Vacation Pay: Does this make sense to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would pay her, but remind her that "guaranteed hours" means that she is available to work. That means that in the unlikely event your vacation gets cancelled or is cut short, she will have to take those days unpaid so that you can hire back up, or come to work.

Before nannies say that's not fair if she's made non-refundable plans, that's what you do with your vacation days. Your NF's vacation, for which you're paid guaranteed hours, is a gamble if you do that.

This. +1

I totally agree w/this answer.

+2 with the caveat that your vacation time was known to her when she made these plans. If you decided on the last week of vacation based on the fact she was off, I don't think she should be paid. If she's just tacking on an extra week of unpaid vacation, then I would pay for the second week. Also agree that unpaid time off should be for emergencies only. To my thinking, that's part of the implicit contract with guaranteed hours. I won't cancel payment on you, and you won't cancel time (beyond contracted vacation) on me.

OP here. Yes. She knew when we were taking vacation. And I do think that she chose this particular trip with these particular friends because we were going to be gone for part of it.

Thank you. I am feeling better about this. And I will talk to her about taking unpaid vacation only in emergencies.
I think that it was the way she put it....gave me a calendar with dates listed as unpaid, then suddenly "paid" because we were leaving for our own vacation that day.

If you lined up your vacation to when she'd be out, it's unpaid.

If she knew of your plans and lined it her vacation to overlap with yours, it's paid.

Awesome game of chicken she is playing. How old is she?

She is 35. It does feel like a game of chicken

[Anonymous]

My NF travels at least 8 weeks a year. They pay my for ALL of them. They encourage my traveling when they are away. Wouldn't you do the same if you were in your nannies situation? She wouldn't have planned the trip if you were going to be in town. I would just tell her to enjoy her vacation and be on your way. Your nanny will appreciate this SO much and will in turn pitch in more/feel appreciated. I don't always go away when my NF travels, and I offer to watch their dog/organize/water plants, etc. I would be so turned off by a family that is super calculated about vacation days, etc. I have been with my family 3.5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My NF travels at least 8 weeks a year. They pay my for ALL of them. They encourage my traveling when they are away. Wouldn't you do the same if you were in your nannies situation? She wouldn't have planned the trip if you were going to be in town. I would just tell her to enjoy her vacation and be on your way. Your nanny will appreciate this SO much and will in turn pitch in more/feel appreciated. I don't always go away when my NF travels, and I offer to watch their dog/organize/water plants, etc. I would be so turned off by a family that is super calculated about vacation days, etc. I have been with my family 3.5 years.

She does always go away when we travel. Like I said, we leave, she travels while we are gone...doesn't bother me. She takes a two week trip, and we are out of town for four days in the middle of it, and she says those are her guaranteed hours so we owe her several hundred dollars...does bother me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My NF travels at least 8 weeks a year. They pay my for ALL of them. They encourage my traveling when they are away. Wouldn't you do the same if you were in your nannies situation? She wouldn't have planned the trip if you were going to be in town. I would just tell her to enjoy her vacation and be on your way. Your nanny will appreciate this SO much and will in turn pitch in more/feel appreciated. I don't always go away when my NF travels, and I offer to watch their dog/organize/water plants, etc. I would be so turned off by a family that is super calculated about vacation days, etc. I have been with my family 3.5 years.

She does always go away when we travel. Like I said, we leave, she travels while we are gone...doesn't bother me. She takes a two week trip, and we are out of town for four days in the middle of it, and she says those are her guaranteed hours so we owe her several hundred dollars...does bother me.

If she's being petty, feel free to be petty too. I would tell her they are guaranteed because she's on call, and that you've decided you may or may not go on the trip and may or may not return early so you'll let her know each night prior if she is expected the next day.

And then I would cut ties with her.

[Anonymous]

I agree about garunteed salary. If u take trip she gets paid. She asks time off after her two weeks paid it is unpaid

[Anonymous]

Garunteed pay means I'm paid 52 weeks per year. Since she took her two weeks already she shouldn't get paid when she asks for time off but when you go on vacation you still pay her. She's garunteed paid 52 weeks per year so she can pay her bills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Garunteed pay means I'm paid 52 weeks per year. Since she took her two weeks already she shouldn't get paid when she asks for time off but when you go on vacation you still pay her. She's garunteed paid 52 weeks per year so she can pay her bills.

