New nanny and holidays

[SuiGeneris]

We have a new (part-time) nanny starting very soon. Normally we would not have hired until March, but this candidate suited our needs perfectly and needs to start in February (very short of money), so we agreed. Problem is we have some holidays planned for February and early March so that we will be away for 2 (possibly) 3 weeks during her first 2 months.

What would people do in this case? Can we ask her to take one week as holiday (she would not have accrued it). What could we ask her to do while we are away? There is a cleaner, so not much in the way of nursery duties, certainly not enough for two weeks' worth of work.

An option I though of was to write some of the time off and bank the rest for occasional baby sitting, so that if we were to be away for 3 weeks she would be paid for all three but be required to take one as holiday and have a third of the remaining time banked for baby sitting later in the year (maybe if we agree she should come for extra days when she is free and we need extra help). HSe would not be required to come to our house for any of those three weeks. What do people think?

How have you agreed the holidays should be chosen? Often families choose half and the nanny chooses the other half. If that is what you have agreed in the contract then there should be no problem in asking for 1/2 the holidays to be taken then (apart from the fact that she hasn't had much notice for them).

Otherwise, you have agreed to hire her, so you need to pay her. Not fair to 'bank' those days up. If you weren't happy with it, you shouldn't have hired her without coming to some agreement beforehand.

Duties she could do - do some batch cooking, sort out the play area for the children (though a bit difficult if she doesn't know them well). Research some local play groups.

Can we ask her to take one week as holiday

Yes. Employers are able to decide when their employee takes holiday.

An option I though of was to write some of the time off

Yes that would probably be what you would need to do, given there are not things you want them doing around the home. Maybe you could suggest that your nanny updates any training they need to do during that time - sometimes easier to find a 1-day course during a weekday.

bank the rest for occasional baby sitting

No. You are changing the time of work, possibly even the day.

As a nanny, I would be happy to take one or even two weeks as holiday. I would be happy to go in to do jobs, vaxing playroom/nursery carpets, sorting through clothes, batch cooking for freezer (defrosting freezer if it needed it!), cleaning and organising toys, food shop for when employers return home.

I would not owe hours though, if I am available for work and I am not needed then I have the time off and get paid as usual. It is in my contract!)

Could she not go with you for some of the time? Obviously if she is happy to do this, some nannies won't go on holiday with their families, I do, but I either get paid extra for the inconvenience of being away from family, friends and home comforts or have plenty of time off. For example, I went skiing with my family, worked over two weekends with travelling but had mornings off for ski/snowboard lessons (paid for by my employers but that is an added bonus!) then had the children for lunch and the afternoon until they had finished their skiing, then alternate days, they had spa treatments and I would have from around 5 off to do as I please, so working around 5-7 hours a day instead of my usual 12! So I didn't ask for extra money or time off in lieu.