Still Pay Nanny??

[LondonLocal]

Not saying whether I am Mum or Nanny so can get unbiased opinions.

Situation:
Family going away for 1 week (5 working days) and doesn't need the nanny to work. Nanny is saying she believes she should still be paid as 'She is still available', Mum believes nanny uses her Annual leave or makes hours up in extra hours/babysitting. Contract states Nanny picks 4 weeks holiday, so Family have no annual leave to use from.

Should Nanny be paid or is it fine to expect Nanny makes up hours?

Thoughts?

I think that if the contract says that the nanny can choose all of her holiday dates then the nanny should still be paid for this week.

Nanny gets paid, she might not want to take her annual leave then.

Nanny should get paid.

From your post I would say that if the nanny gets to choose all her own holiday then she still needs to be paid . It's an odd contract to have though as most nanny contracts have a mix of holiday chosen by the family and holiday chosen by the nanny, for this type of occasion.

Nanny gets paid.

Nanny should be paid and not have to use have to use annual leave.

Definitely nanny paid

Guessing this holiday is short notice or they would have worded the contract differently

Nanny gets paid but contract is unusual usually 50:50 who chooses in which case the employer could have designated this as a week of annual leave.

Nanny should be paid and not make hours up doing extra hrs or baby sitting, parents should of worded contract better. Maybe as a compromise nanny could still go in and work but do spring cleaning of children's rooms and playrooms? And then sit down with parents and reword annual leave a bit better so parents are not continually pissed off!! Hard lesson learnt for parents am afraid!!

Nanny gets paid unless she chooses to take her holiday. It's not her fault that Mum chose to go away for a week.

Definitely Nanny gets paid.

Sorry id that is not what you want to hear!

Nanny gets paid.

I hope you are the nanny!

Unusual contract but yes nanny should be paid

Sounds like a badly worded contract - the family should have thought ahead and written down at the start of employment what would happen when they went on holiday. If the Nanny's A/L is written down as Nanny picks holiday then that is exactly what should be stuck to. Normal contracts do split who chooses leave half-and-half.

Nanny should not have to "make up hours" but should spend the normal contracted hours while the family is on holiday doing purposeful activity towards the benefit of the family: planning and preparing for future activities to engage and educate the children, doing a grand sort-out of toys that have been grown out of, perhaps some spring-cleaning unless the contract specifically excludes cleaning duties, making and freezing some meals. If it's not annual leave then the nanny should not expect to have it as extra free holiday unless family gift it to her as such.

It would be reasonable for the contract to be re-drafted to cover this eventuality in future years, perhaps in exchange for an VERY MODEST pay rise (i.e. 1%ish) to compensate the nanny for the slightly less favourable terms of employment.

Nanny gets paid but also spends week making batch food and freezing, sorting out children's room with huge spring clean, prepping all old kids clothes for eBay and sourcing all key purchases needed for kids for next 6 months (including Xmas shopping).

My nanny prefers to work all year and then get her holiday paid off, so will do all this (and sort out my own bedroom and wardrobe on top).

What Toapointlordcopper says. Leave the nanny a list of chores to be down that are child related as they are still working that week and getting paid for it!

Absolutely the nanny has to be paid, but yes she is available to work her/his normal working hours.

While as a nanny I wouldnt mind doing some nursery duties during that time - I confess I would be stuck to fill more than a couple of hours getting everything upto date etc

If the family wanted the provision to be able to specify dates for holiday, and/or ensure an extra week should be made up at a later date, they should have put those things in the contract.

Just how much batch cooking can a person do?

Yes, nanny needs to be paid.
Time could be made up if that's in the contract though.
I could think up lots of jobs to fill at least half the week!

Nanny gets paid regardless of if they go in to work, or take it as annual leave.

So not a question about being paid. It is a question about if the nanny should take it as annual leave.

For good employer employee relationship, if I were the nanny I would take it as annual leave, though would use this opportunity to work out all the leave over the coming year that I am likely to want, thus booking as much of the remaining leave as possible.

Under that contract, what happens at xmas? If parents don't want the nanny to work xmas to new year, then under that contract the nanny does not have to take it as annual leave, where as usually under contracts in the UK the nanny does use annual leave.

What country are you in? If the parents did not take any time off, so nanny only got 4 weeks, then it would not meet statutory minimum requirement, as minimum is 5.6 weeks.

Strange contract, did parents write it themselves? Good opportunity to renegotiate the contract once back from this holiday.

Nanny gets paid , not her AL or time to make up.

Honestly the excuses people will try and think up not to pay their Childcarer.

Are you serious? You go on holiday for a week and you choose not to take or use your Nanny for that week and you want to leave them high and dry with no pay. You selfish person that's all I can say. You can afford to go on holiday but not pay your Nanny? Shame on you.

I hope you come home and find you have no Nanny!

You'd still have to pay for nursery if you went on holiday. What's the difference, especially when it's set out as clearly in the contract?
We employ staff in our business and all of the contacts state the 50:50 holiday rule.