3 months into contract and nanny not completed OFSTED reg process...

[pecanpie]

She's contractually obligated to have sent off all the forms at least within 2 months. I've checked whether her CRB form has been submitted yet via the online system and it hasn't. DH and I have months worth of max childcare voucher £ available to us and can't afford to pay her as well as collecting the vouchers if it's not sorted by the end of this month (unlikely).

She's excellent with the kids but just isn't a doer and I already feel like I'm a nagging MB BUT we are going to be in the situation where we can't afford to pay her the £486/month which we should be paying in childcare vouchers. It sounds a bit drastic, but can we withhold this proportion of her salary until she sorts out registration? If she had done this as soon as her contract started, as we expected her to (having filled out the online form on her first day of work with her!!) she would be receiving her reg imminently (only CRB was outstanding but it seems she had the form at home for about 8 weeks and did nothing about it). Is termination of contract the only way we can help ourselves.

Advice please. Thanks.

The contract helps show that her being registered with Ofsted was a requirement of the job - so you could raise the issue, give opportunity to improve (ie set a date by which the time form must be with the CRB) else face the contract being terminated.

However the registration process can take many months. The CRB check could take several months to come through.

If you are running out of money to finance the period of time when you are getting vouchers without using them, then you may have to terminate and start immediately with a childcare provider who can accept the vouchers.

I don't think you can withhold a portion of salary, as your contract with her is that you pay the salary as stated each month - regardless of any problems with the method of payment.

Do you think she has a problem with the CRB? - it's a worrying one for her to be dragging her heels on.

Is she British? If she isn't, and hasn't lived here for whatever the minimum period is (5 years? can't remember), the CRB process can be super-complicated - check in her own country a pre-requisite and so on - so she might have applied for that perhaps & be waiting? Our Aussie nanny's check process took months - and I had to step in & write letters & make phone calls before it got sorted.

Thanks NannyNick as always. It took her about 8 weeks to do her bit on the CRB so we're looking at a good few months to get that one done which is what's so worrying from a payment perspective.

Bink - she can't possibly have a problem with the CRB as she works in a reputable nursery chain on the days she doesn't work for us, so a CRB check has been done for that. OFSTED require a separate one though and she's just been sitting on the form without telling us. She is English so no probs with having to get checks from abroad etc.

I am just really upset that she can't get her act together.

If she hasn't even requested her CRB yet, it could easily be another few months! If she can apply online, can you sit down and do it together this week? At least then you know the process is started.

If she had the CRB done through the nursery recently then there is a chance that it was done through OFSTED anyway, so they don't need a new one, I know when I reg last year I had had a CRB done about 3 months before (not through OFSTED) and they never issued me with a new one but reg me anyway so must of used that one. I know on my reg form it said something about if you had an OFSTED one done recently (last year or so) then you wouldn't need a new one.

Has she sent of the reg forms yet, if she sends her current CRB number in with that and the copy of her first aid certificate then it may be ok.

We did the OFSTED form together online. I don't know if she has a current CRB number - assume she has but am guessing she wouldn't know it. Thanks for that eeyore. She has been at the nursery for 2.5 years so not sure if they will accept but will give it a go.

She should have a copy of it, even if it was done though the nursery, the CRB people would of sent her a copy along with OFSTED. It is a document about her so she will of been sent it and then had to tell the nursery it had arrived, although OFSTED would of also told them it was ok.

Thanks - I'm following up on this and keeping fingers crossed. Not holding out much hope though as she had lost her first aid certificate which ended up being invalid (which the nursery should have been on top of!!).