Pregnant nanny refusing to work

Could you not legally make her redundant and just send the children to a childminder or nursery instead? That way you wouldn't be employing someone else at all but just choosing to use a different form of childcare so that the position of nanny became redundant.

She wouldn't be entitled to ssp for the current time off though surely? She is not ill herself, just refusing to work as the children are (possibly) ill.

Sorry but in my opinion she's pushing her luck. I work in a hospital, full of sick people, I worked in said hospital up until 38 weeks. I had the flu jab by choice, no way would my employer have allowed me time off in case I caught the flu from someone because I hadn't had the jab when I could have. The jab only protects you against certain strains anyway, you can still catch the flu even if you've had the jab.

Look at what Cindy says. As you say you are not paying her when off sick (it will just be SSP after day 3) so make sure she is aware of that (although she may not need the money if she has a husband who can keep her I suppose).

We had two nannies go on maternity leave (and has HMRC inspections for each set of maternity pays too - not that they found a penny wrong but it was a massive hassle and huge work load when you're working full time and have small children) never mind the difficulty of the bonding - child bonded to nanny - our first nanny stayed 10 years - and suddenly off having a baby. it is a very different impact having a baby when you're nanny compared to if you work in a shop when having someone else on the till does not matter at all.

Oh god. It's her. Sorry didn't click Your name op

Ssp for any time off and unfortunally you will Prob need to keep her till she goes on ml - unless you can think of a way of dismissing her without mentioning pregancy

The lack of ofsted may be a way round it. Shea in breech of contract?? Think you need to speak to an employment Lawyer

If they go on SSP are they aware that it may affect how much they get in SMP? SMP is calculated on a specific time period of work, so if they are not on full wages during that time, their initial SMP will not be 90% of their normal salary, but instead 90% of their salary during those qualifying weeks.
www.maternityaction.org.uk/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/sicknessduringpregnancymaternityleave.pdf

Follow disciplinary procedures for failure to turn up to work. Document everything, keep texts. Log time/date of all contact.

i've just seen your update. Speak to another lawyer.

And no, you are not obliged to tell her to get a flu jab. She is an adult, as you say, and you might be a GP but you are not HER GP. I don't think I would especially like it if my boss started giving me medical advice, however well intentioned. Further, I would consider that my conversations with a midwife are my own business. You could say something like: did your midwife raise any concerns that we should be aware of, but that's all I would personally do.

This is a pisstaker who thinks there will be no consequences if she pisses you off/causes chaos. This is much more what this is all about than her pregnancy, as such. Def take legal advice and then move her on.

You need to lay down your expectations regarding being notified about her not being able to work. Ie text totally unacceptable and you expect a phone call.
I assume you can discipline her for not following reasonable instructions and policies. Keep detailed records from now on of any discussions you have especially any relating to her performance.
You absolutely can't dismiss for pregnancy but being pregnant can't give her free reign to disregard your instructions and policies.
If she's off and not actually sick then she's not entitled to pay.
Also I would seriously look at a different type of child care like a nursery or childminder.

Tell her to walk into boots and get the flu jab. That's what I did, as I am pregnant, and had it done there and then for free. She is taking liberties.

You can give her a warning for texting when she's been told to ring though.

do that, go over your expectations again and give her a warning again the next time she fails in her responsibilities. You can't dismiss her for being pregnant but you can dismiss her for being crap. How long has she worked for you?

Cross posts with most of that! Even if you can't dismiss her you can still sit her down and tell her what you expect. Keep a record of everything and bring it up every time.

Are you paying her full pay when she's off? If so tell her you're only paying SSP from now on. She's taking the piss saying she won't work because your DC's have temperatures. Tbh if she was a crap nanny before getting pregnant, I expect she'll only get worse.

I worked until 36wks and never took a day sick despite nerve related issues and SPD. I booked my antenatal appointments for first thing in the morning or last thing to minimise any inconvenience to my employers ( despite mb being a sahm ) and luckily I had a fab MW who accommodated me.

I would take legal advice about how to handle things but I'd be very blunt about what I expected from her. And yes, she's an adult. She can sort her own flu jab out!

Octonoughts - she sounds abit off a rubbish nanny. Definitely take legal advice, give warnings on the thigns that are wrong and give notice.

There are good nannies out there - our lovely nanny has been with us over 8 years now and we all love her dearly. You need someone who is proactive and works with you and your DH in bringing up your kids - and that person is out there somewhere.

