Nanny - Redundancy

[tvogue]

Hello,
Does anyone have any experience moving from one nanny to another...in our case it's due to our children's special needs. Sadly my current nanny is unable to meet either of my children's needs. Both have a range of neuro diversities and one has a severe language disorder. If I need to change nannies, do I still need to go through a redundancy payment process? Thanks, I am a little green to this. TV

How long has the nanny been employed by you?

And what does her contract say? Just give her notice as per the terms

She's not being made redundant though so I would imagine not.

Before sacking the nanny, make sure you can find another one to do all the things you think a nanny should be doing. IMO, a nanny should be taking care of a child’s basic needs - food, clothing, naps, entertainment etc. If you want someone to deal with medical needs, thats a whole different job. An SEN carer, which it sounds like you really want, would be unlikely to do the other tasks your current nanny does.

SEN nannies exist (a family member is one) and I assume that is what the OP is looking to employ instead.

I would give notice as the terms of your contract . You could offer a settlement as a good will gesture.

Thanks everyone. You’ve all been super helpful. Have a lovely festive time.

Have you spoken to your current nanny yet? Perhaps have a chat about what the children need and whether the current nanny feels they can meet their needs. You might find that they also feel that the children need someone who can help them better and that it is time for change for everyone. I was a nanny and I had jobs where it just naturally came to an end. I still work in childcare and even now the children I look after do move onto their next challenge, normally school, but my door is still always open to them. SEN nannies do exist and your current nanny may be able to help with the interview process as they know the children. They may also be able to help the transition process between one childcarer to another. Technically you are not making them redundant as the job is still there but the skill set needed to perform the job has changed. I would do a longer notice period with a nice bonus that way your current nanny knows you appreciate them and it also gives them a good chance to find their next position as well.

If the role is very different from the one that the nanny was employed in then her role would be redundant.

Please would you pay her redundancy anyway? I am always a bit shocked when someone says that they let their nanny go and didn’t bother paying her redundancy. It’s uniquely “female” jobs (I know some Nannies are male) which seem to have no job security and where no one follows the process that someone working in an office would get.

If two years then yes you pay her redundancy, unless you’d be happy if your current role was dissolved and your employer did nothing for you?

Nannies can and do talk to ACAS and bring about employment tribunals as is their right in the face of unfair treatment- I have had to. It was messy and inconvenient for all involved but my former employer did have to be held accountable and pay what they owed (and ended up paying more) They could have avoided it in the first place by playing fair and meeting their legal obligations. So do be careful.

Surely you have a contract with her? What does that say?

Do you use a payroll provider for your nanny employment? We use nannytax and I have used their employment help for a similar issue. Luckily for us the nanny resigned and we are all still friends. Another nanny we just agreed she would leave when it didn’t work out - we just looked at the contract and worked out a fair leaving date on that.
we have hired before through specialist SEN agencies who also sometimes provide support. Other Nannies we have just hired as normal Nannies but made the SEN very obviously part of the job description.
Good luck!