Nanny holiday arrangements

[superzero]

Hello
In the process of employing a part-time nanny.Agency haven't come up with anyone yet but have a few lined up for interview from word-of-mouth etc.
Bit clueless about holidays..how much paid leave should I offer.Also,how much should I let the nanny choose?I will get 6 paid weeks per year and can choose them, but I can't say that the nanny has to have the same weeks can I?
What do people do when the nanny is on leave but they have to work?

U arrange half and half, u choose half the dates, she chooses the other half

5.6 weeks is the legal minimum - so for example a nanny working 3 days a week would get 3x5.6 = 16.8 (effectively 17) days holiday. This can include bank holidays if they are on work days though.

Common practice would be you choose half each, but you can dictate what you like if you are upfront about it - for example no holidays in term time/school holidays, or even dictate all her holidays. It might not make your job very appealing though.

Thanks,that makes sense.Job is 2.5 days per week so that would be 14 days paid leave per year.
One of the working days will be a Friday.
What happens when there is a Friday bank holiday?Is that an extra day of paid leave,or does it come off the 14 days allowance?

You can either give bank holidays off and include that as part of the 5.6 weeks, or you can have her work bank holidays and give another day.

If the job is 2.5 days you might be better doing holiday entitlement as hours/half days?

Do holiday in hours not days as you have unequal working hours.
If you do not need nanny to work on a bank holiday you can insist they take it as annual leave.
Work out what bank/public holidays fall on a working day for the next two years, so you know in advance how many holiday hours it is. It will vary year to year as some public holidays move day such as Xmas, Boxing Day.
If you can, let nanny choose half the remaining hours, though you can dictate all holiday taken - just does not make for a great working relationship.
If you know of times of year when holiday cannot be taken, tell them at interview stage.

If you can I'd suggest you give the nanny bank holidays off in addition to her annual leave. I've been a nanny for YEARS and have always had bank hols as extra. It's a nice extra perk and will make your job more appealing to candidates.

I always have 4 weeks (2 weeks their choice and two weeks mine) plus all bank holidays, as occasionally we have an extra one, as in the royal wedding. I have nanny friends who weren't paid for this or given the day off because they had 28 days in their contract!

But you can dictate all the holiday, it must be agreed between the two parties and be in the contract. Some nannies will be happy with this, I wouldn't as I do quite a lot of proxy parenting for previous charges and this probably wouldn't fit in with their holiday plans (one is always the first weekend in January for a long weekend, Thursday to Sunday, depending on what day new year falls on, I could be off for a week, back to work for two or three days and then two days off again!)

The problem with 4 weeks plus Bank Hols is that only works full time. The law expressing holiday was changed precisely to avoid disadvantaging people like the OP's nanny who work PT and often not Mondays.

I think it's mean not to give extra holiday for an additional public holiday - after all the point of it being given is for people to have the day off work - but if their employers need them and don't get the holiday then nanny is unfortunately going to need to work. No-one has a legal right to bank holidays off and very few employers of nannies will have that in their contract which means they can't realistically promise it to their nanny. Giving the day off but unpaid is really poor form in those circs IMO.

OP if you can afford the hours equivalent of 14 days, or even 14 including Good Friday which is always a working day, and give the others (a max of 3 if you're really unlucky 1 year) then that would probably be really appreciated.

Thanks for the advice.
I've found a couple of nannies with no commitments who say they are happy for me to choose all the holiday dates!
As I won't be working bank holidays and won't need the nanny I'll give these as paid leave in addition to 14 days especially as they are willing to be so flexible about when holiday is taken.