Assuming she works 50 weeks a year. She took 2 weeks and is taking another 2 weeks. What the family is doing while nanny vacations is of no concern. DO NOT PAY NANNY TO TAKE A SECOND VACATION. $0

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My NF travels at least 8 weeks a year. They pay my for ALL of them. They encourage my traveling when they are away. Wouldn't you do the same if you were in your nannies situation? She wouldn't have planned the trip if you were going to be in town. I would just tell her to enjoy her vacation and be on your way. Your nanny will appreciate this SO much and will in turn pitch in more/feel appreciated. I don't always go away when my NF travels, and I offer to watch their dog/organize/water plants, etc. I would be so turned off by a family that is super calculated about vacation days, etc. I have been with my family 3.5 years.

Same here, my family travels 6-8 weeks a year and tells me those dates months in advance out of courtesy.
I would never go take an additional week or two off outside of those many dates unless I had a very good reason. Saving $50 on a flight or going with my friends- who all got vacation clearance from their bosses- is not a reason to game your NF. You just look selfish. Do that only if unpaid, you help find a good nanny replacement for the week, and the children are old enough to handle temp care/ no stranger danger.

[Anonymous]

You should absolutely pay her for your vacation. She arranged her trip around that because that pay is already guaranteed. She ASKED if she could have additional days off and accepted that they would be unpaid as her vacation days have been used. You could have said no, but you said yes. You really have no right to be upset with her. You can make it clear to her that moving forward, barring any emergent circumstances, that you will not be able to accomodate any additional time off.

I would take into account her sick days. How many does she get and how many has she used? While I've never requested additional days off, I would imagine that my employers would accomodate because I have shown myself to be valuable, dependable, and professional. I will make my Dr appointments for the early morning and return to work after, come in and have an easy day if I am sick, only use sick days if I am extremely sick, etc. What I am saying is that you should take into account her overall reliability before getting mad that she asked for additional time off, which is the only thing she did "wrong".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should absolutely pay her for your vacation. She arranged her trip around that because that pay is already guaranteed. She ASKED if she could have additional days off and accepted that they would be unpaid as her vacation days have been used. You could have said no, but you said yes. You really have no right to be upset with her. You can make it clear to her that moving forward, barring any emergent circumstances, that you will not be able to accomodate any additional time off.

I would take into account her sick days. How many does she get and how many has she used? While I've never requested additional days off, I would imagine that my employers would accomodate because I have shown myself to be valuable, dependable, and professional. I will make my Dr appointments for the early morning and return to work after, come in and have an easy day if I am sick, only use sick days if I am extremely sick, etc. What I am saying is that you should take into account her overall reliability before getting mad that she asked for additional time off, which is the only thing she did "wrong".

I believe OP said yes because she thought both weeks would be unpaid, and thus being without the nanny on the week before their vacation would be worth the inconvenience. OP, you need to clarify this before approving any extra leave a nanny requests from you in the future. I understand why you feel taken advantage of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should absolutely pay her for your vacation. She arranged her trip around that because that pay is already guaranteed. She ASKED if she could have additional days off and accepted that they would be unpaid as her vacation days have been used. You could have said no, but you said yes. You really have no right to be upset with her. You can make it clear to her that moving forward, barring any emergent circumstances, that you will not be able to accomodate any additional time off.

I would take into account her sick days. How many does she get and how many has she used? While I've never requested additional days off, I would imagine that my employers would accomodate because I have shown myself to be valuable, dependable, and professional. I will make my Dr appointments for the early morning and return to work after, come in and have an easy day if I am sick, only use sick days if I am extremely sick, etc. What I am saying is that you should take into account her overall reliability before getting mad that she asked for additional time off, which is the only thing she did "wrong".

I believe OP said yes because she thought both weeks would be unpaid, and thus being without the nanny on the week before their vacation would be worth the inconvenience. OP, you need to clarify this before approving any extra leave a nanny requests from you in the future. I understand why you feel taken advantage of.

Well, that was an assumption that didn't align with their contract.