Can your nanny family choose when you take your PTO?
The holidays are coming. Thanksgiving plans are forming, flights for Christmas are getting expensive, Hanukkah gatherings are going on the calendar – and your nanny family may be making travel plans of their own.
So what happens if they announce they’ll be away for two weeks and tell you, “Great, you can use your vacation time then”?
The answer depends largely on what you agreed to in your nanny contract. Let’s dive in and figure it out.
PTO vs. guaranteed hours
First off, let’s make this clear: paid time off (PTO) and guaranteed weekly hours or weekly minimum are not the same thing.
PTO is time you choose (or, depending on your agreement, mutually agree) to take away from work while still being paid. It might be used for vacation, or doctor’s appointments, or a previously scheduled audition.
Guaranteed hours or guaranteed weekly minimum mean the family guarantees your regular pay for an agreed number of hours each week as long as you are available to work those hours. If they don't need you because Grandma is visiting or they're spending Christmas in Florida, you still receive your guaranteed pay. The week doesn't automatically become your PTO simply because the family is away.
Guaranteed hours are widely considered an industry standard for professional nanny employment and we have long been proponents of it for regular positions, even regular part-time babysitting like after-school positions. But don’t just take our word for it – industry giants like Care.com and household employment specialists GTM both describe guaranteed hours as covering times when a family chooses not to use their nanny, including family vacations.
At Smart Sitting, we recommend guaranteed weekly pay for regular nannies and sitters for exactly this reason: your bills don't disappear because your nanny family goes skiing for a week.
Can a family make you use PTO during their vacation?
We get this question a lot. A family may tell you they’re going away for Christmas and New Years and this would be a great time for you to use some of your vacation time. And that may be great, because you were planning on flying home anyway, but it might not be great at all. Perhaps you will be in town and available to work your regular schedule the whole holiday.
How should you respond? This is where your contract becomes important.
Some nanny contracts specify that part of the nanny’s vacation time will overlap with the family’s vacation. For example, a contract might provide two weeks of PTO, with one week chosen by you and one week chosen by the family. Nanny agencies in general discourage this to be the full set up – if anything, families may offer more PTO than is standard to compensate for this set up.
Regardless, it should be made clear up front and spelled out in the contract. Smart Sitting has long recommended discussing this during the hiring process rather than springing it on a nanny later.
For example, your agreement might provide:
Four weeks of PTO, with two weeks of your choosing and two weeks coordinated with the family's vacations.
Two weeks of PTO entirely at your discretion, with any additional time the family travels covered by guaranteed hours.
What you don't want is to learn on December 15 that the family has decided its Christmas trip will unexpectedly use up five days of the PTO you were saving for your sister's wedding in June. Yikes!
What should you look for in your nanny contract?
If you’ve been with Smart Sitting for a while, you’ve heard us yell it from the rooftops: “Make sure it’s in your job contract!” and don’t worry, we’re saying it to parents too – having a clear contract at the beginning of a job agreement is hands down the best way to prevent or solve conflicts down the line.
Pull out your contract and check what it actually says. Look for answers to these questions:
How many PTO days or weeks do you receive?
Who chooses the dates?
Does any PTO have to overlap with family vacations?
How much notice are you expected to give when requesting vacation?
How much notice will the family give you about their travel?
Do you have guaranteed weekly hours?
What happens when the family doesn't need you during your normal schedule?
Which holidays are paid and separate from PTO?
If those answers aren't in writing, that's a conversation worth having.
(And not to toot our own horns, but toot toot! This is where working with a serious nanny agency will help you out – we’d make sure it’s all lined up before your first day on the job, so you’d never be left questioning.)
Now is the perfect time for a holiday check-in
Don't wait until Thanksgiving week to discover that you and your nanny family had completely different ideas about December.
October is a great time to ask about the family’s holiday plans and confirm that your guaranteed weekly minimum will be paid even if they’re away. It’s also a great time to bring up any travel plans of your own so that the family can plan accordingly.
(Psst. Feeling nervous about asking for time off? Our guide to asking for time off has all the info you need!)
Looking for a hand to hold on your nanny career journey?
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