Can you tell me about your setup when Nanny is travelling with you on a holiday...

[dev9aug]

First of all, thank you to everyone who has helped me out in the past on this board. We now have a great nanny who ticks all of the right boxes and we are very pleased.

We have discussed travelling with us on holidays and told her that we will pay her the normal rates when she is travelling with us at the interview, But what happens when you are actually travelling.

I mean suppose if we travel long haul etc, Do we have to pay her for every hour she is with us even though the little ones are sleeping on the flight and are we expected to pay for a 24 hour day because she is with us in hotels etc?

I usually charge a £50 per night fee especially if sleeping with the children this covers time while traveling and the inconvenience of traveling. I then usually am paid my same rate and work the same amount of hours per day but maybe not the usual timings. So I might do early morning shift and evening. I expect travel, travel insurance and all meals and accommodation paid for. I then like to make clear the working hours especially if parents want me around with them and children. It can be quite difficult with three adults so I make clear I won't discipline if parents are there unless parents say other wise. Every nanny is different so its important to talk with your nanny and her expectations.

Is she sitting with you on the flight, will she be caring for the children?

Nannyowl, Good question, haven't really given much thought. Thinking about it, ds1 will probably want all our attention during travel so we will need her to look after ds2.

Mrswishywashy All meals/travel/accomodation will be paid for by us. We are even happy for her to have some time off to go do her own thing. I think your suggestion is really good about paying her a flat rate to cover any inconvenience. This will make sure there is no hassle about keeping record of every single hour worked etc. Thanks.

Hi OP
I haven?t ever travelled on holiday with a family, but I think as a parent & as a nanny, I would not assume anything. So sit down with the nanny and make a diary of when she will be caring to the children. Obviously she can be a little flexible on this. But would be difficult if she expected to be working certain hours and you were thinking completely different. It may spoil your holiday if she was resentful.
I think she has to have certain time of by law but not expert on this, certainly after six days needs the seventh off. Maybe someone else might advise on this.

As a parent I would definitely ask her to 'work' during the flight as this is the most stressful part of the holiday; never easy travelling with children.

Thanks Nannnyowl you are right about not assuming anything. I want to be able to relax on a holiday, not have to worry about counting every single hour. We are definitely going to sit down and talk about it before I book anything but wanted to know how others had dealt with it.

From a nannies perspective who has done plenty of travel with the families its far, far better to have a set amount of hours to work each day or you will have to pay more per hour.

eg If I work 10 hours a day normally then on holiday I might work 7am-12pm and then take a break and work again from 5pm-10pm. If I worked more than my 10 hours I would expect to be paid hourly for this.

Some things to be clear on who disciplines the children when all together. Nothing more frustrating as a nanny for the parents to keep moving the goal posts and then expect nanny to deal with the fall out. If nanny says no to ice cream because they didn't eat meal then don't come in after and give child ice cream.

It is your holiday but its not a holiday for the nanny and as such you need to make sure that the conditions for her are doable and as each nanny is different you can only decide with her.

Just make sure you don't go in with the mindset that this is a holiday for your Nanny too - it's not. It's work and even though you might think she's lucky to be in a nice place etc. it will be far harder for her to do her job without her usual routines/support networks/activities etc. and children are nearly always far more badly behaved when their parents are around. She is away from her friends and family, probably having her sleep disturbed more than usual and it can be awkward being away with a couple - who are also your employers. Having said all that when it works it works well but I have also heard some horror stories from both sides.

Agree on advice above and would suggest if possible to carve out some free time for the nanny during the day.

Sort out who is going to do the shopping/cook etc and when you arrive show your nanny the town, playgrounds etc.

Make sure she knows how to reach you and how to summon help if necessary. Give her local currency and make sure she understands what and where to buy things.

I'd work out how long you're going for and what you expect.

Holidays I've done have been anything from a long weekend in Wales to 3 weeks in Spain. On the whole all were fine as had agreed hours, pay etc previously.

1. my usual overnight rate applied if I would have any overnight care while away.

2. days off were agreed either before or at the beginning of each week, especially important as while in the uk I tend to do m-f and have weekends off whereas away families tended to prefer I had split days off or, ad hoc, or perhaps no whole days while away but an extra day before we left and one when we came back. Again all fine as agreed.

3. most families paid my usual rate plus say £100-200 extra per week to account for inconvenience and flexibility with hours. If we travelled on a Sunday I was paid for that day whether I was looking after the children full time or not, if I'm on call I'm being paid. All flights, accommodation, meals, coffees, etc out together were paid for, any extras were up to me. When staying in self catered places I could request food to be added to the shopping list.

4. perks which helped make it enjoyable for me were mainly the recognition that I was working longer and harder hours (sometimes 7.30am to 11pm) so a general appreciation is also nice. Also had things like a massage paid for me too as they had already paid for a therapist to come to the chalet for them so included me in the booking, dropped off at a shopping centre with some extra ?, made sure they arranged holiday at same time as their family friends whose nanny I was friends with too so had someone to hang out with at work and after. Something as simple as half an hour to read my book in peace made just as much difference to me too though. These were things that suited my interests but you know your nanny best so think how you can make it enjoyable for her too then you'll all get on better!

Hope that helps!

Slightly different set up here. I have a 2 day a week nanny who flies out for 5 days in summer to join us. She just becomes part of the family, an extra parent. No real set hours, she may babysit one night, but eats and drinks with us the other evenings. She may clear up while we bath, or vive versa. We tend to all do things together during the day (4 kids under 9) or she may keep 2 at home while we take 2 out for a couple of hours. more like having an efficient friend. we pay for all travel, food, wine, meals out etc. she cooks for us one or 2 nights, we do the rest. she may cook for kids whilst we play or vice versa. kids have an hour quiet time after lunch, she tends to sit with us and read, or swim, or sleep....

I have travelled a lot of the years with families mostly for 2 weeks plus although at the end of a year doing a 20 hour flight, 5 kids, 5 weeks away and some of the weeks is road trip I'm super excited and dreading it at the same time :)

It really depends if it's holiday holiday or a second house type situation. Half of my travel is going to a second or third house in another country so would just work my normal hours in a different country but if it's more of a holiday situation I find I work a lot more cause there are day trips, dinners, weekend activities etc.

All flights, travel insurance, food, entries to zoo/parks etc, transport is all paid by you, which you've already said you'll be doing.

Normal salary is obviously a must. If it is going to be normal hours you don't technically need to pay anymore, it really depends what you can afford.
Previous bosses for me have normally given me a bit more each week around 100 pounds sometimes a bit under just cause I'm not at home and can't go out and do my normal thing with my friends etc.

If sharing a room with child I would charge overnight fee (even if child sleeps all night) cause I'm still on duty and can't go out

I think you need to sit down with your partner and think what would make holiday most enjoyable for you... ie nanny has weekends off or works through them (either gets money or time off when get home), how much extra you can pay (if can afford to do any)

It is definitely harder when working on someone elses holiday, and my employers understanding that is what helps me enjoy myself and be happier. Just my boss saying I know you've been working long hours have a lie in tomorrow morning makes a huge difference.

I think the main thing is work out with nanny what you are doing before you leave obviously she'll have to be flexible but if she's incharge when you are around or just there for an extra pair of hands, if she'll be in charge of cooking etc etc.

Sorry I lost track of that thread, Thank you mrswishywashy, AliasNemo, Pinkpartysprinkles, louloubelle, Nannyme1 for sharing your experiences. It is pretty clear to me now how we are going to approach it. We have decided to keep her on normal working hours, on days she is travelling or looking after dc after her normal working hours, she will be paid extra. She will have her separate room as it is a self catering place.