Nanny sick leave

[pommedeterre]

As succinctly as possible - nanny doing three days a week for just over a year for pre schooler and toddler. All fine except bit crap at food and bit pestery for me to use her nail business.

I go on a version of mat leave for four months. Keep paying her and she helps with complicated nursery and school runs and takes toddler out. She goes in for routine operation, books two weeks off. Will now be longer as still poorly. Fine. Obviously paying her normal wage still, ok with that, grateful in fact for lucky timing with mat leave.
Except now i discover that when she felt better ten days in she babysat for someone else (then felt bad again meaning it will be more than two weeks).

Aibu in thinking she should have used her bit of energy to help me (just one school run would be awesome to be fair) rather than trying to make an extra £40???

She shouldn't do any paid work if she is off sick. I can see why she thought it would be okay though as she perhaps didn't really have to do anything when babysitting if the children she was looking after were asleep. Babysitting while children are asleep is not really similar to other kinds of paid work including school runs and the fact that she can babysit doesn't mean she is able to work for you yet.

Now that she will be off for longer than two weeks I would reconsider whether you are going to give her full pay though, depending on what it says in your contract with her.

You are either fit for work or you're not.

Wrong! You can be fit for some work but not other work.

Outragedfromleeds do you think the nature of the work makes a difference? If it was a waitress who was signed off sick but did a private event where they were paid cash in hand would you think it was okay that she was still claiming sick? Or a receptionist maybe who worked for an evening shift at a call centre, that would still be okay? Her profession is childcare, so I don't think we can suddenly downgrade her work. The important thing is that she is claiming to be unfit for work (that she happens to get paid full pay on sick) while working elsewhere.

leeds - I do think that was her reasoning and it was her mum that mentioned the sitting job to me very off hand. I get the logic but I guess feel that a loyalty of taking my money on sick leave and during my mat leave might have led her to ask me if I needed any help. More emotional than logical I guess.

YABU

Looking after a Ore schooler, toddler and new born and dealing with a hormonal mother is completely different to babysitting, sitting on the sofa, resting watching tv whilst children are asleep

DiaDuit, why don't you come back when you're paying for someone's sick leave and they take other work, and then let us know how you feel. You obviously have an axe to grind with the OP.

If it was a waitress who was signed off sick but did a private event where they were paid cash in hand would you think it was okay that she was still claiming sick?

A waitress doing other waitressing whilst off sick from waitressing- not okay.

A waitress doing call centre work while off sick from waitressing- okay if GP says so.

Surely the difference is clear?

Hi Pomme, I wanted to let you know I'm well enough to do night-time sitting now. Let me know if you'd be interested? Otherwise I will take another night-time job that was offered to me.

You obviously have an axe to grind with the OP.

Yes, clearly- because thinking someone is wrong means i have an axe to grind with them. (note i think other posters on the thread are wrong too- do i have an axe to grind with them as well?) all of AIBU must just be personal axes then.

She's a childcare worker taking on paid childcare work. Just as a waitress taking on waitress work

She hasn't suggested to OP that she is able to look after the children while they are asleep though so she shouldn't do that for someone else.

She's a childcare worker taking on paid childcare work. Just as a waitress taking on waitress work

If you can waitress from a sofa then your comparison is the same.

Teeb Yes, I think the nature of the work makes a massive difference. If the waitress has a broken leg, she can't wait tables. She could stuff envelopes though. Or knit a jumper. Or answer phones in a call centre.

You can be genuinely unable to do one type of work (e.g. look after a toddler/do the school run) and perfectly capable of doing another type of work (e.g. sitting on the sofa and keeping an ear out for some sleeping children). It depends on the nature of the surgery/injury/illness as to what you can/can't do, but the idea that you're either fighting fit or incapable of doing anything is clearly ridiculous.

DiaDuit
Hi Pomme, I wanted to let you know I'm well enough to do night-time sitting now. Let me know if you'd be interested? Otherwise I will take another night-time job that was offered to me.

I guess only a mug would send such a text?

Or, here's another idea:

Hi Pomme, I'm not well enough to be looking after toddlers but would you like to me watch the newborn so you could do the school run more easily?

sleepy - you'd be right except that when I'm on mat leave she has the toddler only for three half days and we all do tea together. On full pay (I repeat) so currently normal work fur her is cushy too. As I said above I think it is an emotional response expecting loyalty

I would echo poster bringing up cash in hand work as wrong anyway as well to be fair.

You don't know the nature of the babysitting job, neither do I. You cannot state that she was sat on the sofa for the whole duration. Maybe it was a more cushy job, we can guess that it was. She was wrong to take on paid work while claiming paid sickness from her main employer.

Surgery doesn't affect mobility by the way - tonsils out.

I think YABU really OP.

Babysitting on the Saturday night might have been a last minute 'Ok, I'll do it as I don't feel too bad right now', kind of situation...so something she might not have planned.

I understand why you feel the way you do, but it's different to actually planning to go into work.

DiaDuit, blimey! The OP's not in court here!

Yes watching baby so he doesn't have to go in car seat AGAIN - amazing and would have been very grateful.

Teeb the argument 'childcare is childcare' is just stupid. Babysitting at night is not the same as looking after children during the day. That's why lots of people will use 15 year old babysitters, but wouldn't dream of employing them all day every day as proper childcare. Looking after small children who need to be picked up and strapped into car seat and have nappies changed etc. is not the same as looking after older children who really only need an eye being kept on them. That's why people with school age children will often use an au pair, but that's not recommended for under 3's. All childcare is not the same. It isn't.

Op I think it's changed the relationship you have with your employee. I'd definitely review how loyal I felt like being towards her if I was you and reduce her sickness package that you are providing in excess of the statutory minimum/contract.

Well my sister is babysitting for me tonight & if she thinks she's going to have a peaceful evening sat on the sofa then she's likely to be disappointed. And I'm not even going to pay her, except in cake.

I guess only a mug would send such a text?

Are you trying to attribute words to me that i never said?

I don't know why your being so ragey with her Dia, she seems to be treating this nanny very well with regards pay.

Ok it was babysitting, and when she wouldn't normally have been contracted to work for you, however I can well imagine this being annoying when your paying her to be signed off sick.

Usually, when an employee is being paid sick pay they are not really supposed to be earning money doing paid work elsewhere.

teeb - yes. I don't think I will confront but no more nails and will be considering more pre school and nurseries as an option post six months very carefully.