Nanny holidays

Had a nanny for ten years. The same one. We discussed at the beginning of the year when I was taking mine and in her contract the majority of hers was taken at the same time.

Hi op , you need to make it clear to nanny that you need to make changes to her contract as it's no longer working for you .
Going forward she will be entitled to 28 day's holiday including bank holidays. You will then choose half each ,set what time scale for notice you think reasonable. This could be beginning of the holiday year ( my DS has to have his booked 1 month into his holiday year ) or you could say two months notice needed.
Tell her you then expect her to be available for work the weeks you're away ,as it's at your discretion if you call her in as your schedule could change, you fall ill ect .
You have been very generous to her in the past and she's now taking advantage. The reason you hire staff is to make your life easier not harder .

And I am not sure everyone understands the potential problems you may encounter if you have no employee contract and do not follow the law. Most/many staff will grumble about you breaking the law, but do nothing. You only need one to take you to industrial tribunal for you to incur a lot of cost and stress.
If you have a written contract that says the nanny gets 4 weeks paid annual leave, then you are legally giving them too little annual leave and they could sue you in the small claims court for the extra 8 days pay for every year they worked.
There is lots of good advice out there about the law with employees, just google.

Two months notice of the annual leave you want her to take is unlikely to be reasonable. Fixed annual leave is usually set in the contract or set at the beginning of the leave year.

It's really not.

Sounds like a very unusual Nanny job.

Snail and other PP are correct - 28 days including bank holidays - you can choose to give extra, bank holidays do not have to be taken on bank holidays and you can stipulate when holidays can be taken - during school holidays is a reasonable stipulation even if it makes your holiday costs more expensive... it may be part of the contract negotiation process. Employers can stipulate up to 100% of the annual leave days, though this is unusual, especially in nanny contracts.

Speak to ACAS - look on line for sample nanny contracts. https://www.care.com/c/en-gb/nanny-contract/.

When I was a nanny I chose half and they chose half. Now that you can see what she is doing I'd be firm. This can not happen anymore and if she tries it on I'd give notice tbh. She's taking the piss.

It is pretty standard to have some employer’s holiday choice in a Nanny Contract so this isn’t unreasonable at all.

Statutory Holiday for employees is 5.6 weeks per annum inclusive of bank holiday e.g 5.6 weeks x 5 working days per week = 28 days holiday per annum, just make sure to word it correctly in your contract and how many weeks holiday you will choose per annum and how much notice you require.

She can ask what she wants, she has no contract.

Get that pinned down. Wording needs to be something like "2 weeks of nanny's own choosing (with suitable notice) and 2 weeks of employers choosing (and we reserve the right to take this holiday during school holidays).

@Celticliving I'm completely in agreement that she can have 2 weeks out of term time. She wants 4 weeks- all of them out of term time. She wants to carry over her unused leave to take another week again out of term time. This doesn't seem fair does it? I usually have to arrange other cover for her as well.

I choose my 2 weeks in term time. I can't afford to go away on holiday during the school holidays.

If you want to have your 2 weeks in school holidays, that's entirely up to you; but you should allow your nanny to take her two weeks in term time if she needs to.

I've never been able to carry holiday over past the year but you don't have a contract so I don't know where you stand on that.

Definitely realise it was a mistake not formalising any contract. It was meant to be a temporary arrangement and just carried on. It's become a problem as she wants all leave out of term time which leaves us stuck.
Is she allowed to carry over unused days? She now wants to use her 5 unused days again in term time and seems to think that her annual leave will be almost 6 weeks out of term time.

@NoisySnail
The relationship seems to have broken down anyway. Nanny books holiday then cancelled when she found out op didn't need her that week , she's taking the piss .
Nothing wrong with sitting down and telling nanny the expectations going forward.
Nanny you chose 10 day's holiday , two months notice ( or whatever suits op ) needed. Op will chose 10 days , again two months notice given . Nanny will be expected to work/ be available to work when op is away . It will be at ops discretion if she has her cleaning the toys or if she says have the time off .

Taking revenge does not tend to lead to good relationships.

Do NOT just say 4 weeks annual leave. All full time employees are entitled to a minimum of 28 days including bank holidays.

@NoisySnail
Yes I do realise op prefers her nanny not to work when she's not needed. But this nanny seems to be taking the piss , so out of principle I would make her work.

Legally she needs to have a contract. She could take you to a tribunal and allege you verbally promised so much leave or to carry over, and since there is no contract she could win.
You are breaking the law. Employing someone comes with legal responsibilities.

As you know, your first mistake is having no contract. You don't have a leg to stand on. But by the same token, neither does your nanny.

You can only take your proposal to her and see what she says.

Fwiw, carrying over holidays isn't really a done thing in the nanny world.

Draw up your contract and stipulate that it's 4 weeks holiday; 2 weeks chosen by you and 2 weeks by nanny. If there is any time that you can't allow her to take holiday, make sure those dates are in the contract.

Sorry to jump on this thread with my own question but I'm dealing with something that might be similar. We did not have a formal contract in the beginning about leave and so far my nanny has taken 15 days. Her leave cycle will end at the end of May. She wants to carry over this, as well as take this out of term time. The 15 days taken were of her choice too. She also had 2 additional weeks paid when we were away.

Dh and I don't feel this is fair, we are going to offer her to take 2 days before this leave cycle ends and only carry over 3. Does this sound fair or right?

I am definitely drawing up a contract for the next year as she has taken other liberties that I didn't address because I couldn't find anyone else.

I think it come down to contacts, but when she is not looking after you son, this shouldn't be bonus time off but time for her to complete other child related chores. What about scheduling yearly updates for first aid etc?

@whowhatwerewhy OP does not want her nanny to do that.

You both seem to have unreasonable expectations. The employment relationship seems to have broken down.

Time for a new nanny with clear and reasonable agreement at the beginning.