Summer holidays are just around the corner and it’s a good time to check where you are at with your nanny and their holiday allowance. If you have a nanny working term-time only then their holiday pay may be included in their salary or it may be that you pay their accrued holiday pay at regular points through the year, normally December, April and August so make a note in your calendar on those months to check it has been included on the payslip. If your nanny receives the normal statutory minimum holiday each year then this should be stated in the contract. It’s good to keep the conversation open about how the holiday calculations work so your nanny doesn’t suddenly find they have used all their allowance and have nothing left for Christmas!
- Do you start your nanny’s holiday year from the day they started or from 1st January? It is always good to consider the coming year’s holidays at the beginning of the holiday year so make a note in your calendar to review each year.
- Have you communicated all the holiday you plan to take through the year to your nanny? Whilst the employer is in control of when holiday can be taken it is common practice that after bank holidays are taken into consideration, the remaining holiday is split 50/50 between nanny and employer.
- Have you deducted from the allowance, any bank holidays that fall on your nanny’s working days before they book all their time off? For example, if your nanny normally works on a Monday and only works two days per week her statutory minimum holiday would be 11.2 days, and it can be devastating to realise that 4 of those days holiday are already used by bank holidays.
Some employers ask their nanny to come on holiday with them which can work really well for both parties but ground rules should be set well in advance to ensure there are no misunderstandings. There are many different approaches when it comes to knowing what to pay for this arrangement, taking into account the family’s needs and the nanny’s expectations. Discuss what help you might want in advance and come to an agreement. Some pay nothing extra ie just basic salary. Others pay every hour worked over and above the normal working hours, or maybe a bonus to reward the extra hours worked.
If you are ever unsure about your holiday calculations you can always check with the NannyMatters team by emailing enquiries@nannymatters.co.uk. Remember to include how much holiday is stated in the contract, your nanny’s working days, how much time they have taken off so far and whether the holiday year starts from the anniversary of their start date or 1st January. We also have a really useful spreadsheet for keeping a record of holiday taken / booked which you can also request from the team using the email above. (Exclusively for NannyMatters clients)
There is another page in the Advice Centre dedicated to holidays and legislation which you can access here.
