Thursday

Holiday or Non Holiday Pay.... That is the question.

Hey there! I have a question for what is the norm for policies with nanny help. My nanny usually works for me on Tues and Thurs. This year Christmas eve and New Years eve fall on a Thurs so I gave her the option of not coming in to work if she had other plans. However since she is not coming in on those days I was not going to pay her for them because they are not technically holidays. I give her the day off on holidays and still pay her for that day normally. As she is part time there are no policies regarding vacation/sick days etc. She brought up to me today that she thinks she should be paid for those days and I told her that they were not actual holidays so normally in a workplace you would still have to work those days. I said that if it were Christmas or New Year day then I def would give a paid day off, but those are not actual holidays so if she decides not to work on them I'm not going to pay her for them. Mt question is am I making the wrong call on this. Do people normally give their help off on the eve of holidays and still pay for that day? I obviously want her to be happy, but I do not want to start a precedent of being taken advantage of and paying for non-holidays. Should I pay her a little more in way of her bonus to keep her happy? I really don't want to lose her help as she has been with us for years and I am happy with her. Please advise

17 comments:

Lacy said...

New years eve is a Federal Holiday. Christmas Eve around the world is a holiday to some. Many companies are closed that day-- just not your bottom wage workers (drug store and fast food).

If your happy with your nanny either pay her or come up with a compromise for Xmas eve and pay her for NYE. She could find a new family who saw some value in her for those 2 days. My contract lists those days as holidays.

Anonymous said...

Lacy, not true at all. Sadly in the US, Christmas and New Year's eve just aren't holidays. I know regular doctor's offices are open until at least 1pm and the librarian just told me even the library is open til 5pm on Christmas eve. I think even banks and post offices are open, but I could be wrong about that. So no, not just bottom wage workers work on these days.

And the nanny does still have the option to work. Maybe even could work a half day. As only a part time employee, I think the OP seems very generous. I think perhaps agree to a compromise. 1 day paid 1 day not. Or bigger Christmas bonus. Or maybe she could work half the day or receive half her typical pay.

And I say this as a nanny.

Leigh Raymer said...

let me tell you guys - you are all wise - threads like this get REALLY different views from MBs DBs nannies and more - this is an important issue - keep the views coming ! TU!!!

Anonymous said...

If you are happy with your Nanny, why would even question weather or not to pay her. Give her some respect pay her, tell her to have a happy holiday/vacation or if you do not consider it a holiday tell her to have a wonderful day off and enjoy herself. You say she has been with you for years, and you are now worried about being taken advantage of? Has she done something to make you feel she is taking advantage of you? It sounds to me like you are being cheap and taking advantage of her. After a few years of Nanny care you'd think you would pay her out of her loyalty to you. Holiday or not I am a teacher in a public school and get it off as paid holidays same as when I worked for a private school and as a full and part time Nanny regardless I what days they landed on. Awesome Nannies can be hard to come by, if you refuse to pay her you may loose her to someone who sees what she's worth.

Lacy said...

Anon Google Federal Holiday list, NYE is a federal holiday. My post office is closed, some grocery stores closes early others are closed, the bank is closed, the ER is open, DR offices are closed, urgent care has limited hours, Daycares around town and schools are closed, office buildings are closed, ect. The only places open around down: fast food, the Drug store, taxi's bars, restaurants, ect; places lucky to get a bit over min wage.

Honestly if a family thinks I am going to work on a major holiday for regular pay, I'll replace them.

Imthatnanny said...

I am a nanny and disagree with many of the above posters. I don't think the offer the op made is unreasonable at all. The nanny is a part time employee so she should not expect full time benefits such as paid holidays off. Now it would be different if the day in question was Christmas Day but it's Christmas Eve and New Years eve . Which idk what the above poster was seeing but those two days are not listed as federal holidays. Only Christmas Day and New Years day are. And did anyone notice that the op said she was already giving the nanny a bonus....so the nanny should expect two out of four days that week paid off and a bonus. That is pretty generous for a part time two day a week nanny. I work as a full time nanny and typically work Christmas eve but usually get off early and sometime work New Years eve day part way. And my family I work for compensates me great and I get bonuses, I think there are some nannies out there being take. Advantage off and laid way to little but there are others that just seem entitled and kind of bratty. If we want to be treated as professionals then we need to work like professionals and that means only expecting federal holidays off paid, the nanny is not being forced to work those days if she doesn't want to so that's fair to me. If she needs extra money she can choose to work them, if not enjoy them off. And also no where does it say how long the nanny has worked for is family.....I assume if she has worked for years then this issue would have most likely already come up of these days being a work day or not so she is most likely a semi newer nanny to this family.

Imthatnanny said...

