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Original poster

To charge ap for *another* ruined item of clothing and trashed iron or not?

158 replies

kittywise · 04/03/2009 10:18

Ok, I've had my AP since Dec. We've had ups and downs and some of you might remember my posts on the subject!
Against all odds it has worked out pretty ok.
She is very dippy and has no common sense but has learned from her many mistakes and she plays really well with the younger children.
She has to leave in April to go on another language course.

Now my dilema is that she has managed to spoil a number of items of clothing by putting them in the tumble drier when she was told again and again that they shouldn't go in. Items like jumpers, fleeces and tracksuit bottoms. The first couple of times I patiently explained and then started to get cross. She actiully said to me that she would have been crosser than me in the same situation!!

Anyway yesterday she comes to me saying the the hot iron must have fallen into the basket underneath the ironing board which contains pile of clothes waiting to be ironed.
She says she hadn't noticed that it had fallen. She had turned it off and gone upstairs ( how can you not notice that the iron is no longer on the ironing board?)

Consequently the iron has ruined 2 items of clothing, I'm amazed that it was only 2, one expensive gap fleece, and of course the iron is covered in burnt plastic and is now unusable. Not to mention the potential dire consequences of burning clothes.
There is a huge tank of heating oil in the basement where all the laundry stuff is. I can't begin to contemplate what would have happened to us if a fire had started down there

Now I am pissed off, it was so so careless and dangerous of her and I am faced with replacing yet more clothing.

I want to ask her to contribute towards the cost of a new fleece and say that next time I will ask her to pay the full amount for any items that need replacing because she has shrunk, burnt etc them.

What do you think? What would you do in this circ?

Ta

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herbietea · 05/03/2009 22:10

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Tiramissu · 05/03/2009 22:08

No, of course you wouldn't cope with having someone like NannyL working for you. Because then you would have to pay proper Nanny's wages

'even a monkey can do it..' - Ermm and you live this 'useless' person to look after your children? .

Do you think the rest of mums who hire nannies and pay proper wages are idiots?

So you pay her £60 pw, you ve deduct £10 that leaves her with £50 for all week's work for you

Ronaldinhio · 05/03/2009 21:38

oh my god

a monkey can do it.......

Original poster
kittywise · 05/03/2009 21:15

herbietea No, sorry she should blooming well do what she's been told to do/not to to in MY HOUSE and that's all there is to it.

simply, at last some sense!

nannyL, honestly I could not cope with having someone working for me who was so casual about breaking things.

I made the decision to charge based on conversations I had here yesterday.

I though this thread had died out but I suppos there are always people interested in having a look without bothering to read what has been going on.

I'm off though.

OP posts:
StripeyKnickersSpottySocks · 05/03/2009 20:59

Employers legally aren't allowed to withold pay or part of wages. I don't think they are anyway.

herbietea · 05/03/2009 20:56

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Simplyme · 05/03/2009 20:54

It's not a case of odd accidents which are just that accidents! It's a case of ap being told several times about something and still not looking after the clothes.

If I was using the photocopier and it broke then no I would not pay however I would feel responsible if I was being careless and it broke because of that!

Accidents are just that but you talk as though it doesn't bother you how many you have because it's not your responsibility. I'm just saying accidents happen less when a person is careful!!

nannyL · 05/03/2009 20:50

simplyme...

have you ever broken anything and offered to pay?

if you were in an office and broke the photocopier would you offer to buy a new one?

Simplyme · 05/03/2009 20:41

So I'm a nanny and I agree with kittywise the parent rather than nannyl

I think she has an ap who has been consistently told about something yet still causes damage! An iron dropping is an accident but not noticing or picking it up is not same as tumble drying stuff seems she is lazy to not sort it out imo.!!!

I think paying for something teaches respomsibility and accountabilty and kittywise is doing this only after replacing stuff herself several times.

Nannnl your attitude is not great! Yes welfare of children is extremely important but the home and its contents should be taken care of too!

My goodness ap get paid a 'pittance' because they have room and board and hardly work any hours!! Why should their amount of wages give them the right to be careless with other peoples stuff??

willowthewispa · 05/03/2009 20:40

A little bit off-topic, but wasn't the visa category of "au pair" abolished, so surely they are an employee?

