Expecting nanny to come in whilst they are on holiday

[pezza15]

My friend is a nanny and the parents are off on holiday in August for two weeks and have hinted that perhaps my friend should go to their house whilst they are away to “do a few bits” - meaning batch cooking etc.

Taking the piss or what???????

@boopsy but they've not asked her to do full days by the looks of it. They've hinted that she could do some batch cooking etc. Probably 2 hours a day to do some cooking and clean a few bits compared to possible usual 8-10 hour days.

Then of course, they have a right to expect her to come in!

Many medical offices here (US) have the doctors/dentists leave on holiday but they still pay their staff and so expect them to come in to answer phones, do paperwork, heavy cleaning etc. They're being paid to work.

I dont stop doing my work when my boss is on holiday, and neither does anyone else I know.

However......she is a nanny not a housekeeper (unless she is employed as both, some are) and as such her job is all tasks relating to the children, not the whole family and so any jobs she does while they are away should be only to do with the kids. Given that her job is to look after the kids, and they wont be there, it will still be a skive.

What does her contract say wrt cooking when they are on holiday.
As a pp said, if she's getting paid then she should be working, but certainly things for the dc, not cooking and cleaning, unless in her JD

She’s not on leave and she’s being paid... And she thinks they’re taking the piss by asking her to actually do something for the money they’re paying?

There’s a pair of you in it

boopsy
I think she’s already going to be doing reduced hours. I don’t think businesses could be run like this. Why should individuals be any different? They aren’t even turning a profit yet are still paying the nanny’s salary, NI, pension contributions etc.

So she wants her own annual leave entitlement and also not to do any work when she's not on annual leave.

She's being totally unreasonable, if she doesn't want to work she shouldn't accept being paid for that time.

Sounds like an easy way to get ahead and presumably reduce her workload when the children are back

no there is still work for the family that needs to be done.surely it will help her too as its oe less thing to do when they get back.
in an office when the boss goes on leave you don't all go home too do you.
it would be a bit different if they simply wanted her to go and sit in the house for principals sake.but they are still asking her to do things that does need to be sone.shes being a bit cheeky to want it off.
surely with the little bits they've asked she will still be getting lot shorter days.

Nannies are supposed to batch cook, sort out the play rooms, flip mattresses, sort out broken toys and clean?
I thought a nanny was paid to look after the children whilst their parents are at work.
Do parents with nannies do anything at all for their children?

I'm a nanny and as long as that was set out in my family's expectations and paid as normal - absolutely fine.

I thought a nanny was paid to look after the children whilst their parents are at work.
Do parents with nannies do anything at all for their children?

So did I, it appears they are general skivvies for the family as well
Of course the parents do things with their children, when they are colour coordinated with the parents.
Remembering the brilliant French and Saunders sketch

Yes. I give them breakfast and dinner, do homework with them, supervise music, play with them, put them to bed, bathe them, read them stories, do whatever parents around the world do. I sort out when they have emotional problems, look after them when they are ill, sort out after school activities if they want to do any, organise World Book day costumes. I am their mum. Just that I work. As does DH. I work 4 days a week so I do get a day with them.
I am also a child of a working mum who had and has in her 70s a wonderful career. She was also a lovely mum, always available when I needed her but also set me a great example of hard work. We are very close. And guess what? My mum and dad had a nanny too.

What’s with the nanny jealousy? Having a nanny is cheaper for me than paying for nursery fees x2 or for a childminder x 2. My nanny doesn’t cook but she keeps the kids room clean, changes their sheets and does their laundry. She tidies away their toys and lets me know if they need anything (new nappies etc). I don’t understand why sorting out the play room, making sure it is clean etc is such shock.

They are paid to look after their kids in their own home. She can’t leave at the end of the day leaving the house a mess. And batchcooking is presumably for the kids. Easier to do when the kids are on holiday rather than trying to sort out dinner with two kids underfoot. Again. I don’t get the problem.

And I assure you no one in my family is colour coordinated.

Most families with nannies will give you the extra time off, it’s unusual that a family would expect the Nanny to be in doing jobs when they’re all away- as someone else pointed out, a nanny’s job is care of the children, if the parents choose to take the children away then...

So yes, the parents are paying for their nanny’s time then, but, in the nannying world it would be unusual not to give extra bonus days off when that happens. I’ve certainly had it in every nanny job I’ve had and I’ve been nannying for just over 10 years now.

We are going on a three week holiday on Sunday. My nanny said she would come in and sort out uniforms for the school year in September. She’ll sort out the kids’ rooms. She won’t batch cook because I prefer to cook for my kids. She also told me she’ll sort out DS2’s toys. He’s grown out of many of them and she says she’ll take them to the local church playgroup. This is not 3 weeks’ worth of work so the rest of the time is hers.

She could definitely be working! Sorting kids things, clothes etc - she's not on holiday!

Has she already had her 5.6 weeks paid leave ? Or 28 days if she works 5 days a week?
If she's had her holiday then she should be willing to catch up on the bits and bobs for the children while the family are away

You say she is not on annual leave and she is being paid. It’s easy, she’s still due to be at work, with no kids she can do other child based jobs.

Batch cooking.
Sorting out of wardrobes, toys etc.
Washing paintwork in children’s rooms.
Cleaning of duvets, curtains, rugs in kids rooms.
Clearing out of any other cupboards and drawers.

Or do you think she should be twiddling her thumbs?

Wow, the nanny sounds pretty entitled.

I'm struggling to believe anyone could be so unreasonable. Is this another annoying reverse?!

If she is being paid (which you say she is), then she should expect to work.

I would massively expect that a Nanny would use the "time off" from the children to catch up on some jobs. A deep clean and tidy/sort out of the play room....going through all of their clothes & clearing out the outgrown ones...batch cooking some of their meals.... researching new things to do with the children... or reading about child development …..other job related training ( e.g. First Aid certificate)

Absolutely, she should work! Amazed that your Nanny friend wouldn't welcome some child-free, but paid weeks to catch up on stuff like this.

You sound like a piss taker if you think she should have extra fucking paid holiday over her actual paid holiday! Because you know, we all get that when our bosses are away, don't we?

yes they are entitled to do that if it's on top of her annual leave, but it's a pretty stingy thing to do and I'd imagine it'll be reflected in how much give and take there is from her side from now on.

I don't just have the week off when my manager does

If my nanny objected to working when she’s being paid and not taking leave, I’d be thinking about hiring a new nanny. It’s a total puss take to expect an extra two week holiday.

She will do shorter days, and have a much easier time with no kids around, plus she can use the time to get ahead on everything for the next few months. So she is getting a bit of a bonus easy fortnight but shouldn’t expect more than that.

Cleaning of duvets, curtains, rugs in kids rooms.

That's deep cleaning. I wouldn't be doing curtains and rugs.

I used to be a nanny, this is completely standard. All the jobs that have already been listed to do with the children are completely acceptable for the nanny to be doing (batch cooking, tidying bedrooms, sorting playroom, labelling new uniform, sewing buttons etc back on, changing children’s beds, going through clothes that are too small, cutting out for future activities. There’s loads of stuff that a nanny could be getting on with. It probably wouldn’t take a full two week holiday for you to get it all done,but I can see why the family want their nanny to work a bit while they are paying her. Having a nanny is really expensive and some do get massive perks to go with the job without giving them an extra couple of weeks off.
For the record, I’m now a childminder and if I end up with a rare day off if the children are on holiday/Ill (meaning I am still being paid but with no children) I will spend the day batch cooking, sorting toys, cutting out for future activities and doing other things that are far easier to do with no children around but are necessary for me to do.