Should I pay Nanny for sick days?

I have two weeks at full pay sick pay in my contract. I do have excellent references that say I rarely take time off sick and in occasion go to work when I really should have stayed in bed.

I've had 11 days off in 30 years, 2 days when I had a tooth abscess and didn't sleep a wink all weekend and couldn't drive to work.
2 days when I put my back out and couldn't move, went to work on day three and lay on the floor of the sitting room while the boys (2 year old twins) played (and climbed all over my back which was bliss!) MB did breakfast and got the dressed, the neighbour popped in at lunch time to put the boys in their high chairs and then popped back to get them out and put them to bed and the DB came home to get them up and worked from home until tea time and I went home (lived next door!) the twin massage worked well and it was much better the following week but we still took it easy for another week, lots of carpet picnics for meals and playing in the garden.
Same family - 3 days after I passed out in the shower, fell out of the door, rubbed a 12 inch carpet burn into my side on the thin strip of plastic on the edge of the tray. It was agony and took 3.5 months to fully heal, MB was able to take time off and came in every day with meals and dressed my wound (she changed my dressing until it was better, bless her)
The other 4 are days my employers have sent me back home the second I walked through the door!
I've worked with chest/ear infections, fractured arm (did it on holiday so didn't go back to work for 10 days after it happened and it was strapped up, it didn't hurt) coughs and colds caught from the children, even tummy bugs if the children have passed it on to me and not to MB and DB.

However, I always advise people looking for a nanny to have SSP only then if their nanny doesn't take the piss they can pay her in full or not pay her if she is off for the slightest sniffle. If you have to take a day unpaid, use up your valuable holiday or have to get an emergency nanny, it gets so expensive.

I had a nanny like yours. I gave her three warnings for no shows and eventually fired her. She had two families that she worked for.and was.always there for the other family but never for is sadly..

Sorry but if it's in her contract with you that you pay her sick pay then you have to pay it regardless,

I wanted to be a good and fair employer so paid sick leave for a new starter for a lot of one and two day 'sick' days spread out over 3 months. I realised in the end she had taken 1/3 of the total time worked off on various coincidental 'sicknesses'.

The agency who had found her for me were really surprised I didn't know that lots of sickness in the early days is a massive indicator that the job won't stick as it were.

I thought I was being kind and understanding. But actually I was being taken for a mug.

In short, I'd pay the sick days this time, but make it clear that you won't be able to do this for any more days.

I'd also check you were abiding by your contract.

Woah I've taken probably 2 days off in the last 6 years. She took an afternoon off to go have a nap? That's crazy, I'm a nanny and I find that outrageous.

She's either taking the piss because you're generous or she's a bit mardy (wtf going home for a nap?!) and you're not compatible for a close employer/employee relationship.

Have words, tell her she only gets SSP going forward and will need to monitor her absence and are what happens.

I have it in the contract with my nanny that I will pay the first 5 days of sickness in any given calendar year and thereafter will revert to SSP.

If you are paying tomorrow then payslip will have already been produced, so you are talking of taking it off next months pay. That is perfectly reasonable and you should tell your nanny that, so they know to expect next months pay to be reduced.

Probation may need to be extended. Their reliability is an issue, it's not that they are having a serious illness which is making them bed bound for many days, it sounds more like several very short things. Are those short things so bad that they could not come in to work and have a bit less active a day? Many nannies I know will work whilst feeling quite rough, as they know how parents rely on them. It is a judgement call sometimes, but you don't want to have someone as your nanny who takes a day off at the slightest sniffle.

I'm not a nanny but work a minimum wage part time job and don't get paid sick day's, depends what's in the contract. I think i get sick pay after 4 days with a sick note. Ive only had one sick day in 3.5yrs and would only stay off if i really couldn't go in as i can't afford to loose a days pay. Maybe if i got paid i would ring in sick more, she has had a lot of days off for how long she has been employed by you.

Napqueen I understand where you're coming from but for some people that can also be seen as somewhat of an "allowance"

If employee doesn't have same work ethic as employer, you're probably not really very compatible imho.

I think when you next hire a Nanny you need to put a clear trigger point for sickness- more than X amount of days in a 3 month period or similar.

Exactly MadHattersWineParty

Four periods of leave whilst on probation is a red flag for me. You need to explain why now otherwise she will keep taking more.

Absolutely this. It rarely ever fails to be any different in my experience.

Good nannies show up for work. They make themselves valuable employees. Then when they have a legitimate problem you are ready to step in and move heaven and earth to keep them!

Fruit - yes as a parent you would struggle through with one hand, but you wouldn't nessecarily for your job. If you broke your arm for example you would still struggle through with own children, but wouldn't go to work if you need to use it.

Nannies don't always get/expect sick pay automatically. It's different to a lot of other jobs in that sometimes there is simply no one else to cover you and it'd mean your employer then has to take leave from work. Something they pay the nanny to avoid. Most nannies are on board with this. It's the nature of the job.

Have you contacted her previous employer for a reference and asked how many sick days she had?

I think it's too much, personally after a bad experience myself I would not be hiring this Nanny without a clear conversation about expectations.

Four periods of leave whilst on probation is a red flag for me. You need to explain why now otherwise she will keep taking more.

wwyd as a parent if you had a sprained wrist, use the other and get on with it right? I regularly have a toddler in one arm and a phone something else in the other.

She wanted to go home for a nap?? Jesus don't we all but ffs that's ridiculous.
We had a lovely nanny who was prone to illness. We paid her in full for the first 3-4 times, thereafter explained we could only do SSP. Lazarus-like, she never took another sick day - go figure.

It's unusual it's frequent in 8 weeks, but of course you need to pay her. You employ her and pay her when ill

A sprained wrist isn't exactly sick, but as you have a small child napping age I assume she is required to lift and pick them up a lot which she couldn't do if wrist sprained

That is why we took nursery option. You are not them relying on one person. Just a thought

Just pay SSP as per contract. It doesn't sound as if she's due any sick pay at all.

Does your nanny know how you feel about this? We had a similar experience and because we managed in the early days she didn't appreciate the extent of inconvenience it caused us. I spoke to her and explained, and said that we would understand if she wasn't always on top form. This solved it for us - might it work for you?

In my contract it's 'at my employer's discretion'. i don't assume I'll get paid for sick days (although hardly ever taken any) it's just normal as a nanny to be there and be reliable even if you would so much rather be in bed, I have had days when I've gone in and napped while my charge is at school/had a quiet day on the sofa and not done some of my other duties, but I'm there. I let my employer know I feel rubbish and she's usually good at making the effort to get home a bit earlier.

Obviously it's different if you are very ill/hospitalised!

I'd be inclined to have a chat with her about sick days, it's not great that she's had that many.

No, you need a nanny to be at work so don't pay her sick pay.

And start the managing out process now, 4 periods of sick in 8 weeks is ridiculous.