Nanny calling in sick

As a nanny I am not sure if I have had any sick days in the last 10 years. Perhaps I am just lucky not to get ill to an extent where I feel I can not come to work.

Illness can strike at anytime, though often in the evening/overnight so late notice alas is common.

If you are paying her in full for sick days, you may want to revise that for future nannies. Many contracts specify SSP only although in practice many families will make the amount up to full pay if nanny is not ill very often. That is certainly what we used to do which meant we wouldn't suffer unduly if we had a nanny who was frequently missing days. The reality was we made the amount up on the rare occasions over about 10 years of having nannies if they were ill. If your contract does not specify full pay, I would also discuss with her that you cannot afford to keep this up. Presumably you cannot continue taking annual leave so at some point you will have to pay twice for childcare if she is ill.

What does her contract say? Are you paying her for sick days? If there is no pay, nanny is more likely to turn up for work. I'm a cm now, but was a nanny and turned up for work really poorly, so as not to let them down. Parents wouldn't mind us having a quiet day and i remember them getting grandma round so I could leave early as I was flagging quite a bit with something I'd caught of the children.
A day off a month seems a lot to be taking of for illness. Where abouts do you live? Some nanny agencies have lists of emergency nannies (I did this a bit in one job as it was part time) and can get someone at very short notice. Downside is your child wouldn't know the nanny, but it could work if you were desperate.

So has she had had 3 sick days in the last 90 days? Often when we are new to mixing with children we do pick up their bugs so that maybe it and in time it dies down...to be honest if you had used a nursery the chances are you would have taken at least a week or 2 off by now as children entering any type of child filled environment for the first time do tend to pick up a lot of bugs in the first 6 months or so.
I think I would treat someone in the way I would like to be treated, Have you ever had to take time off sick? If so was it assumed that you were swinging the led? Have you any reason to think she's not been ill?

I think you get a feel for whether she's committed or not and if she isn't she may not hang around for long.

I think you do need to talk to her and explain it is an issue so at least she is aware how much of a problem it is.

I would not be able to tolerate frequent absence as the reason you pay for a nanny is so you don't have to worry about having cover ! See what happens if you have a chat about it - she may not realise how much of a problem it creates for you and may make more of an effort to come to work in future.

Time to sit her down and have a chat. Is there a pattern to this illness? Only one day/only Mondays? Does she ever indicate when she returns what the problem has been? She needs to understand that her not turning up is having a major impact on your job and if you are unable to fulfil your role properly the effect will be that she doesn't have a job either! Is she young or inexperienced?

We've had 4 or 5 nannies over the last 12 yeas and I can remember 2 occasions where they called in sick. Of course people get ill but bring reliable is a very important part of the job.

Is she just having a day off and then ok the next day? It's tough but I would be having a word about the number of absences.