Anonymous wrote:If this person is your primary/sole source of childcare, ie if you are depending on her, I think you have to do two things: 1, figure out all of this now (and make sure she agrees), and 2, put it in writing for future reference. It's not that you need a "contract" that one of you will later use to sue the other...it's that it helps when you're on the same page.
If this is more of a spare pair of hands, I wouldn't sweat it as much.
To answer your questions, we pay our PT nanny for federal holidays that fall on days she'd be working as PP suggested. We offer guaranteed hours--meaning, if she doesn't need to work bc we're out of town, or we're hosting a grandparent, we pay for that time. We also give vacation time and sick time. It's honestly not a huge amount of money and goes a long way in terms of loyalty (she's worked for us for 3 years).
How much paid leave do you give to your PT nanny? 5 days a year?