Help Nanny Pregnant - Childcare options

[Littleflipper]

Hi

I wondered if anyone else had experienced this. We have had two nannies in 7 months and we have found out our nanny of 4 months is pregnant.

We cannot comprehend having yet another nanny in the house to cover her maternity as this could result in more than 1 person and therefore would like to look into options for a nursery etc as recruitment costs could prove prohibitive and we don't want to disrupt our darling son further.

Has anyone else experienced this and how did they resolve it - did they/can you make the role redundant if you choose nursery?

Would appreciate any suggestions

Thanks.. Jane

I think legally you HAVE to make them redundant but I may be wrong? But if she was to say that she would only come back with her baby then you can get rid anyway because you didn't agree to that when you employed her.

Sorry I can't say for sure, someone with more experience will be along soon

If you decide you want to use a nursery instead of the nanny, then yes the nanny position becomes redundant. Of course if you then find the perfect nanny one month later and hire her instead you could find yourself sitting in an employment tribunal.

If you are sure that you prefer the nursery, then you are well within your right to make her redundant. As she has only been with your for 4 months letting her go should not be too difficult.

But, do be VERY careful NEVER to say you are letting her go because she is pregnant. If you make any decisions because she is pregnant you will be guilty of sexual discrimination.

But, it is fine to decide to use a nursery for other reasons. For example, if a place at your preferred nursery has come available.

Is her contract a permanent or fixed term contract? If it is fixed term, you could simply let it expire. If it is permanent, you will have to actually terminate the agreement (possibly through redundancy).

Some articles which may be worth a read:
PersonnelToday: Pregnant Women New Mothers and Redundancy - this mentions about non-renewal of a fixed term contract.
HRSpace Forum: Redundancy whilst Pregnant - this mentions about how Redundancy affects SMP. If someone is made redundant before the SMP qualifying point, then there is no SMP.

For someone to be able to claim SMP they need to meet the following criteria:
Employed into the qualifying week which is the 15th week before the week baby is due; and
Employed by the same employer continuously for at least 26 weeks into the 15th week before the week baby is due. Part weeks count as full weeks, and
Earning before tax at least the Lower Earnings Limit for National Insurance Contributions (NI)

SMP Date Calculator may be useful.

So while you can make them redundant you may still need to provide SMP which as a small employer can be recovered at 104.5% see SMP Calc & Recovery.