Increased Sick Leave for Nannies
Mark Hudson • Jun 10, 2021
INCREASED SICK LEAVE FOR NANNIES
As nannies have increased in popularity, you may be considering hiring a nanny for your home. They can be a great alternative to child care and may even save you money if you have more than one child.
If you already have a nanny, you may not have heard about the recent legislation passed around required sick leave for nannies. As an employer of a nanny, it’s imperative to adhere to employment laws and regulations that are frequently changing.
But, no worries. We’ve done all the research for you. You don’t need to lift a finger. Read on to learn about the important new laws and regulations centred on leave for domestic workers and nanny sick leave.
What are the Sick Leave entitlements for Nannies?
Sick leave is usually requested by an employee when they, or a loved one, becomes sick or is injured. Sick leave is paid by the employer (usually a family) when your nanny or someone they care for is sick or injured in some capacity.
The Old Laws Around Sick Leave for Nannies
Prior to the new law change, families were required by law to provide at least five sick days each year. While families can agree to provide more sick leave, the total amount of leave which a nanny could accrue was set at 20 sick days a year.
If you wanted to provide more than the statutory requirements, families and nannies can negotiate the number of sick days into their contract as part of the hiring negotiation with either a nanny or an agency.
The Holidays Act 2003 prohibited families from providing less than five sick days per year.
What about Annual Leave for Nannies?
You may be wondering: Is my nanny entitled to annual leave? The answer to that is likely yes.
Here are the minimum requirements
for sick leave and holidays for nannies:
● Four weeks of annual leave for nannies● Eleven public holidays per year● Five days of sick leave (after six months of work)● Bereavement leave (after six months of work)
If a nanny is asked to work on a public holiday, they must be paid at a rate of at least time and a half, meaning one and a half times their standard daily pay.
It’s also important to note that annual leave gets calculated at a different rate than public holidays, sick leave, and bereavement leave. You can find more information here.
Lastly, annual pay can be paid on a pay-as-you-go basis so long as both parties agree to it and this meets the requirements under the Holidays Act 2003.
So what’s Changing with Sick Leave?
The new law has only changed slightly but is still very relevant and important. As of 24 July 2021, all nannies will receive five more days
of sick leave each year.
That means that the new law calls for ten days of sick leave per year. This is a relatively large and significant change.
One important thing of note, the maximum rate of sick days per year that a nanny can accrue can still capped at 20 days per year.
If you’re hiring a nanny after 24 July 2021, you’ll want to make sure you’re adhering to this new entitlement standard when it comes to nanny sick leave.
What if I Already Have a Nanny Under Contract?
If you already have a nanny under contract this year, don’t worry. You won’t be in trouble for honouring your agreement.
The law stipulates that if you have a nanny under contract, the new entitlement will bump up to ten sick days each year on the anniversary of their employment start date. This is an important point to note as nannies won’t automatically get additional sick days when the law comes in to effect and sick leave will still roll over on the normal anniversary datea.
What if I Just Hired a Nanny?
If you just hired a nanny and have already set a contract for five days a year, you must increase the entitlement to ten days after the six-month anniversary of the contract.
By doing this, you’ll remain consistent with what the new Parliamentary laws suggest.
What if My Nanny Already Gets Ten Sick Leave Days Each Year?
In the event that your nanny already is receiving ten sick leave days each year, you and your nanny will be virtually unaffected by the law change. Kudos to you!
Use Pay the Nanny to Manage Sick Leave Days & Annual Leave
Are you a nanny or family and would like a simple solution to manage your sick leave? Now, you can. It’s easy with Pay the Nanny.
Pay the Nanny is a payroll provider for nannies and their families. It allows you to see your whole payroll process in one easy to use dashboard. You can use it to track sick leave, holidays, and all other forms of payroll.
Pay the Nanny also helps you keep records of payments, tax information, and anything else required when you’re an employer.
As a Pay the Nanny family, we handle all of your employer tax issues and payroll concerns. In essence, your nanny will become our employee in the eyes of the IRD. This makes it simple as you won’t even be required to register as an employer with the IRD.
That saves you time and hassle. Best yet, the easy to use online software makes it easy to keep tabs on all aspects of the payroll process..
It’s the perfect way to keep everything in one place. Our customer service is always standing by to answer any questions you have.
About Pay The Nanny
Our mission is to make it as simple as possible for households to manage payroll for their nannies.
Pay The Nanny provides friendly, accurate and flexible nanny payroll services to nanny employers. We take care of everything to do with PAYE, ACC, holiday pay, sick pay, maternity leave and Kiwisaver.
For more information, check out our website at www.paythenanny.nz. Make sure you give us a like over on our Facebook page too.
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