your record. When you sign off each week, you confirm the numbers and create a paper trail. That helps in three situations:

1. A pay disagreement. If you remember 38 hours and she remembers 42, an approved weekly record settles it quickly.
2. Tax time. Wages paid have to match what you report. See our guide on how to calculate nanny taxes.
3. A back-pay claim. If a dispute ever goes further, your records are your evidence. The Department of Labor's recordkeeping guidance points to employer.gov's recordkeeping page for what to keep.

Hand in Hand, the national network for domestic employers, describes tracking hours as a small, shared investment of time. In its Human Resources 101 guide, it says that both sides should have ready access to copies. It builds trust and gives you a clear reference point when something goes wrong.

A weekly approval routine in six steps

The routine below takes about ten minutes. Pick one day, such as Friday evening or Sunday night, and keep it.

1. Have your nanny log hours daily

Ask her to enter start and end times each day, not to reconstruct the week from memory on Friday. Daily entries are more accurate, and they are easier to defend later. If you use a paper log or spreadsheet, put it somewhere she can reach it without asking. If you want a ready-made layout, our nanny timesheet template covers the columns you need.

2. Compare the log with the agreed schedule

Open your work agreement or schedule next to the log. Look for:

• Days where start or end times differ from the plan
• Extra evenings, early arrivals or a late pickup
• Scheduled days with no hours logged (a sick child, a holiday, a day off)
• Unusually round numbers every day, which can mean times were estimated

If you keep a recurring weekly plan, a nanny schedule template makes this comparison faster, because each deviation stands out.

3. Ask about every difference the same day

Keep the tone neutral. "I see you stayed until 7:15 on Tuesday. Was that the late meeting?" is a question, not an accusation. Most differences have a simple cause. Your nanny should never feel that asking for pay for time worked is an imposition.

4. Decide whether the extra time was requested

This is where families often get stuck. If you asked for the extra time, or you knew she was staying and allowed it, it is work time and it gets paid. A good habit is to approve schedule changes before they happen, by message or in an app, so that the log never contains surprises.

5. Approve, or note the change

Write "approved" with the date, or write the adjusted figure and the reason. If your nanny disagrees with a change, talk it through before payday. Do not quietly shorten her hours.

6. Total the week and calculate overtime

Add regular and overtime hours separately. Under the FLSA, overtime for covered domestic workers is owed for hours over 40 in a workweek. Your state may have its own, stricter rules. Our nanny overtime by state guide is a good place to check yours. The full rules are in our post on nanny overtime rules and time tracking fixes.

What counts as hours worked

The most common approval mistake is counting only the time your nanny is actively doing something. The Department of Labor's hours worked fact sheet explains that an employee is working when she is on duty, even if she is idle, waiting for the next task or relaxing at home while required to stay available. This is called being "engaged to wait."

Time stops counting only when she is completely relieved of duty and can use the time for her own purposes.

Here is how that looks in a normal week:

The table is a general guide. For an unusual case, such as a long trip, read the fact sheet or ask a payroll specialist before you decide.

Live-in nannies and overnight hours

For live-in nannies, you and your employee may agree in writing to exclude reasonable meal and sleep periods. The Department of Labor says that agreement must be reasonable. If her rest is regularly interrupted, that time must be counted as work. If the real hours keep differing from the agreement, update the written document. If you don't, you can still owe pay for all hours actually worked, according to Fact Sheet #79B.

So the weekly review should include a quick question for live-in nannies: "Did you get your full sleep and meal breaks this week?" Our guide to overnight sleep time rules for nannies goes into more detail.

Guaranteed hours: approving hours she didn't work

The search results for this topic are dominated by guaranteed hours, and for good reason. Many nanny agreements promise a set number of paid hours each week, such as 35 or 40, whether or not the family uses all of them. If you cancel a day, the guaranteed pay still applies.

How to handle it at approval time:

• Put it in writing. The agreement should state the guaranteed number, the hourly rate and what happens when you travel or the children are sick.
• Log guaranteed-but-unworked hours separately. Label them "guaranteed, not worked." This keeps your record honest and makes overtime easy to calculate, since overtime depends on hours actually worked.
• Don't "bank" hours informally. Letting your nanny work 30 hours one week and 50 the next to average out can create overtime problems. Ask a payroll specialist before you set up anything like it.

Guaranteed hours are an agreement between you and your nanny, not a federal requirement. That is why the contract matters more than any app or template.

Write the rules down before the first week

Hand in Hand notes that a formal written agreement is one of the most effective ways to avoid disputes. For hours, your agreement should say:

1. The regular weekly schedule and the hourly rate
2. What counts as off-duty time
3. How overtime is calculated and who must approve it in advance
4. How your nanny asks for time off
5. When the weekly review happens and how disagreements are raised
6. How reimbursements, such as for groceries or activities, are submitted and approved

Clear off-duty boundaries prevent the "engaged to wait" problem, where a family accidentally owes pay for idle time because no one ever defined it.

