The number of families who think nannies typically work 6 days a week, 12 hours a day, and the number of nanny agencies who assure families that nannies are willing to work a minimum of 72 hours a week, is absolutely insane.
This kind of schedule is illegal in most countries, even in the countries where we see these positions the most… in Saudi Arabia for example, the law for a Western nanny is indeed a maximum of 6 days of work per week, but only a maximum of 8 hours per day, so a maximum of 48 hours per week!
Why don’t agencies educate their clients about this?
☆ Because they don’t want to lose clients. If agencies try to explain the laws to their clients, families will probably get upset and look for another agency that doesn’t care, and they’ll always find one…
☆ Because it benefits them: nannies quit more often when the hours are unreasonable, and families therefore request the services of agencies more often, and agencies can bill their clients more often…
☆ Because they don’t really care, after all, they’re not the ones who are going to burn out from working so many hours!
‼️ In most countries around the world, the law is 40/50 hours per week with 2 days off per week.
When families need significantly more hours, they must hire a team of nannies or find a more attractive arrangement (e.g., increase pay and allow more vacation time, etc.) if they don’t want to constantly change nannies!
