Paying a nanny on days you ask her not to come in

[howdidthishappenthen]

Our son was sick for a few days recently and very clingy, and as I'm in the luck position of not having to go into work every day (self-employed) I wanted to stay home with him. Monday was supposed be a nanny-day (she does 2 days a week) so I let the nanny know the day before that she need not come in, and we agreed that as her services weren't required that day, she could make up the time with other hours later in the month i.e babysitting. I think she was fine with this (she said she was, anyway) but I wanted to know - how have other people handled similar situations?

She would be within her rights to expect payment for the day that she was due to come in instead. Thankfully a good relationship with a nanny can be great for times like this - as long as it works both ways and you can be flexible too on occasion.

I would always pay in such a situation and I would not ask the nanny to make up the hours - she was available to work, you pay her. No question in mind at all.

As a nanny is my employee, I'd pay her even if I asked her not to come to work. (I'd be pretty miffed if my boss phoned me up the day before and said I didn't have to work but wouldn't be paid either.) I wouldn't ask her to make up the hours either.

put another way, you are asking your nannny to give up one of her evenings for no pay!!

afraid i think you should have paid her unless you would be prepared for her to phone up the night before and say that she could not come in that day but could she do some babysitting instead

I get paid if they don't need me and I was rotered to work.

I wouldn't expect my nanny to babysit to make up the hours (seems unfair to lose her evenings) but, if we knew in advance (like you) I would agree a different day she could work instead...as long as it was something that suited her.

It depends on the relationship you have with your nanny; I always made it clear that I needed a degree of flexibility when we employed ours - I have weeks when I have to work extra hours/days and others when I dont - so she was expecting it. But I never ask her to babysit; I think her day is quite long enough (8.30-6.30 and sometimes beyond) without making it even longer!

I've never used a nanny, but have used childminders.

If my dd was booked in for 2 days a week, and on one of those days I chose not to send her, I would still pay the childminder. She is available to work, I have booked her to work, therefore, she should be paid.

I think you've been a bit cheeky actually.

She may offer to make up hours if she is a lovely nanny/mug but you should not expect it. If your boss asked you to come in on a Saturday rather than a Wednesday would you do it ?

In cases like this, you have to put yourself in her shoes. How would you feel if your boss did this to you? I think you were wrong to handle it like this, and I would bet your nanny has agreed to it because she's too nice to kick up a fuss. Be very careful as this kind of thing can build up into a lot of unspoken resentment.

She is your employee, not someone you can just put off like a social engagement!

Not the way to forge good relationships in my opinion.

You ought to pay her and Not expect her to give up her free time at a later date.
If your child was ill for a week, should she babysit the equivilent time? Errm No!

No real harm done though, you'll know next time!

I agree with others that have said you should pay her regardless, and not expect babysitting in return. If you have a similar situation in the future, then you could have her come in for a shorter day, and do some other nursery duties - make up and freeze batches of food, have a clear out of toys etc.

Thanks - interesting points of view. Do people do the same when, for example, they go on their annual holidays i.e if it's not convenient for the nanny to take their holiday at the same time, pay them for the days that you're away anyway?

I'd say quite a lot depends on what you've previously agreed with your nanny in terms of her overall contract. As I said earlier, I knew I need to work flexibly so agreed this level of flexibility when employing my nanny - for example, lucysmum, I've had to work today at incredibly short notice so even though 'officially' I don't work on Wednesdays and my nanny has the day off, I only employed someone who could always be available to cover when I had to drop everything. I will either pay her extra for a 5 day week or she will take a different day in lieu, depending on how the rest of the week plays out...

Similarly, we agreed with our nanny up-front that she would get 4 weeks paid leave a year but that if she managed to align hers with ours as much as possible then she would get 5 weeks (because thats how much time dh and I take). We agreed with her that she would take as much as possible when we took ours and we give her our dates waaaay in advance (usually 9-12 months, when we book it with work) so she has plenty of advance notice. Of course she takes some leave that doesn't perfectly match mine, and I have to cover, and that's fine. However if she took 4 weeks/year at an inconvenient time and I had to pay alternative childcare in order not to lose all my annual leave, then I wouldn't pay her to not work for the 4 weeks that I was away. But that was agreed when she started with us 4 years ago....