Pannacotta · 05/03/2009 20:36

But why are you asking kittywise if you have already decided?
I agree she has been very careless but you already knew she wasn't a safe pair of hands, so perhaps doing the ironing yourself is a better bet?
Think its a bit harsh to take money off her wages.
A cleaner we once had broke a lovely perfume bottle of mine and dented the stainless steel fridge door but I still paid her in full (though I did ask her to leave after she kept breaking things).

Original poster
kittywise · 05/03/2009 20:35

nannyL it's perfectly possible to look after children well , be competent with the laundry and not smash plates. All these things are not mutually exclusive

It shows a lax attitude I think..

OP posts:
Original poster
kittywise · 05/03/2009 20:33

Actually what has just occurred to me is that I think if you break something that belongs to someone else you should offer to pay for it, especially if it is worth some money.

If I have ever broken/spoiled something that belongs to someone else I have either replaced it or at the very least offered to pay for the breakage.

OP posts:
nannyL · 05/03/2009 20:31

a bit of luck i work for normal people who do occasionaly break things then

i think they consider the welfare of their children more imporant than a plate or 2 from ikea, or a blanket

Original poster
kittywise · 05/03/2009 20:27

do you like my variations on "again", rather fetching.

OP posts:
Original poster
kittywise · 05/03/2009 20:25

err no, I think I've done 3 glasses in the last 10 years and I was pissed off with my clumsiness as well.

Of course accidents happen, but when the same "accident" happens again and agiai and agian, like with my washing then it's no longer an accident as far as I'm concerned .

OP posts:
nannyL · 05/03/2009 20:18

thanks docket...

of course not all on the same day... over 10 years actually

it was the fault of the person who stupidly balanced the cream in the fridge that it fell out (not me) that would have happened to whoever opened the fridge which happened to be me....
my bosses learnt a lesson about sealing slate floors before using the kitchen!

they have also been shared between families, one with each family i have worked for

sorry but if you have have someone working 5 days a week for 3 years in your house is it really unacceptable for them to break something?

yes i have smashed the odd plate at my house tea.... have you not kittywise?

Original poster
kittywise · 05/03/2009 19:50

Well the cash is deducted and if it happens again it will get deducted again. I've had enough of paying for her inability to pay attention to a basic job like washing and ironing.

OP posts:
MuffinToptheMule · 05/03/2009 19:50

Kittywise, I don't think nannyL sounds clumsy. It's not as if she did all of those things in one day. Have you ever dropped anything by accident? I certainly have, so have my bosses. It's not as if nannyL purposely threw cream all over the floor.

Regarding your AP, what she did was terribly careless and I would have a very formal discussion about how dangerous the iron situation could have been.

docket · 05/03/2009 19:48

I presume NannyL didn't do all of those things in the same day Accidents do happen. I agree with those saying it's harsh. A strong word about the potential dangers, yes, deducting cash no.

docket · 05/03/2009 19:48

I presume NannyL didn't do all of those things in the same day Accidents do happen. I agree with those saying it's harsh. A strong word about the potential dangers, yes, deducting cash no.

warthog · 05/03/2009 19:43

nannyl - i'm glad you're not in my house! are you like that in your own house?

Original poster
kittywise · 05/03/2009 19:42

nannyL NO the iron didn't not get knocked off on purpose neither was it picked up again. You would have to be a blind fool not to notice that.
Either that or she was too careless to pay attention to what she were doing, like putting woolen things in a drier or in a hot wash so that they shrank, simply careless.

OP posts:
Original poster
kittywise · 05/03/2009 19:39

nannyL, sorry but you sound rather clumsy to me and I would be very cross if you came into my home and were so careless with my things.

Ronaldinhio no I pay her, a monkey can do it, it's basic, she can do it too, but she needs to take care with other people's property.

Interesting, the posts I have read in this section in the past abpot charging ap's for contiuned breakages etc it's always turned out that the ap suddenly seems to take a lot more care in the house, funny that

OP posts:
Ronaldinhio · 05/03/2009 19:29

Sorry to ask but is this a joke question?

"My AP made a mistake (denegrate denegrate) and now I'd like to teach her a lesson by witholding the pittance I pay her"
What do you think?

I think if you are worried about her laundry skills do it yourself.

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