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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

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Original poster

Daily nanny and meals

26 replies

OrchidFlakes · 12/08/2013 10:57

We are about to offer a job to a nanny who will work 8-630 2 days per week.

I'm unsure what the protocol is re meals. I'm assuming she will have had breakfast before coming and can have her dinner when she is done for the day but lunch...? Do I need to provide food or will she sort herself out? My employer doesn't feed me so do I need to feed my employee?

I don't want to offend her or anyone else but I'm a little lost.there will of course be tea, coffee, biscuits/snack etc for her to help herself too

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

iluvkids · 12/08/2013 11:39

she should eat with the children - to encourage good eating habbits

Wickedgirl · 12/08/2013 11:56

Orchid.....you get a lunch break so you can go out and buy lunch........a nanny doesn't get that luxury

It is common for nannies to eat with the children. It is nice for the children to sit at a table with an adult and learn about the social side of eating as well as just eating itself. Children are more likely to try new food if they see others eating it too

Original poster

OrchidFlakes · 12/08/2013 12:28

Ok, hanks for the info. Lunch will be here ready for her to choose what she would like

OP posts:

ReetPetit · 12/08/2013 15:24

I wouldn't begrudge her breakfast either tbh. 8am is an early start, if it takes her half an hour to get to you, she's leaving home at 7.30, not many people want to eat that early.

I would think most nannies eat dinner with the children too....

Yerazig · 12/08/2013 15:45

Like others have said unless she has a particular dietary requirement and may want to just bring in her own food other then that yes lunch should be provided. Depending on the age of the children I may be eating the same as them or I always ask aslong as their sandwich bits in the house or pasta sauces etc I'm more than happy. And as the children have got older if I'm cooking their meals from fresh and lunchtime will just make sure there's enough left over for me aswell.

Yerazig · 12/08/2013 15:47

And yes most employees don't get fed by their employers but like someone said you get the option of that hour or whatever away from work were you can have time away and grab lunch for yourself.

Blondeshavemorefun · 12/08/2013 16:11

ditto for breakfast, i eat at work/kids as up/leaving home anywhere between 6.30/7.30am depending on what time im starting

i did have it put in my contract that i could have breakie/lunch and dinner if i wanted as although all my employers have been lovely, friends have worked for people who were picky about having a sandwich for lunch or a bowl of cereal for breakie, one even had to start taking in a pint of milk for her cups of tea

so now have in contract just in case, tho tbh i rarely have tea with kiddiwinks as eat at home with oh/go out for dinner with friends

tho i always sit with them even if not eating as helps learn good manners and i think its nice to talk about day etc

nannynick · 12/08/2013 17:08

I feel it would be best for you to presume that nanny will eat with your children at the same times as your children eat. Depending on the age of your children you could stipulate that nanny has the same as the children.

Personally I tend to have lunch and afternoon tea at work, have breakfast at home.

nannynewo · 12/08/2013 17:58

I would eat breakfast at home (but I am sure they would not mind me eating there if I had been in a rush) then either have lunch with the kids or parents will give me a half hour ish break and money to buy lunch. I rarely eat dinner with them unless I am finishing later than the usual 7pm. However we sometimes take the kids out for dinner or grab a takeaway and nearly always get offered that food too! Usually prefer to have dinner at home though as it is a way to unwind with my friends when I get home.

valiumredhead · 12/08/2013 18:07

You should offer her breakfast and lunch, it's usual to for her to buy what she wants from a kitty.

AdeleIrwin88 · 12/08/2013 18:39

Wow you Guys must be lovely to work for, i am a nanny and I am actually forbidden from using Anything in the fridge, I bring my own breakfast and lunch with me, and then have dinner when I get home! I assumed this was the norm! X

nbee84 · 12/08/2013 18:45

Adele - definitely not the norm and I've been a nanny since 1985!

The only time I eat my evening meal at work is if I'm staying on to babysit. I sometimes take some food in with me if I've got something at home that needs using up.

I worked in one house where I liked to take my own food in as they never covered things in the fridge or sealed open packets and often had food that was out of date.

Blondeshavemorefun · 12/08/2013 19:02

adele, def not the norm !!!!

unless work for stingy boss's lol

i dont expect smoked salmon and cavier

but toast/cereal for breakie, pasta/jacket/sandwich/fruit for lunch

basically whatever i feed the children i would eat

valiumredhead · 13/08/2013 18:09

Adele that is awful, I've never hearts anything so miserly in my life

valiumredhead · 13/08/2013 18:09

Heard

Sparklysilversequins · 13/08/2013 19:12

Get another job adele that's horrible.

