Nannynick – Nanny and Childcare Advisor

Do Nannies Have To Take Two Consecutive Days Off?

November 27, 2011 at 10:53 pm Leave a comment

Looking at the webstats for this blog can sometimes lead to a blog post.   Someone recently found my blog by searching for: do nannies have to take 2 consecutive days off?   So as that’s a question someone is asking, then I feel it’s only right to try to answer that question.

In the UK we have some legislation called Working Time Regulations.  This means that the UK  has incorporated (if that’s the right word) European Working Time Directive into UK law.

Great you might think but no, domestic servants in private houses are exempt from the regulations.   Are nannies domestic servants?   Well, I’d say we are for the purposes of this legislation.  Whilst we are an employee, we are also working in a private home so it’s not like working in an office.   By working as a nanny we accept that some things will be different – we don’t get an official short rest break during our working day for example, though we might do if the children we care for sleep during the day.   I’m not a lawyer, not a legal expert, so I don’t know for sure if we are a domestic servant but I feel it’s worth thinking that we are, but that need not mean that our employers don’t try to meet the requirements of the Working Time Regulations.

Getting back to the question in hand… do we have to have 2 days (48 hours) off?   Well assuming that the question was meant to refer to 2 days off during a working week, then No.   Looking at Direct.Gov: Rest Breaks we don’t have to have 48 hours off each week.

If you are an adult worker you have the right to either:

• an uninterrupted 24 hours clear of work each week
• an uninterrupted 48 hours clear each fortnight

In a week we should have 24 hours off, so it would be fine to work a 6 day week.  However working a 7 day week and then a 6 day week would not meet the requirement for 48 hours clear each fortnight.

Employers of nannies I feel should try to meet the requirements of the Working Time Regulations where possible, so that nannies are treated the same as other employees.   Due to the nature of the work it may not always be possible as children can’t be left alone.

Entry filed under: Employing A Nanny, Questions From Parents. Tags: breaks, nanny, rest, time off, weekend.