Dreadful. We had 3 under 4 and both worked full time. Our nanny got pregnant when the youngest was 2 or 3 and she was brilliant at working until the last minute, taking the youngest to her maternity check ups and all the rest. Yours is utterly unreliable and unreasonable.
I don't think nurseries are better. I think you need a more reliable nanny.
Will be hard legally to get rid of her as she's pregnancy however.
Do you pay her when off sick? If you don't that tends to make people turn up as the first 3 days is totally unpaid and after that they only get SSP.

Oh my lord. This is the same nanny from 2 previous threads about not organising her annual leave and wanting more. .. AND the same nanny who didn't get her ofsted stuff sorted?

Why is she still working for you? What a bloody piss taker.

Do not agree with your comment re ' day nannies' not being reliable.. I am live out, nanny and have been for 20 yrs + , totally reliable ( references stating that). Also know many others live out nannies that are too..

There are also nightmare families as well as nannies, by the way!

Nannies should always phone not text..

How long have you employed Her? Seems strange you have had 2 nannies and both not been good - how do you find them? Do they have years of exp and good ref? Do you pay well?

As you have a medical background you should have suggested nanny gets the flu jab

Not working as kids have temp Seems a bit ott - a nanny is meant to look after sick children

Agree she should ring rather the text of not coming in.

Not sure I would miss my best friends hen do if been planned for ages which normally are / as suddenly my boss had to work.

Only other thought - I ony ever tried a 'day' nanny once and it was a total fucking disaster. The ones that have worked (& are even now FB friends and with their own DC ) were live-in, and Oz/Kiwi/Saffas - they seemed to have a 'just get on with it' (not 'just' vis illness but rainy days and whatever disasters variously struck with my mad hours) attitude and they knew I'd even out the hours &/or pay them extra where need be.

One of mine (they were all with me for over 2 years) and me found ourselves in a VERY shitty situation where I suddenly had an insane 23 hour trip to Chicago - as in, 23 hrs from taking off from LHR and landing back at LHR - that was dumped on me right as she was preparing for a mates hen do.

We discussed it and she (thankfully) took the hit rather than me risking my job as she got how important her role was to our household and also that her livliehood depended upon my own (and she was a bloody star too!). THAT is the kind of nanny you want, not someone who has the fucking audacity to send you a TEXT (again, WTAF piss take is that?) essentially informing you that YOU can't work for the next four days and that every single person/patient YOU were due to be helping in that time can go fuck themselves. Gives me the rage TBH (can you tell??!)

OP From your posts it sounds like you're now a GP having previously worked in a hospital - hence the more straightforward hours now but also the fact you are still exposed to 'risks' yourself. I am totally with you on the outrageousness of your nanny sending you a bloody text to inform you of a fait accompli, but I am a bit baffled as to why there wasn't a clear conv as soon as you knew she was upduffed vis vaccinations etc (IE given this appear to be your field of work so you're way ahead of many others who employ Nannies).

I agree re splitting the two issues - pregnancy-related (or claimed pregnancy related) and other matters apart but you do need to watch your back now she IS pregnant as frankly it doesn't sound as if she has any much regard for you so could be likely to be the litigious type who doesn't give a shit about actual reality leading to this point.

My honest view (having previously employed and depended upon nannies for over 10 years) is that you should get shot as soon as you can as this IS only going to get worse - you do realise that presumably? I empathise hugely as I know the process of finding the right nanny is bloody fraught and exhausting but better that than this continue IMHO. Sole caveat would be to ensure you don't expose yourself to snarky legal action. Good luck.

I think you need some professional HR advice.
Do a risk assessment straight away. As an adult surely she is responsible for her own health so if she wants a flu jab surely it's up to her to arrange one.
Personally I think that unless she has some serious complications she is being unreasonable. How on earth do mothers cope with second or subsequent Pregnancies babies and toddlers get all kinds of illnesses and if she's a fairly healthy adult herself her immune system will fight it off - obv there are issues like rubella but again she is responsible for her health and must take the advice of her midwife.
What sick pay arrangements do you have?
I wouldn't be paying her for any absences not supported by sickness documents. And I would be having a discussion with her about not following agreed procedures for communication / notification of absence. If you have a written warning process in your contract I would be looking to see if I can enforce it for this.
I would also be considering not paying her for this time off as it's an unauthorised absence not sickness.
In the long tern I don't think this nanny is right for you so you may want up consider how you can part compny in a legal and mutually acceptable way.