Cathyrina · 16/08/2013 18:35

I always eat with the children and if I am hungry in between I will have a little snack i.e. a toast, biscuit, piece of fruit etc. mostly when they are napping whilst I am cleaning the kitchen but always asking if this is ok at interviews and again when setting up the contract. Tbh I don't know what I would do if a family wouldn't allow me to eat some of their stuff... the kids would freak out if they would see me eat something different, they always want whatever I eat!
I would never open anything that is still closed and ask them to write a note or let me know if there is something they don't want me to eat. I do not get a lunch break in this job so have to eat at some point

eurycantha · 16/08/2013 19:50

Gosh adele that is not normal ,all nannies I know eat lunch at work,I start at 7 am so will have a cup of tea while getting the children's breakfast and apiece of toast when they have theirs.If babysitting I will eat dinner with the children.waves to Blondes.

Mendi · 16/08/2013 21:04

I'm not a nanny or a nanny employer but I do have a genuine question about this lunch thing. I am ready for a flaming as it's obviously a contentious issue but I am genuinely curious.

Why is the question of a nanny taking her own lunch to work so reviled?

I get that it is pleasant and desirable for young children to sit down for lunch as a proper meal (with nanny). I also get that nannies don't get a "lunch break".

I work in a job where I rarely get a break at lunch. There is a canteen (which you pay for) at work but I take my own packed lunch. I wouldn't expect my employer to provide free meals in the canteen. So why is it so appalling for a live-out nanny to be expected to take her own lunch to work?

Cindy34 · 16/08/2013 21:27

Mendi - I see it as being a perk. Looking back in history, domestic servants (now some people will object to that phrase) got certain things as part of their work package, some may be seem as essential such as a bed (historically a lot of staff lived on work premises) whilst other things are more of a perk of the job such as borrowing one of the employers horses to go for a gallop.

Food for live in staff I feel is certainly part of the package still. Live-out staff I suspect are more of a recent development (anyone know a lot about the history of domestic servants?) and some of the live-in package have remained, possibly as a good will gesture, though since Working Time directive I think some of the benefits have been kept to try to get employees to not stick to the working time rules.

In previous non nannying jobs I have always had the option to take time off during the day to leave the building to get food or any other things I may want, to spend time in a staff room where there was some supplies (tea, coffee, chocolate, crisps usually) which were free or subsidised. In some jobs where there was catering involved, I had a meal provided.

A nanny can not usually leave work for 30 mins, an hour, however long would be permitted in other jobs for a lunch break. They have to work through, they could be doing a 7am-7pm shift and not have any rest points during that time. Sure there may be periods of time when it is less busy, just like can happen in other jobs (I have done jobs in customer service where there were certainly peak times and quiet times), but in those quiet times a nanny can not nip out to a shop (there may not even be a shop locally) to grab a bite to eat, plus as they are also involved in food prep, I see lunch being provided as a part of the package... some may call it a perk.

Blondeshavemorefun · 16/08/2013 22:16

Mendi - I think it's also the fact that the nanny is cooking /making the meals so just as easy to make another sandwich /cook extra pasta veg etc

Mendi · 16/08/2013 22:34

I agree with both. I was thinking about live-out nannies, and in that position I would see having lunch provided as a perk, not a sine qua non, which is the impression some other posters have given (and I have often seen on MN).

One of my friends has a live-out nanny and until quite recently the nanny (on £35k gross) earned more than me and my friend (solicitors)! (Friend's DH earns a lot more)

Cindy34 · 16/08/2013 22:47

MacDs gives staff a meal allowance - I recall a typical shift got enough in meal allowance for medium size MacDs meal.

When I worked in retail, my employer contributed towards my pension. I don't get that as a nanny.

I've had employers who have had private healthcare schemes, free use of the office sports facilities and social club.

Perks, employee benefits, whatever you want to call them are included in a variety of jobs. Food and drink whilst on duty is usually part of the package on offer to nannies and I suspect for some nannies it may be the only perk of the job, until the new pension scheme kicks in, I doubt many employers of nannies contribute to their nannies pension.

Mendi · 17/08/2013 00:03

Can't comment on pensions but agree in any job, anything over and above basic salary is a perk. Which is why I was curious about the slightly righteous "that's terrible" comments up-thread in response to the poster who takes her own lunch to work.

2468Motorway · 17/08/2013 00:20

I'm not sure, but it just would seem rude not to allow the nanny to eat with the children.

While they are in the house surely they are more like a member of the family and should be able to help themselves to food.

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