Nanny arrangements re. holidays, sick days

DahliaFlower · November 2013

Hi Working Moms,

I haven't visited this board yet, but I'm sure I will be joining you more often in the near future

I am still on maternity leave for DS, 6 weeks old today.

I am wondering for those who have a nanny, do you allow your nanny paid holidays and sick days? I am just trying to get an idea of what the standard practice is. I have asked some friends and colleagues and gotten different responses.

TIA!

ricekez · November 2013

My nanny has the same paid holidays as DH and I have. We give her 10 paid personal days, of which 5 may be used whenever she needs for sick days or vacation an 5 should be coordinated with our vacation. Of course, if she gets really sick or has a family emergency, we're flexible.

nosoup4u · November 2013

Yes, she gets two weeks paid vacation (I teach, so it's two weeks school is out anyway), and five paid sick days per year. If DH or I unexpectedly take the day off, then we pay her for it as well.

DahliaFlower · November 2013

ricekez said:

My nanny has the same paid holidays as DH and I have. We give her 10 paid personal days, of which 5 may be used whenever she needs for sick days or vacation an 5 should be coordinated with our vacation. Of course, if she gets really sick or has a family emergency, we're flexible.

I can understand giving holidays that you have off. But how does it work if you are giving her personal days? Who watches your kids?

Personally, I do not get paid when I am not actually working and I also have to work on many federal holidays. It seems sort of odd to me to pay someone to take a day off on a day when I actually need someone to watch my son. Am I supposed to pay the nanny for a holiday and then pay someone else to watch my child? Over the course of the year, it seems like all these days off would add up to quite a lot of $$.. Am I wrong?

DahliaFlower · November 2013

@ricekez I just reread and saw you said her personal days coincide w/ your vacation.

VOR · November 2013

DahliaFlower said:
Personally, I do not get paid when I am not actually working and I also have to work on many federal holidays. It seems sort of odd to me to pay someone to take a day off on a day when I actually need someone to watch my son. Am I supposed to pay the nanny for a holiday and then pay someone else to watch my child? Over the course of the year, it seems like all these days off would add up to quite a lot of $$.. Am I wrong?

In the end it's up to you. If you don't want to offer personal days, that's fine. It's simply a perk that could be the determining factor between a nanny choosing to work for you over someone else.

Just realize that even nanny's have things (like dr appts) that can't coincide w/ your vacation/time off. They may need to take SOME time off during the year. Whether that's paid or not- again, up to you.

emilyec1 · November 2013

Our nanny has the same paid holidays that we do. The first year she asked for one week of paid vacation (our choice of the week). She said that she second year she requests 2 weeks paid vacation (one week our choice, one week hers). We also have days when we take off like a random day in between a weekend and holiday that we offer as an extra paid day off for her.

On the weeks she is not working, I take those weeks off (and my husband does too) so that we can enjoy a week of family time together.

emilyec1 · November 2013

I think too that sometimes it's hard arranging so many paid days for a person you don't know well and haven't really worked with yet. That's how we felt last year. However, over the first year our nanny really became a member of the family. We see how hard she's worked and how much she cares about our family (and that we care for her) and going into the second year we feel better about rewarding her for her hard work (both vacation-wise and financially) as much as we are able to do so.

emilyec1 · November 2013

Also @DahliaFlower congratulations on your new baby. I see from your signature that you've had a difficult journey and I know you'll find the right person and arrangements for your LO!!

Strunella · November 2013

We pretty much follow the same schedule as pps. Our nanny gets 10 vacation days -- 5 of our choosing and 5 of her choosing. She also gets all of our paid holidays, which includes a week at Christmas when my firm shuts down. She is going on vacation for 3 weeks in Dec./Jan. and will exceed her 10 days (all of which have been her choosing, not exactly our arrangement). The few extra days she's taking will be unpaid. Likewise, when we go on vacation for a week in April, I will not be paying her.

She also gets 3 sick days. You always have to have back-up anyway with a nanny because even if she's not taking a vacation day, things come up. We usually have MIL come over. My firm also has an emergency daycare which we have not had to use yet. If MIL can't watch DS for some reason, DH and I decide which one of us will stay home.

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Nanny arrangements re. holidays, sick days

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