Familiar vacation

[Anonymous]

Hi I have been a nanny for a family for over there years. This family has never taken a family vacation. I am a career Nanny & before I agreed to work with them I made it clear that I expect guartend payments every week. Two months ago I was told they are taking a vacation for a week in May. I informed them at the time I couldn't take my vacation at that time. I had a vacation planned for July 2020 that was canceled because of the pandemic. I now have to use the tickets by December 2021 or I lose my money for the tickets. It is to California & I am going with family who can not go before July at the earliest but would rather wait until November or December. The family now expects me to make up 40 hours of work by watching the three children for a whole weekend to make up for being off a week. I have never heard of such a thing. I personally think it is unfair. I am able to work that week & have offered to take care of their dogs & organize toys,shoes & clothes. Water flowers, take care of mail & garbage for the week. I personally think I am being more that fair. At this point I am starting to think I should look for a new position. I wanted like to get fellow nannies opinions & even parents thoughts on the matter.

[Anonymous]

It depends on your contract. In addition to other days off, our nanny gets two full weeks of vacation. One is Christmas to New Years and one is of her choosing. She can pick any week - we ask for 30 days notice so we can line up backup care. But she can pick any week. We are going on vacation the end of July. We will pay her her normal paycheck that week but will not use her. Our choice to vacation. We are not asking her to come and do any house tasks, but some people do and that is not totally unreasonable. But we don't need it so not going to ask.

It is not ok to ask you to "make up" those missed hours by doing free sitting on other day. That is not how Contracted M-F hours work. Either this is their first time with a nanny and they don't realize what they are asking or they don't care. If the first, you should talk to them and explain. You are ready to work your contract days but not extra because they want a vacation. If the second, look for a new job

** Only exception would be if the contract says you can only take vacation when they do, you have to use your vacation days when they go and then take unpaid days off when you take your trip

[Anonymous]

They expect you to make up hours for your trip or theirs? Are weekend hours in your contract? If not, the answer is simply no. But why are you making up hours if you have guaranteed hours? If they went away and didn’t use you, they should pay you. If you went away then you should be using your PTO or taking unpaid leave.

You are being more than fair. If it was me, If my contract specifies child related duties only, then I would not be offering to water the plants, etc., while they are away- stick to your job description and you will not send mixed signals to your employer that you are asking for additional responsibilities. If all parties can’t come to an agreement then I would give notice and seek a new employment.

[Anonymous]

Nope, no way.

I’m happy to have the kids for the weekend... as additional hours, not as a trade of hours. If thy want a weekend I’m already working, it’s OT, if it’s the weekend after they get back, then it’s normal rate added to my normal salary for guaranteed hours.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. Thanks everyone for your advice. It is agreed if I don't take vacation when they do I would still work that week. I agreed I would help child related task, dog sitting. Which I am willing to do. I am frustrated now it has changed to them wanting me to make up hours on weekends. I am thinking it might be best to move on at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Thanks everyone for your advice. It is agreed if I don't take vacation when they do I would still work that week. I agreed I would help child related task, dog sitting. Which I am willing to do. I am frustrated now it has changed to them wanting me to make up hours on weekends. I am thinking it might be best to move on at this point.

They cannot just change things when it’s convenient for them. Reiterate your agreement and if they have a problem with it still, you know what to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Thanks everyone for your advice. It is agreed if I don't take vacation when they do I would still work that week. I agreed I would help child related task, dog sitting. Which I am willing to do. I am frustrated now it has changed to them wanting me to make up hours on weekends. I am thinking it might be best to move on at this point.

I would try one more time, and show them the relevant portions of the contract.

If they stick to their argument, then I would let them know one week before their vacation that I would no longer be available when they get back from vacation. That would satisfy my two week minimum, give me time to line up interviews to do during the week that they would be gone, and... it would be so satisfying. But in no way would I advocate for going against the contract, because I am all about giving my last contract to my next family, describing how it helped, and describing any issues or arguments that arose.