Nanny Questions

[Llyles93]

Long story short, I am a nanny who works 80-90 hours a week for weeks at a time with no days off. I asked for a week off two months ago and planned a trip. The night before my flight my employer tells me I can't go. I feel like this isn't right for her to do. Am I wrong?

[Buenchico]

Can we start, please, by asking which country you're in? (This is a UK-based site but we get posts from all over the world and employment laws vary from country to country).

[Hypognosis]

Not one of these countries, evidently.

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/dec/08/europe-working-hours

At lunchtime, my mind was boggling at some bloke, on the news, going on about the way he worked 60hour weeks, prior to incapacity (his PIP, that he felt he'd paid for, was under threat) and then this thread tops it, within hours.

12 hour days, 7 days a week?

[gness]

Llyles.....good nannies are like hen's teeth......wherever you are you're being taken advantage of in my opinion.....

I'd go on my trip and find better employers.....x

[Llyles93]

I'm from the US.

Some 12 hour days, some 14 hour days just depends on the day.

[Buenchico]

Here in the UK, employees can't work for more than 48 hours per week unless they've signed a written agreement to 'opt out' in advance (although 'domestic workers in private households', which might include nannies, are outside of the regulations).

Further, all employees must have either one full day off per week or two full days off per fortnight. They must also have a minimum of 11 hours rest between completing one days work and starting the next. Assuming that they work either 5 or 6 days per week, they must also be given a minimum of 26 days paid holiday per year. (The employer is free to determine the dates of those holidays but, once agreed with the employee, the employer most definitely can't change the dates at short notice, as has happened in your case).

Workers in some other European countries (such as France) consider the UK's laws to be nowhere near sufficient (with France, for example, having a maximum 35 hour working week, although that's currently under review).

The USA has some of slackest employment laws in the world (with, for example, a far lower paid holiday entitlement than in almost any other western country). Even so, I find it unlikely that an employer can legally force an employee to abandon their holiday plans at the last minute (as, if for no other reason, that would leave him open to litigation in respect of the employee's losses through cancelled holiday plans).

Here in the UK we also have free employment rights advice easily available through a public body (ACAS) and Citizens' Advice Bureaus (staffed by trained volunteers) in every town. However Google seems to suggest that there are no equivalent bodies in the USA.

Your best chance of getting an answer from someone who knows the Federal or State laws that apply where you are is probably to post your question again on this US-based website:
https://answers.yahoo.com/
(I suggest mentioning which state you're in, in case there are different laws in different states).

I apologise for the fact that this post doesn't actually answer your question (simply because we Brits don't understand US legislation) but I hope that it points you in the right direction. (However Gness might have already given you the best advice: Find another job!)

[Hypognosis]

@Lyles93

I can't check this link because it repeatedly crashes my phone's browser.

http://www.dol.gov/general/topic/workhours

Meanwhile, US law suggests that, past the 42nd, 41st, or 40th hour (1st, 2nd and third year in post) you should be paid at time and a half.
Note the hours limits set for longer time periods.

You probably cannot afford to sue your employer and I don't know if USA has a legal aid setup which could help you. Losing a case has serious conseqeunces as your defeated lawyer still gets paid - out of your pocket.

Least-worst option might be to leave this employer but not under a cloud: you need to keep your job references good.

@Buenchico

AB pages are loading very slowly. Might the transatlantic link be overloaded or the host site has a technical problem?

[Hypognosis]

Forgot to add the second link

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/207

[fiction-factory]

>" I asked for a week off two months ago and planned a trip."
You haven't said whether they agreed to your request for those specific dates between your requesting them and your booking the holiday.

[EDDIE51]

From Hypognosis link I have found the phone no of the U S Dept of Labour
http://www.dol.gov/dol/contact/contact-phonecallcenter.htm
It suggest you call them , they have a help line for employees