Nanny holiday limited to school holidays

[Greydiddi]

Hi all

Just looking for some views as to how common/unusual it is to have a nanny's choice of holiday weeks limited to school holidays? I've just had a bit of a tricky situation ( mainly because my nanny didn't give me the notice she is meant to and just booked a 2 1/2 week holiday then merrily told me, during a period when I cannot get leave from work) but when I was having to try and get the time off at work several colleagues told me that in their contracts they restrict their nannies to choosing their holiday weeks to school holidays.

As my eldest is at school this would obviously be much better for us ( as it means I can take more holiday when he is around) but I can see how it might be really unattractive to my nanny ( more expensive/crowded holidays). So was wondering how common it was/how unattractive to a nanny this would be?

I am a nanny with school age children, so prefer to take my holidays during school breaks - however I look after preschoolers, so the family prefer term time holidays - we compromise by each deciding on half the days.

This is something that needs to be agreed at interview stage. Your nanny could argue that she has a right to take her annual leave when she chooses, just like any other job. However some families offer extra days off in exchange for school break holiday only.

I am also a nanny, with 2 school aged charges and 1 now at preschool, when I started I was told that because the family can only take hols in school holidays that's when my holiday would be. Fortunately for me my DH is a TA and school holidays suit me, if he wasn't it would be a pain to have to pay a lot more for our holiday when we don't have to, esp on a relatively low wage. Perhaps a compromise is needed for future,maybe your nanny could have a week (or 2) in term time at a time that would work for you, agreed far in advance so you have time to organise time off/other cover etc? If this is not possible then she will have to take it as part of the job! I know some families give their nanny a small annual bonus to help toward the cost of her school holiday holiday if they can afford it x

Yes you can agree this up front in the contract but it would be harder to negotiate at this point if it hasn't already been dealt with.

Legally an employer can turn down a request for holiday to be taken at a particular time provided the employee is given the chance to take it another time. So if the 2.5 weeks doesn't work for you, you could always just say no!

I am a teacher and have a nanny who has school age children. Her holidays are restricted to school hols only. We have on occasion done a swap, if she wanted a long weekend fora hen do theb she does an extra day. Dh covers her then we get a day off together later. We wrote it into our contract.

Thanks all - I understand that if it was a change in contract it would need to be discussed and agreed and I can't just unilaterally change it! The one week term time, one holiday might be a good compromise, perhaps with a small bonus to cover the extra expense.

I do have a notice period that she is meant to give before booking holiday and I do need to agree to it as per the contract ( but have to be reasonable etc, just like my own work) which she didn't adhere to in this instance. However since this was an expensive holiday that she had already booked it felt very extreme for me to tell her to cancel it and lose her money at that point so am just trying to deal with it( although if I have to hire cover for those weeks then that will take up a chunk of our own holiday money!).

I suspect I'm feeling it more this year as I had to cover a period of sickness for a week and a half ( obviously no ones fault) so now will have very limited time off with my eldest as I will have had to use most of my holiday.

What was the notice period? You say reasonable but how long is it? You are being very fair to allow the holiday, but think you need to discuss this with your nanny and explain your proposal for future x

As a nanny I wouldn't sign a contract with no term time holiday for the reasons you stated, expense, busy and also loads of children!! I love children but on holiday I like more child free. But not happy to pay the premium of an adult holiday.

However, if she has booked a holiday without consulting you or giving enough notice, I would either say that it doesn't work for you, you cannot get time off work, therefore she cancels or she takes it unpaid so that you can cover her with a temp nanny or other alternate childcare.

I have to give 6 weeks notice, I've just given my employer 6 and 8 months notice for my holiday as I know that she has to book her holiday way in advance.

We generally had the standard choose half each with a 6 week notice period, however, it was clear that she had to ask first and that holiday could be refused if it wasn't convenient.

I do know several teachers who have a no term time holiday rule, but they generally give more holiday time to make up for it.

