Nanny vacation dilemma

[Anonymous]

Offer to add additional days off of her choosing, after she has been with you a year. Stick with your contract for the first year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is 10 vacations days the norm for someone with such a crucial job?

I think our daycare get at least 15 of their chowing...

Among our peer group everyone gives their nannies 10 days of vacation. But as I mentioned because DH and I have around 4 weeks of vacation annually, we will give her nearly 4 weeks off paid each year, it’s just not of her choosing.

If she can't choose when she wants off then it isn't a vacation for her.

[Anonymous]

If you like her and you want her to stay, pay her the extra days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is 10 vacations days the norm for someone with such a crucial job?

I think our daycare get at least 15 of their chowing...

Among our peer group everyone gives their nannies 10 days of vacation. But as I mentioned because DH and I have around 4 weeks of vacation annually, we will give her nearly 4 weeks off paid each year, it’s just not of her choosing.

If she can't choose when she wants off then it isn't a vacation for her.

NP. It is a vacation but a sucky because she can't plan for when she wants to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d let her take them unpaid, but I wouldn’t offer them paid. I know it’s nice to be generous, and you don’t want her feeling as though you’re stingy, but, otoh, it’s early on, and if you do it This year, you’re setting a precedent. Not only that, but you’re presumably still getting to know each other, so you want to make sure this doesn’t happen a lot. We all have limited vacation that we have to manage, and every employer tends to have its pluses and minuses in terms of what’s offered.

Very few professionals have only 5 vacation days of their choosing.

This. You don't give her 10 days. You give her 5 which is ridiculous. Sure have her take them unpaid but really just give her the days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess you don’t like her very much? This is clearly a test, and she sees that you are stingy and contractual (I assume you are both well paid lawyers?)

We do like her... but are worried this will become a habit, and one that costs us a lot of extra money. At work I don’t have any flexibility to take off more days than I am allocated. And no, neither of us is a lawyer.

Right but your employer isn't telling you which days you have to take off.

You give her 5 vacation days. Think about that.

[Anonymous]

Career nanny here. I would love extra time off too, wouldn’t you, OP? Turns out that’s not your, nor my, reality. I would not offer her the time off as it will be expected for all future years together. Also, I have always gotten 2 days off for Christmas, with every family I worked for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is 10 vacations days the norm for someone with such a crucial job?

I think our daycare get at least 15 of their chowing...

Among our peer group everyone gives their nannies 10 days of vacation. But as I mentioned because DH and I have around 4 weeks of vacation annually, we will give her nearly 4 weeks off paid each year, it’s just not of her choosing.

If she can't choose when she wants off then it isn't a vacation for her.

Please. Every employer I’ve had has had blocks of time when it was encouraged to take vacation and other times where we knew it would never be approved.

[Anonymous]

I would say something like “We are both required to be at work on the 2nd and 3rd, so it’s not a good time for a vacation, but you could use your discretionary vacation days if you like.”

“My last family let me have 2 weeks off for Christmas.”

Smile! “That sounds nice, I wish I had that much vacation time around the holidays.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess you don’t like her very much? This is clearly a test, and she sees that you are stingy and contractual (I assume you are both well paid lawyers?)

We do like her... but are worried this will become a habit, and one that costs us a lot of extra money. At work I don’t have any flexibility to take off more days than I am allocated. And no, neither of us is a lawyer.

She is taking care of your children which is something you choose not to do! If you want to keep her then give her the two damn day PAID as well as the five days later on. Otherwise, she will stay until she has her five days off and then give her notice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d let her take them unpaid, but I wouldn’t offer them paid. I know it’s nice to be generous, and you don’t want her feeling as though you’re stingy, but, otoh, it’s early on, and if you do it This year, you’re setting a precedent. Not only that, but you’re presumably still getting to know each other, so you want to make sure this doesn’t happen a lot. We all have limited vacation that we have to manage, and every employer tends to have its pluses and minuses in terms of what’s offered.

Very few professionals have only 5 vacation days of their choosing.

A nanny is not a "professional" worker. It's a blue-collar job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d make her take it unpaid. Few people get those days off.

That being said, my nanny gets 3 weeks plus federal holidays off. You’re stingy with 2 weeks. I have backup care I use for about $60 a kid though on days I can’t swing it. Sometimes it sucks. Last Tuesday I worked during the day then dh went in and worked until 3:30am.

We give all federal holidays off too. How much of the 3 weeks is of your nanny’s choosing vs. yours? While our contract states 10 days she will get almost 20 days off each year.

PP here. All of the 3 weeks is nanny's choosing. She took 2 weeks off for Thanksgiving, but is only taking Christmas eve off for instance. She does ask us what our plans are. So I'm sure she gets an extra 3 weeks a year when DH and I go on vacations with the kids and she doesn't have to work, but that's not included in her 3 weeks of vacation.

[Anonymous]

Stick with your contract. If she wants the days off, she gets less time off in April. If you start down the unpaid days off now, it's a slippery slope and it will just continue. . .

[Anonymous]

There's no other industry in which, upon agreeing to a PTO contract, employees then would attempt to guilt their employer into giving them additional PTO. Why is it that nannies think they are special?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is 10 vacations days the norm for someone with such a crucial job?

I think our daycare get at least 15 of their chowing...

Among our peer group everyone gives their nannies 10 days of vacation. But as I mentioned because DH and I have around 4 weeks of vacation annually, we will give her nearly 4 weeks off paid each year, it’s just not of her choosing.

If she can't choose when she wants off then it isn't a vacation for her.

So public school teachers get . . . no vacation?