Got your answer, OP? Pay her or lose her.

Wow PPi feel sorry for the kids in the family you work for that they cannot even handle their own children on Xmas - unless they do not celebrate of course.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she isn't Jewish, why should she have to help you on Jewish holidays? If I had a non-Christian working for me, I wouldn't dream of asking her to help me at Christmas or Easter.

I'd actually think the opposite. If the nanny is Jewish, wouldn't she need the Jewish holidays off for her own observation/celebration? Same with Christians--I'd assume they would rather spend Christmas and Easter at their own church and with their own families.

Exactly. The pp doesn't make any sense. Why would she mind working on a Jewish holiday if she's not Jewish? I'm not a Christian and I am usually required to work at least one major holiday. I always ask for Christmas because it's just a random day to me.

Anonymous wrote:If she isn't Jewish, why should she have to help you on Jewish holidays? If I had a non-Christian working for me, I wouldn't dream of asking her to help me at Christmas or Easter.

I'd actually think the opposite. If the nanny is Jewish, wouldn't she need the Jewish holidays off for her own observation/celebration? Same with Christians--I'd assume they would rather spend Christmas and Easter at their own church and with their own families.

What a "nice" generalization of nannies, PP.

Day after day reading this forum makes me thankful not to work for people like you.

Is it always the rule that when you take vacation you must also pay your nanny and also give her a discretionary week of vacation? Has anyone thought of another creative way to deal with employer vacation and nanny pay? Any suggestions would be helpful. thanks.

No its not always the rule at all. Many positions do not offer guaranteed hours. Its a great perk. Not an unreasonable one to request, but one that should be factored into the original compensation package and not taken for granted by nannies.

As an employer you actually do much better financially offering guarantee pay, a week of vacation and lower rate. Most nannies are emotional and don't do math. They will take a slight lower paying job offering guaranteed hours and a week of vacation at their choice over a higher paying job that doesn't offer these benefits. It just takes a slight difference in hourly or gross pay over the course of a year to add up to what the paid time off cost the employer. The balance clearly changes if you plan on taking months off but for 2 weeks the advantage goes to the employer.

Cuz schools close for Jewish holidays including some preschools. If neither nanny nor family are Jewish then MB would normally try to work and would want nanny to work.

If she isn't Jewish, why should she have to help you on Jewish holidays? If I had a non-Christian working for me, I wouldn't dream of asking her to help me at Christmas or Easter.

If it's not in the contract then no, don't pay if you don't need her.

very helpful comments. food for thought. thank you!!!

Anonymous wrote:That makes sense for a week long vacation. so what about making time up on another day? so for example, this is a part-time position, and we go away on Friday so nanny doesn't need to work. Can we take the 4 hours from Friday and ask her to use it for the jewish holiday when schools are closed to have the nanny work the full day instead of just the half day?

You can absolutely propose that. Some nannies have flexibility in their schedules and would be happy to comply. Others have multiple part time jobs or obligations to their own kids and can't easily accommodate schedule changes.

Also, for a part time job, it is not common to provide guaranteed hours or vacation pay. Some nannies definitely get it, but many don't.

OP, there is absolutely nothing in nanny-land that is "always the rule." Everything is negotiable, but negotiations do need to be handled in advance to avoid misunderstandings and frustrations down the road. Also, only nannies with a contract that specifies guaranteed hours are entitled to be paid for days, other than whatever vacation time and holidays you've specifically committed to them, when they are not needed due to the family's travel. If the nanny did not ask for this benefit at the time of hire, she should not be trying to claim the perk now on the ground that it is "always the rule." If she is, then you are entitled to negotiate the terms on which you will start providing that benefit.

Some nannies may be completely okay with cleaning or doing other backed up house management projects--child-related or not--while you are away. Some may be okay with making up the hours at another time; I know one person whose nanny "earns" her excess vacation time by spending a weekend overnight with the kids for each week of vacation beyond what they determined was standard. You could also specify that the nanny must use the extra weeks for professional development (e.g., reading and reporting back to you about certain child development books), researching schools or summer programs for your children, or planning future activities, crafts, or projects.

Some families contract to pay a below market hourly rate for the entire year to offset the extra paid vacation time. This works best when you can give the nanny lots of notice about when the extra vacation time will be, so she can actually take advantage of it. Getting cancelled on at the last minute for a day here and there isn't of much benefit to her, so she's probably not going to take a lower rate to offset that.

I also know one family who offers four weeks PTO plus two weeks federal holidays, but the family has sole control over when all four weeks of vacation will be taken. If the nanny needs to self-schedule time off for any reason, she does not get paid.

Again, it is all about finding a balance that works for both your family and the nanny and then spelling out mutual expectations in your contract.

That makes sense for a week long vacation. so what about making time up on another day? so for example, this is a part-time position, and we go away on Friday so nanny doesn't need to work. Can we take the 4 hours from Friday and ask her to use it for the jewish holiday when schools are closed to have the nanny work the full day instead of just the half day?

It is the rule if you want to keep your nanny, yes. How do you expect her to adapt to the loss of a week's worth of pay? She'll find another job if she's even halfway qualified.

You can ask her to come to the house and do a more in-depth version of her normal duties which might include cleaning all the baby toys, a deep clean of the nursery, organizing the kids' closets or sorting through outgrown clothes, mending torn clothes, batch cooking/freezing, but nothing she wouldn't normally do (no cleaning your whole house or washing the car or being your pet sitter) and yeah, she'll get some bonus time off.

This is why typical nanny contracts specify that the nanny gets X weeks of vacation, with usually half of them at the employer's discretion - that way you can overlap her vacation with yours. So for instance, I get 2 weeks of vacation and get to choose one of the weeks. (I also happened to get a third week this year because my bosses took an additional trip.)

Is it always the rule that when you take vacation you must also pay your nanny and also give her a discretionary week of vacation? Has anyone thought of another creative way to deal with employer vacation and nanny pay? Any suggestions would be helpful. thanks.