Ok, I did reread and just see where it said she has been with them for years.....so has this issue not come up before? I still maintain that it is nice if the mbs and dubs give us off paid extra days around the holidays but that is not something that we should expect, we should expect paid federal holidays off and be thankful if there are others given.

Anonymous said...

I'm a State employee and the 24th and 31st are not paid holidays (sadly). Our first nanny requested the 24th as part of her holiday package. I would have given it to her except I had to work that day myself so we agreed she would use a vacation day for it. If you need her to work that day, ask her to work! If you don't really need her to it would be a nice gesture to give a day off with pay. And maybe sit down and discuss the "contract" for the next year with regard to vacation/holidays?
NESS

Karma Rose said...

I think that if you offered her the days off and don't need her to work, then she should be paid for those days. I had same issue when I was a nanny, and if they needed me these days (some people consider 24th and 31st holidays, but really they are not) I worked. If they didn't need me, they paid me anyway.

melissa said...

I worked on the 24th and 31st as a nanny every year (10 years)... They are not federal holidays. I do agree with a couple of the above posters though- if you offered the days off, then you should offer to pay maybe half a day for each day. It would be different had she requested to be off those days. Although, you're not obligated to pay, if you love and respect your nanny, I'd do something.

Karma Rose said...

Yes, this!

Anonymous said...

I don't know how the holidays work in the U.S, but in the U.K, Christmas and NYE are definitely bank holidays or as you call it federal holidays. If I am asked to work those days, I charge considerably more than usual.

Luckily, with my current families, it's never been a hassle to know weather or not i'll be paid during those days or any other holidays. The way it work is that I have a contract with standard benefits: x hours/x amount of holidays per year, x amount of sick days a year (I never get sick though but just in case) and also I have guaranteed hours ( a must if they want me to stay long term) , it means that if for any reasons, they decide to go away without me or randomly decide that I am not needed for a day or for weeks, they pay me regardless the full hours.

If you value her and that she is a good nanny to your little ones, you should show your appreciation and cover those days without hesitation as believe me, good nannies are hard to come by.If at any moment your nanny feels that she is undervalued, she might be tempted to look for a family who will,, this is what I would do myself.

In 2 years, I can't count how many times a parent tried to "poach me" from my current employers but I remained loyal to them because of how good and consistent they are to me. Any family that tried to nickel and dime me saw me handing them my notice fairly quickly while I stayed longer with the ones with more consideration.

You got mixed reviews so it's going to be tough making a choice, I wish you luck though !

TwinNanny said...

The big factor to me here is that she is part time and only employed with this family two days a week. If OP were in the same situation with a full-time employee, I'd say the nanny should absolutely be given holiday pay.

It's really uncomfortable to tell a nanny you really value "no", but in this case I would. I would also make a point to sit down with her and put together a contract. Next time something like this comes up you can just reference the contract. She clearly views these days as holidays and expected she would be given PTO. A contract would outline what is a holiday and what isn't.

Anonymous said...

I have a nanny and have always offered those days off with pay. Even if I have to work, which this year I do due to a job switch, my husband is home and I wouldn't expect my nanny to work. My rule of thumb is that if I take the day off, I pay you. If you take the day off and it's beyond agreed upon vacation time, it's unpaid because I have to find other care for my kids.

Anonymous said...

You gave her the option seeing you don't need her so it's NOT her fault. As a nanny if my mb or even db thought so little of me they better be triple checking the contract because that's EXACTLY what I would be sticking to. I have them set to when I'm to arrive no more than 5 minutes before they have to leave and they have to provide a back up babysitter if they can't be home at agreed time. I don't drive the kids, they provide all meals and a food budget within reason and trust me they wouldn't get the extra chores done, their kids wouldn't get trips to the park or anything not in the contract. Never had one parent tell me what I had to actually do in a contract but it's written if I'm let go they have to pay me for the rest of the contract. Makes you think when you realize being selfish around the holidays can cost you the life you're used to abusing.

Jenna said...

Lacy, you do not know what you are talking about. Stop giving false information.

Christmas EVE and New Year's EVE are not holidays, they just aren't. Banks are open. I work at a bank and we are open. The markets are open (the stock market, etc.) so there is movement of money.

It is not just the part-time lower-end jobs that have to work.

I don't know where you are getting your information from; I DID google "federal holiday list" and they are not there.

To the OP - no you are not required to pay her for these days, but it is one of those things that you can compromise on. We do pay our nanny for those days, even though we usually do not pay her for vacations and days she requests off. But she is so amazing, we decided that we would do something nice and pay her for those days.

Anonymous said...

MB here, we have a full time Nanny (live in, but separate apt in carriage house). We pay our Nanny for each week (which includes each day) whether she works or not (like day care). Her compensation includes both living expenses and pay and we have a contract, she gets paid whether she works or not if the time off is our doing (i.e. we go on vacation).