Nanny PTO, Holidays & Sick Leave: The Norms and the State Mandates

Last updated September 28, 2026

General information, not advice: this page covers tax and employment topics in general terms. It is not tax or legal advice, and reading it does not create a CPA–client relationship. Tax and labor rules vary by state and situation — consult a qualified professional for your circumstances.

Paid time off is where nanny employment most resembles a “real job” — and where families most often wing it. The norms are well established: two weeks of paid vacation, a week of paid holidays, and a handful of sick days for full-time nannies. On top of the norms sit state paid-sick mandates that apply to household employers whether you’ve heard of them or not. This page covers both, plus the guaranteed-hours concept that ties them together, and a sample policy you can adapt.

The norms (full-time nanny)

These are market norms, not law — but in competitive metro markets, they’re effectively the price of hiring and keeping a good nanny:

• Vacation: 2 weeks paid per year. The standard split: one week chosen by the family (typically aligned with the family’s vacation), one week chosen by the nanny. Accrual vs. lump grant varies; either is fine if it’s in writing. Unused vacation: state law governs payout in some states (California treats accrued vacation as earned wages), so check your state before writing a “use it or lose it” clause.
• Paid holidays: 7–9 days. The typical list: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas — plus 1–3 of: Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, the day after Thanksgiving. If a holiday falls on a weekend, state the observed-day rule.
• Sick days: 3–5 paid days per year, separate from vacation. Plus whatever your state mandates (below) — the mandate is a floor, not a ceiling.
• Personal days: 1–2 is a nice-to-have that costs little and signals respect.

Part-time nannies: pro-rate. A nanny working 3 days/week gets 60% of the full-time PTO allotment. Write the pro-rating formula into the agreement so it survives schedule changes.

The state mandates (these are law, not norms)

A growing number of states require employers — including household employers — to provide paid sick leave. The details vary enormously: accrual rates, caps, covered reasons, and whether small/household employers are exempt. Four examples, with links to the authoritative state pages:

• California: 40 hours (5 days) of paid sick leave per year, accruing at 1 hour per 30 hours worked. Applies to employees who work 30+ days/year for the same employer — which includes nannies. Source: California Department of Industrial Relations, paid sick leave page.
• New York: 40 or 56 hours depending on employer size and income, accruing at 1 hour per 30 hours worked. Household employers are covered. Source: New York State, paid sick leave program.
• New Jersey: Up to 40 hours per year, accruing at 1 hour per 30 hours worked; virtually all employers covered, including household employers. Source: NJ Department of Labor, earned sick leave.
• Washington: 1 hour of paid sick leave per 40 hours worked, no exemption for household employers. Source: Washington Department of Labor & Industries, paid sick leave.

For every other state: check your state’s labor department. The list of states with mandates grows most years, and city ordinances (Chicago, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and others) add another layer. The compliance move is simple: search “[your state] department of labor paid sick leave” and read the official page — not a blog summary, which may be outdated.

Two compliance notes that trip up household employers specifically:

1. Accrual and record-keeping apply to you. The mandates generally require tracking hours worked and leave accrued/used, and showing balances on pay stubs or on request. Your payroll service should handle this — confirm it does.
2. “My nanny only works 20 hours/week” is not an exemption in most mandate states. The thresholds are usually about days worked per year or total hours, set low enough to catch part-time household employees.

Guaranteed hours: the concept that holds it together

Guaranteed hours means the nanny is paid for her scheduled hours when you don’t need her — your vacation, your work-from-home day, the week the kids are at grandparents’. She’s holding those hours for you; she can’t fill them with another family. Without guaranteed hours in writing, every family vacation becomes a pay dispute.

How it interacts with PTO:

• Your vacation ≠ her vacation. When you take a week off and release her, she is paid under guaranteed hours — and that week does not count against her two weeks of vacation. Her vacation is time she chooses.
• Her vacation = her choice. Typically one of the two weeks, scheduled with advance notice (30 days is a common requirement).
• When they overlap: if your vacations coincide, it can count as her family-choice week by mutual agreement — get that agreement in writing each year.

Families new to this sometimes balk: “we pay her for weeks she doesn’t work?” Yes — and it’s the single biggest structural difference between employing a nanny and buying daycare. It’s also why nannies stay: income stability is the core of the value proposition for career nannies.

The sample PTO policy (adapt freely)

Paid Time Off — [Family Name] Household

Vacation. [Nanny Name] accrues 10 paid vacation days (80 hours) per 12-month period, available after 90 days of employment. Five days are designated by the family (typically aligned with the family’s annual vacation, with 60 days’ notice); five days are chosen by [Nanny Name] with 30 days’ notice and mutual agreement on coverage. Unused vacation [carries over up to 5 days / is paid out at year-end — check your state law before choosing].

Holidays. The following are paid holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day. When a holiday falls on Saturday, the preceding Friday is observed; when on Sunday, the following Monday. If [Nanny Name] is asked to work a holiday, she is paid at 1.5× her regular rate in addition to holiday pay.

Sick leave. [Nanny Name] accrues paid sick leave at [1 hour per 30 hours worked — adjust to your state mandate], up to [40/56] hours per year, available for her own illness, medical appointments, or care of an ill family member, consistent with [State] law. Unused sick leave [carries over per state law].

Guaranteed hours. [Nanny Name] is guaranteed [40] hours per week at her regular rate. When the family does not require care during scheduled hours (family vacation, holidays, work-from-home days), she is paid in full; such time does not reduce her vacation balance unless mutually agreed in writing.

Notice. Vacation requests require 30 days’ notice; sick leave requires notice as soon as practicable, by text to [number] before [7:00 AM] on the day of absence.

Adjust the bracketed items to your state and your agreement. Have your payroll service confirm the sick-leave accrual language matches your state’s current rules.

The annual PTO conversation

Once a year — January works — sit down for 20 minutes and align calendars: your planned vacations, her planned vacation, the holiday list for the year, and any schedule changes. Put it in an email afterward. This single habit prevents more disputes than any other practice on this page, because most PTO fights are really calendar fights that started in March and exploded in July.

Leave mandates change; verify your state’s current rules with its labor department before finalizing a policy. This page is informational, not legal advice.