vacation - how soon after accepting a new position?

[Anonymous]

We are going to hire a new nanny and offer her benefit package.

Should we put in a contract that she gets paid vacation but after specific time? Like 6 months from starting her new job?

We just don't want her to take vacation after a month.. It happened to us before.

Moreover, should our nanny take vacation when we do? Or it's her call?

I will be grateful for your advice.

[Anonymous]

MB here. 6 months is ridiculous and I don't even know of any other job where you have a 6 month waiting period before taking vacation is allowed 3 months seems customary in the non nanny world but even then I think that is too long as a nanny.

DC's nanny started in April and she had a 2 week trial period where either party could end termination without issue. Following that 2 week trial, she had a 4 week period where she couldn't take paid vacation days. Sick or personal was fine (personal days could be taken on a day by day basis, any consecutive days had to be taken out of vacation day stock).

As for when she can take vacation...she has 2 weeks our choosing (because we go away for 2 full weeks throughout the year) and what amounts to a week and a half of vacation of her choosing, 5 sick days, and 3 personal days. Personal and sick days cannot be used for vacation. But she has guaranteed hours so the whole 2 weeks of our choosing doesn't really mean much other than the fact that she has very advanced notice of when she'll have time off.

I hope I explained this ok. Allergies are killing me today and I'm in a bit of a brain fog.

[Anonymous]

I think that's a reasonable stipulation. You could also pro-rate it so that she's earning X vacation days per month.

It's not unusual for nanny contracts to stipulate that one week of vacation be scheduled at the family's choice, while the other is the nanny's choice. If you plan to take more than one week of vacation per year, you should be up front about whether you will still offer guaranteed pay for those weeks, or if they will be unpaid. As a heads up, unpaid time off due to a family's vacation will be a deal breaker for many nannies, so proceed with caution.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

Thanks. It makes sense.

I am not saying it has to be 6 months. I am just asking as I don't know.

BTW, I couldn't take vacation for 12 months when I started my new job so 6 months doesn't seem ridiculous to me.

[Anonymous]

Most professional employers have vacation hours accrue each pay period. Once enough hours are accrued, the employee is free to request a vacation. I think this is good policy in the nanny world as well.

The exception would be if a candidate not yet hired had a prearranged vacation. I would think it fair to hire her and honor her previous vacation and either pushing back her start date or taking the time out of her eventual vacation time bank.

[Anonymous]

Most professionals also have vacation hours that roll over every year.

[Anonymous]

We allowed our first nanny to take her two weeks vacation whenever she wanted. She ended up taking four weeks, combining two at the end of her first year, and then two at the beginning of her second. OK, right? Well, she returned, and quit three weeks later with 1 week's notice.

I needed a new nanny, and was looking at having to pay someone else a two-week vacation within the same year, and who knows if something might happen and we'd have the same scenario with a third nanny.

So, instead, I started doing paid time off that accrued at one day a month. That's 12 days a year, all at the nanny's scheduling discretion, and she can use it for whatever: vacation, sick days, appointments, personal days, I don't care. (We also give guaranteed hours and pay when we're out of town, so this turns out to more days than the typical two weeks (one of parents' choosing) + sick days).

It may seem to kind of suck that she has very little PTO in the first few months, but it accomplishes the same thing as a waiting period while ensuring that I will only have to cover 12 days a year, even if my current nanny has to leave for some reason. I do pay out unused days. If she wants to take a longer vacation before she has accrued the days, she can either plan to make up the hours or take those extra days unpaid.

I do payroll twice a month, so she earns a half day at each pay period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most professional employers have vacation hours accrue each pay period. Once enough hours are accrued, the employee is free to request a vacation. I think this is good policy in the nanny world as well.

The exception would be if a candidate not yet hired had a prearranged vacation. I would think it fair to hire her and honor her previous vacation and either pushing back her start date or taking the time out of her eventual vacation time bank.

I think most people would be happy if you just agreed they could have the time off, but that it was unpaid. I think very few people would expect you to pay for a vacation soon after you started work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous



Most professionals also have vacation hours that roll over every year.

Actually, it isn't common to have full vacation hours roll over anymore. Most companies allow a limited amount of PTO rollover a year. Many are even more limited. Use it or lose it. I'm not saying that this is a good thing. It just is.

[Anonymous]

I have never agreed to parallel vacation days. However, I think it would be ok to ask that one half of them overlap. That way both parties are equally burdened. I would also expect two to three months notice because it would be hard to afford a last minute trip. Without that advance notice your nanny may be stuck at home rather then actually being able to use it as a vacation. I would advise some give and take on most contract terms. It sends the message that you want a good relationship rather than that you will take every opportunity to come out ahead even if its a disadvantage to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We allowed our first nanny to take her two weeks vacation whenever she wanted. She ended up taking four weeks, combining two at the end of her first year, and then two at the beginning of her second. OK, right? Well, she returned, and quit three weeks later with 1 week's notice.

