Nanny with very high expectations

"I work two days a week one is a monday and I get paid all my bank holidays." That is definitely more generous then legal requirement. They should be prorated first.

Chickadee .... But that is your contract

There is no reason why others cannot agree something different.

in my contract, the holiday clause states that if the employer wishes to take more than their 2 weeks holiday choice, and i am available to work, i shall be paid as normal. This is the way i have always had it - in one job parents would often decide to go away for a long weekend, not needing me for monday! I wouldnt be happy if i was told i would not be paid for the days im available to work as per my contract.

Plenty of jobs incorporate flexible working practices to reflect when staff are actually needed to do their jobs.

Should not be a problem if agreed in the contract.

Hi, In my old job if there was extra holiday she would ask me to come in and sort through the childrens toys, spring clean their rooms and do some baking, which I was happy to do. I sometimes had her dog to stay at mine which was fine but was over the hours that I worked(24/7) however when she asked me to make up the time by babysitting, coming in at the weekend or even working an extra day a wk!! I wasn't happy to do this.. I guess you need to put yourself in your nannys shoes.. if you are avaibable to work for your employer and they say we are away but I want you to change your working wk to fit in around us so we can have extra holidays, how would you feel?
In my current job, if they decide to have extra holidays, they realise this is their choice and I have the time off paid. If they asked me to do kid related jobs on normal working days, I would be happy to do this.
This should be sorted out when contract is agreed.
hope you get it sorted.

wow at her hourly rate - i earn that (well a tad more) and i have 20years exp and qualified - why so high?

regards holiday - if you take more then 2 weeks then you need to pay her as its your choice to go away

my last job i had 5 weeks in contract but would normally get 11/12 as my employers went away every half term, extra weeks in easter and christmas etc

i had time off and paid in full

This seems fair Sam and at you sorted it out before she started and it was put in her contract.

As our older children were at school when our nanny started it was part of our original contract that holidays could only be taken during school holidays with nanny choosing 2 weeks, us choosing 2 weeks and 1 week over the Christmas holidays. The bank holidays came out of the 5.6 weeks first and then other days booked after that. She usually took her holidays over Easter, a few days at whitsun, the summer bank holiday week and a few days at half terms. There was one feb half term when we were away but she did not really want to take holiday so we agreed she would take 2 days off and come in for the other 2 days (4 day week) while we were away to have a big tidy up of toys and do the kids washing, ironing etc.

I work two days a week one is a monday and I get paid all my bank holidays, my MB also gets paid them. You should have sorted all this out before she started why should she do babysitting just to fit in with you. She is available to work its not her fault that you do not need her. I choose two weeks and they choose two weeks., they take lots more but pay me.

Those 20ish miles (I work near M25/M3 junction) do seem to make a difference. Yes a new nanny will need to learn to trust you and you will need to learn to trust them. That takes time but once there the relationship can go on for many years as I expect you have found with other nannies in the past.

I am wondering why you are paying £10 net per hour. Seems a bit high, given that a nanny like me gets only a little over £10 per hour Gross. Guess I don't live in the right place! Maybe you struggled to find anyone interested in a 2 day a week job, thus why the higher salary offer to attract someone to the job.

As it's a 2 day per week job, then it's 11.2 days of annual leave (which can include bank/public holidays). Sounds like you are giving more than that, so no problem there.

She's able to do the occasional extra day - that's great. Some nannies would have other work commitments on the days you don't employ them.

Her minimum holiday entitlement is 11.2 days (12 days in practice) so 14 days is slightly over that.

You can suggest swapping days, but bear in mind she isn't obliged to agree to it.

Sorry! The legal info on holidays clicky link

Agree with everything RM said. My contract states I get 5.6 weeks hols including bank holidays, employers choose 50% and I choose 50% and additional days chosen by employers are paid, additional days chosen by me can be swapped for days in lieu or unpaid (though they have never actually done this) All nannies I know work on the same basis.

If your boss said "take monday off as I don't need you but come in Saturday instead" would you be ok with that?

[http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Timeoffandholidays/DG_10029788 The legal info on holidays]]

Note on bank holidays from that site:
Time off for employees

You don't have an automatic right to paid leave on bank and public holidays, though many people receive the day off work. Any right to time off or extra pay for working on a bank holiday depends on the terms of your contract of employment.

X posted! Just to add, our nanny doesn't really ask for her 2 chosen weeks of holiday at different times to ours, I think she feels that would be taking the p* too! . There have been a couple of exceptions for dates such as weddings and we have had no problem with this.

5.6 weeks holiday includes bank holidays and is obviously pro rats. Check out consumer website -directgov to get the right Number of holidays based on her part time hours.
BH are a nightmare if people don't understand, ESP when most fall on Monday.
Holidays-let her know when you are away and she should be able to take most of hers in this time but could negotiate she selects some.
And absolutely agree if she wants to be paid when you are away then she can do some nursery duties/bulk cooking etc
A nanny should be making your life easier!

Good luck and be firm.

Unless babysitting is in her contract, she may not want to make up the time - especially if she has a family of her own. I certainly wouldn't.

You don't have to pay her bank holidays or give them off, so long as she gets a minimum of 5.6 weeks paid holiday.

You can't make her take unpaid holiday, or insist she makes up those hours as overtime though unless you agreed that before she took the job.

We have a similar situation with our nanny, we are away pretty much all of the school holidays, so she ends up getting about 12wks! But it is, in the end, your choice to be away, so strictly you are going to have to suck it up. Given your situation though, I have to say I find it a strange decision to give her the equivalent of 5 weeks plus bank holidays, rather than statutory minimum though ?

Fwiw after 6-12 months we came to a compromise with our nanny and we split the time off (over and above her entitlement) in half and she does make it up with extra days or sometimes an overnight stay so DH can get away for a break. maybe you could point out that her holidays are already pretty good and ask if she might consider something like this?

Yes but she's not a nurse or a teacher.

Have a look at the legal minimum for bank holidays. You should also be reasonable - should be a 50:50 split in terms of who decides when holiday is (her or you). I wouldn't expect her to have unpaid leave for the times you're away. I also wouldn't expect her to make up the days on other days - again it's your problem that you're taking the time off not hers.

This should all have been set out in the contract before you employed her.

I understand from nanny friends that it is usual to have parents choose half holiday and nanny to choose half - so you could reasonably expect to choose two and a half weeks or so of it and of course make that when you plan to be away. With luck she might choose more time when you will also be away (or could be if you so chose). Beyond that I would say it would be reasonable to ask her to come in and do some child related chores on days when you are away but she is not on holiday - but not really reasonable to expect her to swap contracted hours for extra hours just because you choose to go away. That would in effect be forcing her to take leave and make up the time - how would you feel about that?