Nanny Pay When Travelling With Family

[MrMom]

Hi all.

My wife and I are considering asking our nanny to travel with us on our holiday (5-7 days). Her hours and duties will be as usual (although we will probably spend more time with DS, hence, work load will be less than usual); she will have her own room (not shared with DS); we will cover the cost of all meals (will probably dine with us, unless she chooses not to).

This is our first nanny, so we are looking for guidance from other employers on what the customary practice is for nanny pay in these circumstances.

Thanks in advance.

When I was a nanny and travelled with the family I was paid my normal wages and all expenses were covered whilst away. I worked reduced hours as the child's parents were with us also.

HTH.

All our nannies travelled with us on holiday at the same rate of pay. We would pay all her expenses. I've never had travel pay as an issue but rather a given.

Normal wages, maybe reduced daytime hours with some extra evening hours if you are going out.

All expenses covered obviously.

Our nanny did 5 weeks travellign with us under these conditions and was totally OK with it - she got to surf (her fun thing) some afternoons and in return did some evenings while we went out.

We had a pretty relaxed/open realtionship with our nanny when we had her though (sadly she had to leave when dd2 went to school!!)

agree normal wages and if you give some time off during day (as i assume you want to spend some time with your children) then many nannys happy to bs in evening - but again not every evening

if working a weekend/extra days then obv pay more daily rate

I was paid my normal salary when I holidayed as a nanny too. I either worked early (when the kids woke up) to lunch time or I worked late, which was lunchtime to bedtime. The parents went out about 3-4 times over course of 2 weeks. All my expenses were met by the family.

Thanks for all your input all of which is very consistent. As it happens, my nanny appears to have expectations of a very significant uplift. Given the unanimous feedback on this thread (and other inquiries), you can imagine our surprise. The conversation quickly got awkward and didn't finish well.

Ho hum...

If travelling was in my contract, then normal pay for normal/fewer hours is fine. If travelling wasn't in my contract, then if I did agree to go I would expect extra pay actually, to compensate for the inconvenience of being away from home.

In my contract I have travel pay segment. It includes that I would get normal pay(for normal hours), plus any over time, plus all accomadation/board etc, plus an amount for each night I'm away from home. Also in another part of contract I have included that if the family requires me to have any equipment for activities that the family pays, eg ski clothes and equipment.

Also before each holiday I sit down with the family and we agree on plans.

nannynz & limonchik,

Thanks for the feedback.

The job ad included travel, travel was discussed at the interview and the contract provides for travel, albeit indirectly (as part of the definition of the place of work) but does not address the issue of pay directly. Since there is no other provision for pay, at a minimum, the strong implication is for standard pay at all places of work. This is how things generally work in the non-nanny world! If a daily allowance is paid, it intended to cover for out-of-pocket expenses (meals, laundry, telephone calls). You don't get both.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the contract, before making this post, we had been thinking of a supplement as compensation for "inconvenience". The "supplement" the nanny had in mind is substantially more than a "supplement".

In the meantime, the nanny is now asserting that travel was not previously discussed etc., which is partly why the conversation went downhill so rapidly...

In future, I will ensure that the point is covered explicitly in the contract.

Not sure where we go from here.

In my new contract (just started a new job this week) I have asked for a few things to be put in regarding travel:

• firstly prior to each trip we sit and agree hours/duties/expectations/etc so everyone is on the same page. I have agreed to get the same salary for my "usual" working week whilst travelling, but will be flexible on when those hours are worked in return for ad hoc time off during the trip, so in reality I will work less than a normal week at home but will get the same pay.
• Any overtime is payable with time off in lieu, which I am happy with as I work long hours and so time off is better for me than extra money, I can accrue more holiday time and take long weekends every few weeks (I work 6 days a week so long weekends are fab for a break!)
• As far as an extra "allowance" goes for any inconvenience... I am live in so require my own room and bathroom when travelling thus I am as comfortable as I would be at home. I get all meals and other expenses relating to the trip paid for, so basically the trip has cost me nothing at all as it is not MY vacation/business trip. I am there to make the family's life easier.

I think you need to amend your contract to cover in more detail what you require of your nanny, and what you are prepared to pay. If she doesn't like it then maybe she's not the nanny for you? As long as you are being fair in your pay and requirements she should not be getting all uppity and demanding loads more money.

Presumably she's looking at it on the basis of being with you 24 hrs/day, so wants to be paid on that basis? Which is really not, in my experience, the norm.

We took our nanny skiing and paid: travel costs; ordinary salary for what in the event were shorter hours, just like everyone else here; accommodation, meals, expenses; ski lessons/ski hire (because she was doing lessons with the children).