I needed a new nanny, and was looking at having to pay someone else a two-week vacation within the same year, and who knows if something might happen and we'd have the same scenario with a third nanny.

So, instead, I started doing paid time off that accrued at one day a month. That's 12 days a year, all at the nanny's scheduling discretion, and she can use it for whatever: vacation, sick days, appointments, personal days, I don't care. (We also give guaranteed hours and pay when we're out of town, so this turns out to more days than the typical two weeks (one of parents' choosing) + sick days).

It may seem to kind of suck that she has very little PTO in the first few months, but it accomplishes the same thing as a waiting period while ensuring that I will only have to cover 12 days a year, even if my current nanny has to leave for some reason. I do pay out unused days. If she wants to take a longer vacation before she has accrued the days, she can either plan to make up the hours or take those extra days unpaid.

I do payroll twice a month, so she earns a half day at each pay period.

OP here. Very smart. Thanks for your post. Regarding quitting after taking vacation - this is what happened to us as well. That's why we want to avoid the same mistake again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MB here. 6 months is ridiculous and I don't even know of any other job where you have a 6 month waiting period before taking vacation is allowed 3 months seems customary in the non nanny world but even then I think that is too long as a nanny.

DC's nanny started in April and she had a 2 week trial period where either party could end termination without issue. Following that 2 week trial, she had a 4 week period where she couldn't take paid vacation days. Sick or personal was fine (personal days could be taken on a day by day basis, any consecutive days had to be taken out of vacation day stock).

As for when she can take vacation...she has 2 weeks our choosing (because we go away for 2 full weeks throughout the year) and what amounts to a week and a half of vacation of her choosing, 5 sick days, and 3 personal days. Personal and sick days cannot be used for vacation. But she has guaranteed hours so the whole 2 weeks of our choosing doesn't really mean much other than the fact that she has very advanced notice of when she'll have time off.

I hope I explained this ok. Allergies are killing me today and I'm in a bit of a brain fog.

You're shooting yourself in the foot with that deal. With most vacation time, nannies need to give a months notice. With sick days, they might only be required to give an hours notice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MB here. 6 months is ridiculous and I don't even know of any other job where you have a 6 month waiting period before taking vacation is allowed 3 months seems customary in the non nanny world but even then I think that is too long as a nanny.

DC's nanny started in April and she had a 2 week trial period where either party could end termination without issue. Following that 2 week trial, she had a 4 week period where she couldn't take paid vacation days. Sick or personal was fine (personal days could be taken on a day by day basis, any consecutive days had to be taken out of vacation day stock).

As for when she can take vacation...she has 2 weeks our choosing (because we go away for 2 full weeks throughout the year) and what amounts to a week and a half of vacation of her choosing, 5 sick days, and 3 personal days. Personal and sick days cannot be used for vacation. But she has guaranteed hours so the whole 2 weeks of our choosing doesn't really mean much other than the fact that she has very advanced notice of when she'll have time off.

I hope I explained this ok. Allergies are killing me today and I'm in a bit of a brain fog.

You're shooting yourself in the foot with that deal. With most vacation time, nannies need to give a months notice. With sick days, they might only be required to give an hours notice.

I expect OP is trying to avoid a situation where her nanny uses up all of her PTO on a vacation early in the year, and then is without any sick days when she gets the flu later on. The system is not without it's flaws (a nanny could easily lie and say she was very sick last minute when in reality she was on a vacation she booked a month prior) but I understand its intent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MB here. 6 months is ridiculous and I don't even know of any other job where you have a 6 month waiting period before taking vacation is allowed 3 months seems customary in the non nanny world but even then I think that is too long as a nanny.

DC's nanny started in April and she had a 2 week trial period where either party could end termination without issue. Following that 2 week trial, she had a 4 week period where she couldn't take paid vacation days. Sick or personal was fine (personal days could be taken on a day by day basis, any consecutive days had to be taken out of vacation day stock).

As for when she can take vacation...she has 2 weeks our choosing (because we go away for 2 full weeks throughout the year) and what amounts to a week and a half of vacation of her choosing, 5 sick days, and 3 personal days. Personal and sick days cannot be used for vacation. But she has guaranteed hours so the whole 2 weeks of our choosing doesn't really mean much other than the fact that she has very advanced notice of when she'll have time off.

I hope I explained this ok. Allergies are killing me today and I'm in a bit of a brain fog.

You're shooting yourself in the foot with that deal. With most vacation time, nannies need to give a months notice. With sick days, they might only be required to give an hours notice.

I expect OP is trying to avoid a situation where her nanny uses up all of her PTO on a vacation early in the year, and then is without any sick days when she gets the flu later on. The system is not without it's flaws (a nanny could easily lie and say she was very sick last minute when in reality she was on a vacation she booked a month prior) but I understand its intent.

Sorry, *PP* not OP.

[Anonymous]

I'd say after six months to nine months.

After a month is surely asking for trouble.