It depends if he or she is truly off or not. You should ask yourself these questions:

  • Is the nanny is expected to be available for emergencies, for example, a child becoming sick or injured while at school, or the school decides to close early due to expected weather?
  • Is the care provider able to take a class or schedule appointments without regard to your needs?
  • If your child is asleep who is responsible to care for them if they awaken or if there’s an emergency? Here’s an example, you’re on a date and the nanny puts the children to bed. Is the nanny free to leave and pursue other endeavors?

In most situations like these, the nanny would be responsible to care for the children. If there is an expectation that the nanny will handle these types of emergencies, they should be paid for all hours where there is a reasonable expectation that in an emergency, the care provider would be responsible for the children’s care.