For those who have a nanny/nannyshare....advice please

[LadyG]

What is the 'generally accepted' holiday/sick pay? We (nannyshare partner and I) thought four weeks holiday (to include days b/t Christmas and New Year) and two weeks sick pay-anybody have any opinions or feel we are being terribly tight? Don't mind giving a bit more holiday as get 6 weeks myself but don't know many friends with nannies so just wondered what other people thought.

in my contract i only get SSP

a few weeks ago i was off (as my hand was infected and i couldnt drive) i was paid tho

I think lots of people put SSP in the contract to cover themselves, but if you have a normally reliablr nanny who is genuinely sick and only occasionaly then pay anyway

Four weeks holiday seems standard. Two of those weeks at the employers' choice, two at the nanny's choice. In fact, although we've had contracts that have said that, we've always allowed our nanny to choose all her holiday days. Not sure about sick pay. Two weeks seems fine.

I may be unique, or I may not... but as a nanny, I've so far never had a day off sick.

Agree with Jura, that if you state a certain number of permitted sick days per year, then someone may make sure they take ALL those days!

As Jura says, 4 weeks holiday is quite normal - infact it's legal requirement (20 days if nanny works 5 days per week). It is certainly worth making it clear if Bank Holidays are included, or excluded from the holiday entitlement... will help avoid any misunderstanding at a later date.

As a nanny I technically get 16 weeks holiday! But I am a bit unique in that respect. 4 weeks is quite acceptable.

Thanks all-think we will stick to 4 weeks not including bank holdays-good point about sick pay-Mondays off anyway (4 day/wk contract)-so no excuse for Mon morning sickies!-am sure she wouldn't anyway-she seems very nice!

Write the contract for sick pay only! You can always give it to her anyway. My contract is for SSP only. That way, should I ever get a nanny who pulls sickies, I ddon't have to pay her. However, I have never not paid a genuinely sick nanny for the day off. But, it covers you just in case.

For holidays, you can count bank holidays towards their holiday time by paying them for the bank holidays. Some employers do this. Some don't. For the remaining holidays, think about whether you want to let her choose some of them or you want to tell her what they are. For example, I am American and Thanksgiving is quite important to me. So, my contract includes Thanksgiving (2 days) in the holiday schedule. Since you are doing a share you might be able to be a bit more flexible because you can alternate with the other family who takes off work if you want to. So, you might be in a position to let the nanny say choose 1/2 of the holidays. Think about what your job allows, etc.

Meant to say write contract for SSP only. And now that I've actually read the thread I see several people have already made this point.

We've got a nanny share and have got 4 weeks holiday in the contract, and SSP (but will actually pay nanny for the occasional day sick

yes 16 days including 3 days b/t Christmas and New Year plus bank hols -obviously lots of these fall on a Mon which is her day off anyway. Maybe SSP only is a good idea and then as you say if she does have to take time off genuinely then pay her anyway.
The only problem might be that as each family want to choose a week each and she gets to choose 2 weeks she will not be able to choose a 2 week stretch except around Christmas/New Year IYSWIM-but I don't think that is too unreasonable. Will d/w with my nanny share other half. She is by far the best candidate so far and start work again in 2 weeks so want to encourage her to sign on the dotted line!

Sounds good. Good luck!!! Is this your first nanny?

Yes 1st baby 1st nanny and back to work in April! Thanks to uwila and all for yr help. x

I dont get why she cant choose a two week stretch of holiday if she has two weeks choice .