This is my first post so please bear with me..
Having had a great au pair first time round for 18 months, I've just had my second ever au pair leave without giving any notice. She stayed in our house over the summer and we were away half of the time on holiday. Obviously I made this clear at the beginning and she was quite happy to be paid for doing nothing and be able to enjoy London. She never worked extra hours, had 10 hours off a week to study, she went back home on her third week here because we were away and this didn't come out of her holiday allowance.. all in all, I think I have been more than fair and flexible with her. She has a lot of friends nearby, hardly ever had to babysit and was out most nights. We went away again for two weeks and she can't have done more than a days' work. The day before our return she texted me to say she had to leave urgently and didn't know when she would be back. She packed up all her things and left. Technically she is owed 3 weeks' pay but we were away for the last 2 weeks of that and I feel like a complete mug if I pay her, for what was basically a rent-free summer holiday in London. Is this totally unreasonable? We took her on over the summer on the basis that she would be with us for the year.
It is not the money that bothers me but the principle. Her excuse for leaving is difficult to believe and I suspect, but cannot prove, that she has been dishonest about her intentions. I feel totally mucked around and that I am being a walkover if I pay her but I also feel that in doing so I am just as bad as she is....
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AIBU?
to not want to pay an AP who leaves suddenly?
13 replies
Maddie114 · 14/09/2011 23:50
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