did your departing nanny get

[bossykate]

hi all

just a question - ours has. not to the extent where i think the children are at risk, but things like tidiness have gone right downhill.

we have only just found her replacement with a week to spare, so i was thinking about increasing the notice in the contract from 4 to 6 weeks this time. but would that just mean an increasingly hacked off nanny doing a steadily worse job towards the end?

would really appreciate advice/comments.

thanks in advance

where has the rest of the title of this thread gone??

should read

"did your departing nanny get demob happy? is a long or short notice period better?"

gah!

If I had to give 6 weeks notice in a job I wouldn't work there. Even 4 weeks is pushing it!

in my line of work 3m notice is not unusual! i would have thought 4 wks/one calendar month was the norm...

I have to give one week, but I'm a temp. Does it work the other way round too?
Think 6 weeks is a bit much.
I don't have a nanny though, never would have one, don't know anyone who does, don't know any nannies. So I'm not best-informed on this!

yes it does go both ways.

i dunno, maybe 4 wks is right. 1 wk is far too short for this - absolutely no way to get a permanent replacement in that time, ime.

4 weeks is usual. Any less, and someone wanting out of a current job won't be able to give notice so's to take yours. Looking for a new person is always nerve-wracking but I have found that finding with a week to spare is also usual - ie you normally will be OK within that time, despite all the sleepless nights.

I suspect it is also the norm for things to slope off a bit at the end. I was pleasantly surprised by an ex-nanny who gave us notice (the only one who has) in that she did keep her standards up to the end.

thanks, binkie

you mean sometimes they don't even give notice

i am already thinking this wohm lark has got much harder since ds started school...

I just re-read my message! No, no, I meant that we have only been given the sack by one of our nannies (the others we'd all agreed all cordially - in one case years - in advance as to when the job would naturally come to an end) so I've only experience of one person who might have sloped.

(But on the other hand it is true that there are stories of people getting left totally in the lurch - see greataupair.com passim. Hasn't happened to us though.)

And, yes, I really do think it is more difficult with school-aged kids than with adorable covetable babies.

I am VERy well qualified to join this thread. Our nanny gave us 3 months notice (contract say either 6 or 8 weeks). she is going to travel to Australia for 1-2 years, and once she had herself irrevocably made that decision, then I think she wanted to give us as much notice as possible (she will have been with us for nearly 4 years).

It is, of course, far too much notice. The only plus is that it works very well with the nanny that we have now recruited, although that of course is serendidpity. We now have another 4-6 weeks with a nanny who I think has really lost motivation and who although loves the children deeply and sincerely is, I think, getting a bit slack: her heart is in Australia already. Its not in big ways, just small ones - a bit more forgetfullness, a bit less clearing up. Its fine, but I think we could all do with moving on.

The nanny agencies all said that another baby would make it easier to get a nanny (mine are 2 & 4)

bk - out of interest is an au pair an option for you? (I'm sure that the answer to that question is already on here, but I have sort of followed your drama with sympathy).

When I had an employed nanny I went for a 6 week notice period which worked for us. But I do hate the fact that you only ever find someone at the last minute - totally goes against the grain for me as I much prefer certainty especially where my children are concerned. Part of the reason why I radically changed my work life balance. I'll proabaly continue to use agency staff until ds2 reaches school age (when hopefully an aupair might work for us).

I think the fact that your nanny doesn't need a reference is probably a factor! Our nanny did get slack - but she was v pregnant by the time she finshed, so I was understanding.

lol at the nanny agency. I can cope with suggestions of a higher salary, better hours, promises of extra baby-sitting, longer holidays but a baby seems a rather drastic (and also ironic) way to get a nanny. Can you imagine it - you'd be trapped in a never-ending cycle. Having difficulty recruiting a nanny...time for another baby dear

I give between 4 and 8 weeks notice. Usually closer to the 8 week mark. I like to think my standards don't suffer, I have loved all my jobs right up to the bitter sweet handing over to the new nanny day Never left a job on bad terms,usually because if contracts expiring and wanting to move 'up' in the nanny world or temping.

thanks everyone. i decided to go for 4 weeks in the end. thanks very much for your help