San Diego families hire nannies for every kind of schedule, from hospital and biotech shifts to military families who move often. A good agency helps you find candidates. You still set the job, check the fit and follow the city’s own pay rules.
If your schedule shifts week to week, say so up front, and guarantee a set number of hours anyway. Unpredictable hours are one of the main reasons good nannies leave.
For military families, ask how the agency handles a move or deployment, and plan a respectful notice period in your agreement.
In most placements, you, not the agency, are the nanny’s employer. That makes the household-employment rules your responsibility.
San Diego’s minimum wage is higher than the state’s. Inside city limits it’s $17.75 an hour in 2026, rising to $18.35 on January 1, 2027. Other cities in the county follow the state rate unless they set their own.
Earned sick leave. The City of San Diego’s ordinance covers anyone who works at least 2 hours a week in the city, with no household-employer exemption listed, and accrues 1 hour per 30 hours worked. California’s statewide sick leave law also applies.
California overtime depends on the job. Under California’s Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, a nanny who spends at least 80% of her time caring for children counts as a “personal attendant” and earns overtime after 9 hours in a day or 45 in a week. A nanny with more housework falls under a different wage order, with overtime after 8 hours a day or 40 a week for live-out workers. That’s one reason to keep the job description honest.
No flat salary without hours. Because overtime applies, track hours and write an hourly rate into your agreement, even if you think of pay weekly.
Pay, tax and labor rules vary by state and city. This guide explains common practice; a household payroll provider, accountant or your state labor department can confirm what applies to you.
Tammy Gold, LCSW, spent years matching families with nannies before writing Secrets of the Nanny Whisperer (Penguin). Today she works beside families, and their agencies, as a neutral expert: defining the job, interviewing candidates, checking references and setting up the first 30 days.
Every agency describes itself as the best. These are the signals that separate a great one:
Many families find a great nanny without an agency, through referrals, local parent groups and job sites. You save the fee and take on the screening yourself: interviews, reference checks, a paid trial day and a written agreement. See how to hire a nanny.
Tammy Gold, LCSW, is not an agency and has no stake in which candidate you choose. By video, she works with families in San Diego and anywhere else: defining the job, reviewing candidates an agency sends, joining your interviews, and planning the first 30 days with your new nanny.
Keep the agency, or skip it, and add someone with no stake in which candidate you choose. $189 for an hour, by video.
$189
Screening call, reference questions, clinical interview, and trial-day checklist.
Download free ↓Questions first? Text (818) 308-1358 · info@caremapmethod.com
Tammy is not a placement agency and has no affiliation with, or financial interest in, any agency, daycare or payroll service. She provides independent expert guidance; decisions remain your family’s. Legal, tax and licensing questions belong with the appropriate professional or state agency.