Personally wouldn't sign a contract that allows me Only holidays in school holidays or that family must agree to the dates

I like to book holidays may and sept - after schools are back. To be told I couldn't take when I wanted to would frustrate me - otherwise it's not my choice of two weeks is it

The prices are insane and I don't want thousands of school aged children screaming in my ears 😉

But I did (when employed) have in it that I would give 6w notice of any holidays - tho tbh was much more then that

I think your nanny is very cheeky to book if hadn't discussed with you esp if that's in the contract

And 2.5w? Is she found over her holiday allowance ?

If I was working with school age children i could understand if there was restrictions when i could take my holiday. I usually work with babies so never had that problem. I personally would never sign a contract that I can only take my holidays in the school holidays. I think it's more common with nannies that work with older children.

I feel your nanny is in the wrong here, they should have requested time off before booking their holiday. They should not be assuming that they will get the dates off that they desire.

What's done is done, so you are now left to sort out the mess.

Contractually you can certainly restrict when holiday is taken and even when not explicitly stated, there is generally a clause that enables you to deny holiday requests as long as they get the correct amount of holiday during the year.

If you can't cover their holiday time, then what could you do? Can you a temp? Can you tell your nanny that the period of time you need to have a temp means they are not on annual leave but are on unpaid leave? That would then mean they have annual leave remaining to be taken at a later point, when you can cover their time off.

I'm a nanny and have the standard they choose half/I choose half in my contract.

I wouldn't work for a family who specified that my holidays had to be in the school holidays, for all the reasons that you've said (expensive, crowded, too hot in the summer!). The only exception would be if they paid very, very well to cover the massive extra cost and inconvenience.

Thanks all - that's what I thought about term time only being too restrictive! I can genuinely understand why.

We only ask for 4 weeks notice of her holiday plans in the contract, and I would never refuse it unless it was truly very difficult. She did actually send me a text on the Sunday night mentioning the potential dates, I was going to discuss on the Monday morning but then when she got in on Monday she had already booked and paid for it ( and actually on different dates) so as not to miss the deal!

I will have a chat with her about the whole situation - may consider asking her to take at least one week of it as unpaid leave ( as that is what I will have to take if work allows me - will need to ask for emergency leave). She is a great nanny and the kids love her but slightly prone to just doing what she thinks is best, irrespective of what I have said at times! I think I was so shocked and annoyed when she told me I didn't want to discuss it then and there beyond a quick question.

blondes I have quite a generous holiday allowance of 5 weeks plus bank holidays, choosing half each. TBH before my eldest started school I - rather foolishly - didn't really think about this. I may suggest we change it to her choosing 2 weeks.

the whole lot of it should be unpaid leave. that's completely unacceptable behaviour.

I agree it isn't great wicker. Suspect it was maybe done without really thinking it through at all, as this is the first time the leave dates have been a problem, so usually we do say yes within a few days. Still is definitely worth a reminder and a chat about the problems this has now caused.

I agree that it would be a good solution to offer for her to have it as unpaid leave to teach her a lesson. It's unacceptable to put you in this positional the last minute.

Both of my dcs are at school. Our nanny takes holidays on a 50:50 basis - so we decided half and she decides half.
She knows she isn't able to take holiday in may-June-July because of our work commitments but we made that clear from day one.

She also gives us plenty of notices of holidays and would never spring a last minute request unless it was an odd day or an emergency.

She has booked a 2 1/2 week holiday at less than four weeks notice and expects you to magic up cover?! That is outrageous! Does she understand that her work is dependent on yours and that if this kind of behaviour makes your working life more difficult or impossible she is effectively shooting herself in the foot?

I would be really cross about this.

I don't think it means you need a "school holidays only" contract though. I think you need a nanny who sticks to the notice they're supposed to give!

I'd be severely pissed off OP. Has she done anything like this before?

I'd be severely pissed off OP. Has she done anything like this before?