AIBU to offer this sick pay to my part-time nanny?

[Janella]

She will be doing 8hrs per week for me, over three days. I want to say

As an employer, you need to offer SSP.

Not sure your question is clear?

I think you posted too early!

Sorry posted too soon!

I'm putting together a contract for a new nanny who is starting next month. There isn't a wealth of childcare available where I live, and she seems great so I don't want to be harsh.

I want to say sick pay will kick in on day 4 (i.e. week 2 of being sick) and will be paid for three days only. Once a year? Something like that? would you offer sick pay? I don't want to discourage her.

What kind of sick pay do you get?

My job allows for 6 paid sick days after a period of 6 months. Those who don't take them are given the pay at the end of the year.
I think the whole waiting until the next week is muck. It is similar to the government's set up you can't claim for the first 6 days which is a joke considering you pay tax. It is the short term sick leave which should be looked after, who intends to be sick more than 6 working days unless on deaths door you'd starve.

If you're going to be an employer for the first time you might find the ACAS web page helpful; www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2949

There's lots to consider, I've never employed a nanny or someone for such short hours a week so I can't give you better advice. I would look at the childcare pages here or a specific forum. I'm guessing there are several pitfalls you want to avoid!

I think that is draconian! And it will lead to her coming to work sick.

Better to give a fairer policy and address if you think she is taking the mickey.

My dp has a company where there is no limit to sick leave and annual leave that can be taken. They find that if you treat people as adults then they are more likely to behave as adults.

SSP eligibility requires earnings of at least £118 a week so may not be applicable here. You can offer your own version however do bear in mind what you want to achieve - personally, I'd rather a nanny didn't drag themselves into work with d&v or a snotty cold just so they didn't lose pay. In the contract you can make it discretionary.

Do you want her to take care of your child if she is contagious, or distracted by pain or nausea? No? Then pay her in full from the first day of sickness. If she takes the piss you can deal with that when it happens. Don’t be an arsehole.

Seems a bit harsh to me, but then I would get six months full pay if I were to go off sick. I would pay from day one or she may come in when she really shouldn't. 8 hours a week isn't much anyway.

Is she self employed or paye? That would make a difference to me.

It depends if you prefer that she stays at home when she is ill or she is at work, caring for your baby (and risk your. Dc catching it).

FWIW what’s your And. Your partner sick pay policy at work??

I have a nanny but she is full time. Our contract is SSP only but we have always paid in full - this is at our discretion though. At 8 hours a week will she be earning enough to be eligible for SSP?

Thanks all.

I saw the part about £118 per week - she won't earn this much hence I could offer nothing but internet searches have made me think a goodwill gesture is more likely to keep our relationship positive. I will take all feedback onboard - I appreciate it!

Also no - I don't want her to come with d&v!
Like so many others though, I'm screwed without childcare and am trying to find the right balance.

HeyNotInMyName

DP is self employed so zero. Mine kicks in on day 3 I think (I've been lucky and not used it in years).

8 hours work over 3 days is not a nanny . You have a babysitter

Pay her in full? And tell her you need some future flexibility with [for example] hours ...

We pay our Nanny (32 hours) full pay if she is off sick and in return we get a happy Nanny who says she loves working for us. She will always try to change her plans at the last minute to accommodate our jobs, works early/late as we request and has given up her spare time to do an activity with my oldest when my husband had to work away unexpectedly and had promised to do the activity with them. She is great and I would be lost without her and would do everything possible to keep her. We can’t afford to pay the highest salary but instead we treat her well. It works both ways. She is part of our family and I treat her as I would expect any family member to be treated by their employer. If Nannies are hard to find in your area, I would honestly think about the amount of time you would have to sacrifice to find someone else and balance this in your contract. Nannies don’t expect full pay but, unless they take advantage of it, I don’t see it as something that should not be offered. It does help though that I get emergency Carers leave, full sick pay, flexible working and a generous annual leave package, so it doesn’t affect me too adversely if I have to stay at home to look after the children. Good luck and I hope you are as fortunate with your Nanny as we have been

Gosh- sorry for the lack of paragraphs

I also have my nanny for 8 hours a week
And I absolutely love her
Consequently I pay from day 1. And if ever off for her children or indeed any reason. Thankfully rare but I’d pay no matter what. Good nannies worth weight in gold

and in return we get a happy Nanny who says she loves working for us.

Same here. My nanny sent me a lovely message last week saying how happy she is with us. One year in.

I at a cm. if I am sick you can guarantee I have caught it off my mindees. I worked through a broken foot and fractured rib.

Thanks everyone, I'm really glad I asked this question. Never been in this position before and the only advice I'd found was 'full time' or more like 0.5 part time as opposed to 8 hrs only.

Do you need to mention sick pay at all in the contract? Statutory Sick Pay would apply by default and due to not meeting the AWE (average weekly earnings) your nanny would not qualify for SSP, so in the event of a illness lasting more than a week you would give them form SSP-1 and tick box E (for not meeting AWE). SSP-1 has to be given within 7 days of them going off sick. So by the time you started paying something towards their sick pay, they would already have form SSP-1 for claiming benefit.

So I am thinking that you could instead pay for the first three sick days, at your discretion. You could pay for a longer period but I think your nanny would have to declare the payment they are getting if they claim income-related ESA or Universal Credit.

It could all get complicated with regard to how your payments to your nanny then affect any benefit claim they have. So I would try to keep things easy and pay sick pay only at your discretion, not contract yourself in to having to pay something.

I don't think offering your nanny 3 days of sick pay only in the event that they are off for a two week period, or some arrangement like that is going to make a difference to them accepting the job.

So if they are sick, then you decide towards the end of that pay period (such as towards the end of that month) if you will pay any sick days or not. So if your nanny works for you for 8 months and then has a sick day, you can choose to pay it. You are not tied to the contract saying that first three days of sickness are unpaid. If your nanny keeps taking time off sick, you can stop paying sick days at any point you determine, not a point the contract says.
So contractually I would put 'SSP only' so you can do what you like in the event that a period of sickness occurs.