Are my employers required to give me paid vacation?

MaryPat doesn’t fly around with a black umbrella, but she does have over 20 years of experience as a Child Development Expert. These posts will answer questions about child development concerns & managing your relationship with your employer or employee.

Dear MaryPat,
With the holidays coming up, I was wondering if my family is required to provide paid holidays and paid vacation time off? Any information you might have on the topic would be great! Thanks! -Julie

Hi Julie,
Employers are not required by law to provide paid holidays or vacations but we recommend that they provide two weeks of paid vacation time per year and paid legal holidays as an industry standard. We highly recommend that you have a written work agreement with your family that outlines your schedule, rate and how you will handle time off, including vacations and holidays. We also encourage our candidates and families to coordinate vacations in advance as much as possible.

By the way, employees currently working in San Francisco are entitled to paid sick time after their first 90 days of employment, accrued at the rate of 1 hour of sick time per 30 hours worked. (Some limitations apply.) And starting on July 15th, all full and part time employees in California will get similar rights to paid time off (1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked), though the new California law has a different set of limitations.

If you have paid time off, enjoy it! If you need any help or guidance on this or any other work issues, please call us. We are here to help!