What to keep, and for how long

The Department of Labor's recordkeeping guidance says you should keep, for each domestic worker:

• Her name, address and the hours worked each day and week
• Her wage rate and total wages paid each pay period
• Evidence of any overtime paid
• For live-in workers, the written agreement on excluded meal and sleep time

General payroll records should be kept for at least three years, and records used to compute pay, such as time cards and schedules, for two. Many families simply keep everything for three years to be safe.

If you pay cash wages of $3,000 or more in a year to a household employee, you must also withhold and pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, according to the IRS household employer guidance. Approved hours are the starting point for those figures. If you are building a payroll process from scratch, this overview of setting up payroll in seven steps explains the general workflow, though it is written for small businesses rather than households.

Paper, spreadsheet or app?

Any method works if it is dated, complete and visible to both of you. Here is an honest comparison by type:

The more your schedule changes, the more an app helps. Hours vary, a second family may share the nanny, and weekly totals matter for overtime.

Our perspective

We built Caretracker because we kept seeing the same pattern. A nanny and a family both act in good faith, but the hours live in two heads, a few text threads and a notes app. By Friday nobody is sure of the total, and an honest question starts to feel like a confrontation.

We think hours approval should be boring. Your nanny records her time as she works. You see the same weekly numbers. Anything unusual is settled in the open, before payday. That is why the app is free for nannies and caregivers: the person doing the work should not pay to keep an accurate record of it.

From the families we work with, the paying side is rarely about the timer. It is the questions around it. What do we owe for overtime in our state? How do we handle hours we never reported properly? We offer consultations for exactly that, because household employment is simple to start and easy to get wrong.

Our advice is the same every time: agree on the rules in writing, approve weekly, and keep the records.

— mercedes

Where Caretracker fits

Caretracker is a mobile app for nannies and caregivers to track work hours, view all their jobs in one calendar, and receive and approve schedule requests. It also handles time-off and reimbursement requests, supports state-specific pay period and overtime tracking, and generates flexible reports. It is free for caregivers. You can see it on our Nanny Time Tracking page or at thecaretracker.com.

If your records are already messy, or you are not sure you have paid overtime and taxes correctly, we offer a Standard Payroll Consultation package for $150 one-off, and a premium consultation, also $150 one-off, on our payroll consultation page. The same page covers our prior wage reporting and household payroll cleanup services.

Common problems and how to handle them

Your nanny's log and your memory disagree

Start with the evidence: the schedule, messages about changes, and any entries from earlier in the week. If there is no evidence either way, discuss it calmly and err toward paying for time she says she worked, then add a schedule-change rule so it does not repeat.

She regularly runs over at the end of the day

This is a schedule issue, not a log issue. If your commute or meetings cause late pickups, adjust the agreed hours or require approval for any extension. Unrequested time that you knew about is still work time.

You want to "round" hours

Don't round in a way that always favors the household. Record actual start and end times, and total them exactly. A consistent habit of trimming minutes is a fast way to lose trust, and it can create wage problems.

You are juggling the bill

Childcare costs are high, and families often look at ways to reduce the net cost. Childcare.gov notes that employer-sponsored Dependent Care FSAs let workers pay for childcare with pre-tax dollars. Ask your employer's benefits team. If you are comparing a nanny to daycare, see our nanny vs daycare cost guide. When you do the math, budget around actual approved weekly pay. This paycheck budgeting method can help you plan for weekly or biweekly payroll.

FAQ

How often should I approve my nanny's hours?

Weekly is the best rhythm for most families. It matches how overtime is counted, since the federal rule looks at a workweek, and it keeps memories fresh. If you pay biweekly or semimonthly, still review weekly and approve the pay period total.

Do I have to approve hours if my nanny submits them herself?

Yes, in practice. The employer is responsible for accurate records, even if the employee fills them in. Approving the log each week confirms that you have reviewed it. Save a dated copy.

What if I disagree with the hours my nanny logged?

Talk to her the same day and compare the log with the schedule and any messages. Agree on a corrected figure and note the reason on the record. Do not change her pay without telling her. If you still can't agree, a payroll or employment specialist can help.

Do I pay for hours when I cancel and my nanny is ready to work?

That depends on your agreement. If you promised guaranteed hours, you owe them. If there is no written guarantee, rules differ by state, so put the policy in writing and ask a payroll specialist if you are unsure.

Sources

• Fact Sheet #79C: Recordkeeping Requirements, U.S. Department of Labor
• Fact Sheet #79D: Hours Worked, U.S. Department of Labor
• Fact Sheet #79B: Live-in Domestic Service Workers, U.S. Department of Labor
• Recordkeeping, Employer.gov
• Human Resources 101, Hand in Hand
• Topic no. 756, Employment taxes for household employees, IRS
• Child Care Financial Assistance Options, Childcare.gov

Recommended

• Parents: 48 Hours' Notice and Pay Rules for Nanny Schedule Changes
• Lock Guaranteed Hours: Nanny Share Schedule Templates for U.S. Families
• Nanny Weekly Report: Turn Daily Logs Into One Page
• Nanny Timesheet Template for Parents and Household Employers