Mariah Carey is being sued by her former nanny.

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey

The 'All I Want for Christmas is You' hitmaker has found herself locked in a lawsuit over the festive period after her ex-employee Maria Burgues accused her of underpaying her and failing to give her adequate lunchtimes and breaks.

Maria - who has claimed worked for Mariah between 2017 and 2018 - was hired to look after the pop diva's eight-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe, whom she has with her ex-husband Nick Cannon, and escort them around the world.

However, according to court documents, obtained by TMZ.com, Maria has claimed she didn't get paid enough for the jobs she was forced to do.

She believes she's entitled to a payout because 49-year-old singer allegedly wouldn't let her have 10-minute breaks for every four hours she worked and she wasn't allowed a 30-minute lunch break for every five hours plus she worked.

Maria has claimed she was fired shortly after she complained about one of Mariah's bodyguards - who allegedly treated her badly - after he reportedly almost got them into a major car crash because he was fiddling around with his phone.

Meanwhile, despite her legal trouble, Mariah has promised to make this Christmas one to remember for her children because she's used to it being "ruined."

She said: "I grew up looking forward to the holidays all year long, but because I have such a tragically dysfunctional family, certain family members or ex-family members would ruin it every year. As an adult, what I've tried to do is take what I always wished Christmas would be and have the perfect holiday season."

Mariah credits her mother with helping her develop a love for the festive season.

She explained: "[My mother] is the reason why I love Christmas so much. She got me into it. She was super-festive and tried really hard even though we had no money.

"She would wrap up fruit in newspaper and give it to me like, 'This is from the cat!' She would sing Christmas carols and make mulled wine and have her friends over. I got that from her, and whatever our differences are, I'm so thankful for that."