12:26, your friend is a presumptuous jerk to ask you if your nanny. Could watch her kids! You also come across as a bigot

As a MB to a great American woman (who has worked with us for many years, and never taken more than 10 days off consecutively, usually only 5 at most), it always makes me cringe when I hear friends of mine with the exact same problem. I have two good friends who have hired nannies from central and South America. I think they are lovely young women, but every single year my friends come complaining to me about nanny taking a long trip; one of them even asked if my nanny could watch her children for five weeks while hers was in Brazil! A friend of a friend once had a nanny from South America who said she would be gone for two weeks, then called one week into her vacation to say that her Abuela was sick and she wanted to extend her trip for two more weeks, leaving her nanny family in a real bind.

I don't mean to discriminate, but if you hire a nanny from another country (not just central or South America), you have to expect they will want to take very long trips home.

I think your nanny is wrong to ask for "at least a month" off. Sure, everybody would like a month off to visit family but most of us don't have the vacation and responsibly do our jobs and save up leave until we can take the time off we want.

I think you should remind her of her work agreement and that it includes only two paid weeks but you'd be open to allowing her to use the week of your choosing to accommodate her.

If she refuses, then replace her. You can easily find another nanny who will not try to take advantage of you this way.

If you decide you can swing another week or two unpaid PTO for her, and you think she is exceptional, then getting back up care shouldn't be too difficult. That said, be prepared for her to expect the same thing next year.

Anonymous wrote:Another reason to avoid "a spanish speaking nanny"

Ridiculous. A british, filipino, chinese, indian, hawaiian, greek, (and so forth) nanny might have the same request.

Keep the bigotry to yourself.

I have 21 dais of vacation,my boss pay me 3 weeks,if I don't get sick for the whole year I put this together on my vacation ,this the why a got 3 weeks Paid.

Anonymous wrote:Another reason to avoid "a spanish speaking nanny"

+1

Another reason to avoid "a spanish speaking nanny"

You are totally within your right to be "pissed off" OP.

She is not following your stated contract. I would understand if there were a death or family emergency that she had to leave for, but for a vacation...??! I think she is being very presumptuous here.

Let her know that your contract states one week of her choosing and one week for YOUR choosing which only allows for two weeks. Even if she didn't request compensation for the other two weeks, she is still leaving you high + dry w/out childcare.

This is completely unacceptable and unprofessional. She seems like she is seriously lacking a responsible work ethic here.

If she still insists on going, then it is entirely up to you to decide if you want to keep her on or not.

Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:This happens ALL THE TIME with foreign-born nannies.

Sure, but most have the smarts not to sign a contract that presumably prohibits it. Negotiate this upfront and everything is fine. Pull a bait and switch once you're hired and that's a different scenario.

It is expensive to go to their home country and it only makes sense to go for a month. If she is good and you want to keep her, be reasonable and let her go.

This happens ALL THE TIME with foreign-born nannies.

Anonymous wrote:Is she a good nanny? Do you want her to continue to be your nanny?

If so, give her the leave, but whatever is not in your contract, tell her it needs to be unpaid because you'll have to find back up care.

+1

Also, she should know (you don't have to tell her) she could be replaced if the new nanny is better.

Is she a good nanny? Do you want her to continue to be your nanny?

If so, give her the leave, but whatever is not in your contract, tell her it needs to be unpaid because you'll have to find back up care.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our nanny is from another country and she prefers to take much longer vacations also. Two weeks is her minimum, last summer she left for 6 weeks when her mother died.

It's tough OP. If you have a clear contract and vacation policy then she has to know that this request will seem out of the bounds of that.

Whether or not you choose to allow it is your prerogative of course. There are ways to do it (we used an agency for short term coverage and it actually worked pretty well.) But it creates work, and probably additional expense for you. So it's no small thing.

I think you need to calm down first, and then think carefully about whether she is good enough for you to try to find a way to allow this. Alternatively you can plan to replace her (or accept that she may leave if you say no.)

Either way it's crummy. Sorry.

OP here ....Thank you for the sage advice. Can you tell me which agency you have had success with? I have looked into White House Nannies before, but the reviews I found online were mixed. Thanks again.

Sure - I use MetroParentRelief. It's woman owned and Stacie is very responsive. I've used them for just a day or two of fill-in care, and for the 6 week leave last summer.

Nothing is perfect, and it's stressful to have to manage, but I was really pleased with how well it worked out actually.

You might also consider putting something on your neighborhood listserv - if the vacation is during the summer you might find a college student who would love the short term burst of income, or even someone else's nanny who might be available while that family is on vacation or something.

Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Next time hire an American and you won't have this issue.

OP here.....I don't let someone's ethnicity factor into my hiring decision and neither should you.

You sound horrible! It's not about ethnicity.