How Much Annual Leave Is Your Nanny Entitled?

A Nanny working in the UK is an employee like any other and thus is entitled currently (2009) to 5.6 weeks paid annual leave.

The 5.6 weeks can include Bank Holidays / Public Holidays or you as the employer can decide to off those days off in addition to the 5.6 weeks. If you need your nanny to work Bank Holidays / Public Holidays then they do not get any additional holiday entitlement... they still get the 5.6 weeks.

If your nanny works part-time - a few days per week, then use the BusinessLink Holiday Entitlement Calculator to calculate your nannies annual leave. The 5.6 weeks leave is pro-rata for part-time employees.

You should write a term into the contract which states the amount of annual leave provided plus the amount of advance notice needed to make a request to take annual leave. As the employer you are able to deny any requests for annual leave, if it is not convenient for you but you should aim to have a good working relationship with your nanny, so I suggest that you both try to come to agreement over holidays.

If you often go away on holiday and don't need your nanny to work, then you can ask your nanny to use some of their annual leave. Typically a nanny would expect to be told when to take 2 weeks of their annual leave... leaving the nanny to choose when to take the rest. If you go on holiday a lot then there may be weeks when you have to pay your nanny even though you are on holiday. It is your choice to go on the holiday, not your employees.

If you have school aged children you may want to limit your nanny to only be able to take time off during school holidays. This is perfectly legal to do but must be discussed with your nanny prior to implementing.

Keeping your nanny happy vs getting the most work from them is a balancing act. I would suggest that you consider how you would like a great boss to treat you and then treat your nanny as best as possible.