I think your nanny may be working off the tales of bad experiences that fly around in the nanny community (and do of course happen sometimes) - where a nanny really is expected to be permanently on duty - sleep in the same room as children, do all the getting up at night, plus working long hours without breaks. But you clearly aren't planning anything like that!

I think on "where to go", the first step is to say you've asked around and fully understand the risk she might see of you taking advantage, but you absolutely won't (so v v clear on hours, duties, etc.; and agree an express overtime rate for anything more which you ask her to do); and if she is still adamant that the norm is 24-hr pay, then I'm afraid you're at risk of her taking advantage - throughout the job - and you might want to decided stopping now. (Presumably you've got a "trial period" built into your arrangements?)

You might also want to have a look at the chat board on the nannyjob website, as this issue comes up again and again and again, and you will then see some of the horror stories she might be worrying about. Plus you will also get yet more confirmations of the norms ...

If she's really not keen on going, and travel isn't explicit in the contract, then I think it might be best not to take her and give her the week as part of her holiday instead. It would probably not be a positive experience all round if she is going to hate being there! A lesson learned for your next nanny though.

Maybe it would be a nice opportunity if she doesn't come for your DS to spend more time with his parents.

Maybe it would be a nice opportunity if she doesn't come for your DS to spend more time with his parents.

I teach an instrument to a manager who has travel written into her contract - I charge by the term and so if she pays for a term and then is asked to go to the USA or UK for 6 weeks she shows them her receipt from me and gets reimbursed for the cost of the missed lessons.

So I would say if you nanny is missing out on a regular class or hobby then you could possibly stump up for the missed class(es) but no more.

I guess what it comes down to is whether she would like an all expenses paid trip with less work than she gets at home, or whether she would like to take 5-7 days of holiday leave.

I think she is getting confused with you going on holiday and leaving her in charge of the children at home - I would think a substantial extra payment would be justified in that case.

Are you going somewhere nice?

In your case I would either amend the contract to include travel or leave the change until your next nanny and travel without your current nanny and take a temp one.

I write my own contract and it is very in depth, before signing it with the family there is room for amendments. I've done some pretty intense traveling with families in the past where I felt over used and under payed hence my indepth travel section in contract. There are parts in my contract which wouldn't work in the "non nanny" world but since each family demands different things I've learnt to cover my self by asking for things that normally wouldn't be covered in a contract.

Hope you get things worked out and can enjoy your holiday.

So, you discussed travel, she agreed to it, is is not thoroughly covered in the contract but is certainly mentioned as requirement. And now she wants a substantial uplift if you want her to honour these discussion. That is very cheeky. I would offer three possibilities:
1- She comes with you (without proposed uplift). You swap the hours around a bit so she does some evening babysiting, but not everynight, and not more hours than her usual work.
2- She stays home and spend the time doing child-related chores which you prescribe to her before you leave (cooking, organising kids' rooms, shopping for school clothes, make some star charts, plan next 6 months educational goals, make a nice scrap book of the kids for you, etc.)
3- She takes her holiday (unless she has a contractual right to choose her holiday with which this option would conflict).
4- Some combination of 2 and 3.

What, out of curiosity, is her justification for requiring an uplift? Is she missing something at home (class, concert, etc.) for which she has already paid? Or is she just trying it on because she think she can get away with squeezing you for more money?

Also, have you looked into the possibility of taking someone else? I'm sure lots of au pairs / nannies out there would be glad to go skiing with you.

mananny - thanks, this all sounds very fair.

Bink - I suppose there are plenty of opportunistic employers that treat their employees like chatel. That being said, this nanny has been with us long enough to have got a feel for our style and respective personality. We have never given her any reason to suppose we would be slave drivers.

limonchik - bringing her on this trip would certainly be awkward at this juncture.

rookiemater - true, but it would also be nice for my wife and I have a few hours to ourselves. I don't think we've been out together more than once in the last 9 months.

thirtypence - I don't think course fees are relevant here, but will certainly ask. Nothing exotic. Was thinking of Isle of Wight, but not decided. Can't handle the thought of airports with DS. He also has allergies, so want to stay close to the NHS.

We are looking for self-catering attached to hotel so that we can cater for DS's needs without forgoing facilities of hotel. Not many of those around.

nannynz - I'll definitely need a break after this episode! Thx.

AtheneNoctua - I think it is probably option 3. The only justification was that she is accustomed to getting the uplift...

Accustomed to getting the uplift?

She is living on cloud cuckoo land.