after-school nanny - is this a sackable offense and if not how to handle it?

whoops just realised I never posted any useful advice
I don't have any actually sorry!

Here's hoping your nanny takes this as a bit of a wake up call, I gather the job market out there is worse for nannies than it has been

I'm not surprised this was your decision. It's really tough to recruit for after school only, I have two friends at DDs school really struggling to find a CM or a nanny who can do this. Hope she is settled/committed now that she's back and you can get on with things!!

oh thanks for the update, I saw this again a few days ago and wondered what had happened it's always frustrating when you don't hear anything isn't it

Hope the holiday was good and you have been having a break for good reasons, are you pback now or just popping in?

BK , did i read your last post correctly, are you going to be away for the next couple of weeks. what is your nanny going to be doing for those two weeks , are you leaving the children behind. did i read your post wrong?

Oh my gosh, I didn't think anyone was paying attention to my moaning!

Would love to - you're one of the MNers I try to keep an eye out for, so the stalking is mutual!

I agree with OMP! I think trust and reliability are key in any occupation and your nanny has let you down on both counts. You'll find another nanny who will treat her job a little more respectfully and actually turn up/communicate. And your little one will love her and play with her and have a fabulous time! FWIW you sound like a considerate and flexible employer, which is a very good thing. Keep all the texts etc between you and nanny, and like someone else said tell her she has a choice: be at work on Monday or her job will be advertised as available for someone else. A two week vacation is one thing, but to take several weeks off and be incommunicado when she is supposed to return really does suggest she doesn't want to come back. Either that or she has total disrespect for you as her employer. Neither one is worthy of hanging around waiting for her to come back.

BK I would echo what others have said on here. Some ( but by no means all ) nannies think that because they bond with your children then they are bombproof and have the right to behave in the most appalling manner and yet still retain their jobs.

Remember AWOL was a criminal offence in the army years ago and I am afraid in my book it still should be now for all employees !

There are plenty of good nannies out there. All of us seasoned employers on here would tell you that children take to good nannies instantly and you should not be afraid of changing . I have let situations fester in the past ( and been judged by the mumsnet board for it ) and bitterly regretted it.

Does this nanny deserve such goodwill on your part ?? NO.

All she had to do was treat you fairly for the same in return.

Get rid. I am a lawyer if you need any help.

OMP

I agree it's gross misconduct and also a bad indicator of her work ethic.
If you want a comparable - my first au pair went home for a week's holiday and missed her flight back due to an unexpected blizzard on the motorway (this was all over the German news, ungritted roads were an unheard-of atrocity ). She rang us the moment she realised she couldn't get to the plane on time, rang a friend who searched the internet for another flight whilst au pair still stuck in traffic jam. And ended up taking a 4 hour train journey across Germany to catch a (expensive) flight back to us the next day. - That is how you behave if you get 'stuck' on holiday.
(Oh and obviously we were overjoyed with au pair, paid her back for all her travel expenses and she got a larger bonus when she left us).

I would be FUMING. We have an after school nanny too and DD was in a holiday club for a week this year, we still very much needed her at the end of the day.

However - after school only nannies aren't all that easy to replace actually, even in this market. And you only have two weeks I presume before school starts, three tops.

Decline the request per Athene's suggestion. I can't see how it isn't gross misconduct if she decides not to comply and I can't imagine you would have to pay her anything for the time, esp if your contract says no unpaid leave. Put an ad out immediately for her replacement if she says no, then when she comes back give her her notice.

I hope she's been with you less than a year but I think you'll be okay whatever.

TBH if you don't sack her now you will have to soon, because she is unreliable and won't hesitate to be unreliable again. And next time you might not have breathing space.

In your situation I would have no qualms in seeking an alternative and giving her notice when I have found a replacement - so long as your current nanny has served less than a year up to the end of her notice period then you can sack for any reason. If she is over a year then you need to start a disciplinary route (or switch to nursery/CM, which would = redundancy situation). Tell her that not returning to work on 17th is unacceptable and that you are considering if this qualifies as gross negligence. Call her to a meeting to discuss and hear her side, and tell her you will respond formally within 28 days. Then you have breathing space to decide what to do/consider alternatives.

Just not turning up in itself might not be 'gross negligence'. but not reporting it in advance, and not having a reasonable justification for not turning up/notifying probably is, as is not making reasonable alternative efforts to come to work. Any country that is driveable is going to be within easyjet/ryanair reach. I would print out some fare quotes now to show how cheaply she could get back to UK if she wanted, just in case it gets messy legally. does your contract with her state categorically what is/isn't gross negligence, or is it left open?

Hi BK. Haven't seen you in ages.

I would reply to the text and decline her request for further holiday (politely). Then I would save the texts to document the case for when I sack her, which I would if she didn't show up for work the rest of the week.

I think in this market you can probably replace her fairly easily, especially if it is a live-in position.

Firstly my sympathies - this type of childcare hiccup is never fun.

Personally I would echo Nannynick's advice, and consider how easily she can be replaced. I haven't been looking or a nanny recently, but ime it has always been harder to find good afterschool nannies. And I don't know where your nanny is from but again ime I have found that domestic employees from Eastern Europe tend to head back for a month at a time and get immersed in their family life and seem to forget about their duties here.

I would have thought that not turning up for work is clearly a sackable offence (gross misconduct). In your shoes I would be tempted to look around for an alternative nanny in the net 2 weeks and then decide what you want to do.

it seems to me that your nanny is taking the piss

if she really had had car problems and couldnt come back then she should have rang you the day it happened and grovelled

what country is she in?

I would inform her that if she isnt at work by monday at 8am that she will be fired

her dh can stay with the car and she can get a plane/train home

It is not acceptable of her to have done this but if she is otherwise a good nanny I would not sack her. It is not fair for children to have lots of different carers. They do need consistency. Give her another chance but don't pay her for the extra time off.

It isn't always easy to find someone to do a good job in an after school only capacity. Also, if you sack her and have to find a replacement you are making more work and hassle for yourself than you have already been caused.

There is nowhere on this planet that it can possibly take two weeks to get back from - there is no way she needs to wait for these car parts. She is taking the piss.

oh I see now. OK I would sack her then, not on at all, especially if she didnt call till you did.

Im a little confused. If she an after school nany why does she need to be back now? they are surely off school for another 2 weeks?

Do not understand why she cannot fly back and leave husband there to sort out the car?