Negotiating pay for days off with Nanny

amajane · August 2009

DH works for a school and has the week of Thanksgiving off as well as a week off between Christmas and New Years. I will be taking a few days off around Christmas as well.

We have a full time nanny and when we hired her we made the agreement that we would pay her for the days that we had off that she would otherwise work- if we didn't give her 30 days notice. But as long as we gave 30 days we didn't have to pay her.

The times I have given 30 days notice, I can tell she's irritated. But it's never been more than 1 day per month. I can't imagine how she is going to react to us telling her this week that we won't need her for a whole week in November and December.

Do you think I should partly pay her for those weeks even though I am abiding by our agreement of giving her at least 30 days notice (hell, I'm giving 3 months notice!)? I know she'll be ok financially as she lives with her parents and doesn't pay rent.

kamcfarlane · August 2009

a contract is a contract is a contract (says the attorney in me). Smile

that being said, if you knew that there would be definite weeks off, i would have maybe mentioned it at the time of contracting. i would definitely mention it asap so that she can take that into account.

otherwise, i always try to keep DS's schedule pretty consistent so that we're paying, but that's because i think we're getting a good deal and our DC is super flexible and i don't want to take advantage of that. perhaps giving her a "holiday bonus" might make it better?

EastCoastBride · August 2009

We pay our nanny when we don't use her. It's not her fault that we are taking time off. Especially an entire week? Think about it- how would it affect you if you weren't paid for an entire week of work?

If SHE takes time off, then no, we don't pay her (unless it falls w/ in the 5 paid days off she gets). But if it's us doing it, we pay.

Honestly- we see it as building a good relationship. This person is taking care of our child and I want them to be fully happy w/ us and our arrangement.

DallasHorn · August 2009

I get 5 weeks off a year as does DH. There was no way I was going to offer to pay 5 weeks of time off for her. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but DH and I have been at our jobs 10+ years, so I feel this is a perk of our tenure and experience.

When we first hired our nanny (she'll hit 1 year in December), our contract stated she got 10 paid days off - 5 of her choosing, 5 of our choosing, plus 9 paid holidays.

Our nanny has already used up those 10 days. While I understand it's tough, in her previous job (at a child care center) I know she did not get paid holidays OR paid vacation time. I feel it's her job to manage her money accordingly. Again in her previous job, if she took off ANY day, it was without pay - - at least with us she gets 2 weeks of paid time off. We always give ample notice (for example, we are going to Disney for a week in September and we told her in early July).

The bottom line is that if DH and I were to go beyond those 5 weeks, they would NOT be paid by our employers, so I have a hard time understanding why on this board everyone seems to think you should pay your nanny beyond agreed to vacation time. Just my opionion - please no flames.

14years · August 2009

Do you have a paid vacation policy for her? If so, then I say stick with your contract this holiday season. It's sort of a wash, then, to me -- your get to pick two weeks to not pay her and she gets to pick two weeks to not work and get paid.

If you don't pay her for some vacation now, then I may consider giving her a bonus or paying her for those holiday weeks as some sort of "paid vacation." My fear is that (if you really like her) she will feel like she is getting the short end of the stick here now that she sees how the deal is working in practice and look somewhere else.

I agree with the pp that if you knew about these weeks before and didn't really mention it, your nanny could feel like you are taking advantage of the 30-day agreement. That agreement sounds to me like it would cover mostly a day here and there, not necessarily a full week. But I also don't think she should be irritated over a day here and there since that's what you agreed to.

Also, just because she's living with her parents doesn't mean she doesn't have any financial issues. My sister lives with our parents, but she's paying off all her student debt and trying to save for a house. To everyone else, it looks like she's fancy-free and not worried about money, but it's not really true.

JennaNAaron · August 2009

I'm a nanny, and I understand it is in your contract. In my contract they have to give me 3 weeks notice. However they have so far paid me for any days they have taken their child and not needed me..regardless. I know that we couldn't pay the bills if it was a whole WEEK without pay.

ETA: this sent before I was done. I would probably leave a family I was nannying for if they did this to me. It would scare me for the future with them.

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