The contract with the nanny is usually such that in reality it is an annual salary being split into weekly or monthly payments - in my view. Ultimately would fall down to exact wording in the contract - a tribunal could decide what it really meant in many ways I expect.

So, when the parent decides they don't need their nanny to come to work, I feel the parent needs to pay in full. That is what I would expect as a nanny and it is what has happened in my current job and previous jobs.
For a live-out nanny, babysitting I feel is an extra charge. When I've had contracts saying they want babysitting included, I've always asked for that clause to be removed.

If my boss wants me to come in early one day, then if I can do that, the extra time is either paid or hours reduced on another day. Same would apply for working late.

If my boss is 5-15 minutes late arriving home, then it doesn't really matter, as due to having paid me for days when I wasn't required to work, there is quite a bit of goodwill available.

Do people do the same when, for example, they go on their annual holidays i.e if it's not convenient for the nanny to take their holiday at the same time, pay them for the days that you're away anyway?

Yes. Though I find that what has typically happened is that the family go away more often than my holiday entitlement. Where possible I take Annual Leave but once that is exhausted then all other time they don't require me is paid in full.

Try to think of your nanny being paid an annual salary for working up to say 20 hours a week (or whatever the number of hours a week they typically work). Nannies are not usually paid by the hour only for the hours they actually work... it's not that kind of contract in my view.

If my boss doesn't need me to work, I still get paid. I wouldn't make up the hours - I'm available during contracted hours and it's up to her whether she uses me or not.

Holiday - depends on your contract. Typical would be half nanny's choice and half your choice. If you decide to go away in addition to this then the nanny still gets paid.

as a nanny i would be expect to be paid.

i am avaliable for all my contracted hours and therefor payment is required regardless.

if i work additional hours then i get paid over time aswell

Agree with what has already been said. But this is why its so important to have a proper contract from the get go. A nanny shouldn't be treated any differently to any other salaried worker. How would I pay the mortgage if my employers rang me from time to time and said 'Hey, don't come in and we won't pay you!?'. We have a brilliant nanny and I feel totally blessed to have her looking after my two - I work 4 days a week and she's paid for that even if occasionally I 'work from home' of an afternoon and send her home. She's there for her contracted hours and that's what she should be paid for.

how cheeky op

the nanny was contracted to work and yet you decided that you wanted to look after your son, fair enough was ill - but why should your nanny be out of pocket and have to make time/hours up?

she is def better natured then me!!

as nick said,we are very flexible and i often start earlier and work later if mb/db away on buisness/trains late etc and thats not a problem, but if they didnt want me or pay me i would say something

saying that, my family would never do that and if one works from home i go in later and finish earlier as the parents want to spend time with their children

same goes for holidays, i have 5 weeks in my contract, but normally get way over that,as they go away a lot in holidays to their 2nd home - last year i got 11 weeks holiday and i have in my contract that if the employers go away more than their agreed time , then i will be paid and get time off

I understand where everyone is coming from and agree, however, I would happily have a whole weekday off and work a couple of evenings instead rather than be fannying about in the house while you are off work looking after the little one.

It really does depend on your nanny and how she feels, it's something I think you need to discuss before this happens again.

If she felt totally at ease to say 'No, that doesn't suit me' then no problem, but if she's inwardly annoyed about it, then you are, as others have said, going to end up looking for a new nanny....

You do need to be clear on this though, she did not need to 'make up the hours' she was available and you chose for her not to come - you should pay her.

She was avaliable for work and you said no. SO you pay her. Thats it. She doesn't have to make up any hours - she was ready and willing to work her hours and you told her not to.

Its not like she can suddenly at the last minute find a temporay job for that day to make some money instead. Her evenings are her own to do what she likes with, if you want her to babysit as extra then pay her for that.