Cutting Nannies hours temporarily vs giving notice? WWYD?

[nomoneyhoney]

I have FT nanny whom I share with another family 3 days.

2DC, one toddler, one school.

DH often away for long periods. Over those periods nanny gets lots of OT. When he is back she finishes early etc.

Problem. DH works contracts. He is out of work and no guarantee when he will get work again. It will happen but no way of knowing 4 weeks, 8 weeks etc

Financially we are a sinking ship right now (long and complicated story - we are severely overstretched and need both incomes)

I have 2 choices:

1. give nanny one month's notice just in case DH still out of work in January. HE looks after baby at home (he does not want to do this) and gets no work done, I take days off when he has meetings etc. Nanny is out of a job and will look for another family. If DH suddenly gets work I will have to take parental leave and try to find new childcare in a week.
2. Ask nanny to go down to 3 days until DH finds work again. Her income drops but so do our expenses. Its not going to be quite enough to get by but she keeps her job and DH has some time to work.

Both options are shit for her - I know that. Dropping down to 3 days at no notice at Xmas time is not anyone's idea of fun. (not sure I can even drop down to 3 days at such short notice TBH)

I am seriously stressed right now re £££. I can't watch the car crash unfold just because I feel I have to keep everyone else in employment (which is how I do feel). I also have a cleaner who I know desperately needs the work (her DH out of work and kids to support). But we have worked so hard this year and sacrificed a lot to try and avoid financial ruin I just can't watch the fact that DH is out of work for a while send us back there

WWYD?

hi, quick post as it is late but feel for you - it must be very stressful.

I would reduce/cut out the cleaner hours for the time being, at least until DH gets work again.

Dont quite understand the nanny share bit - you pay the nanny 5 days per week and the other family contribute for 3 of those days? So your option 2 would help you and your nanny better than option 1 which puts her out of work.

I would talk to your nanny - perhaps she has some other options which you could discuss eg another family wanting some help. Perhaps she would like to travel for a bit...

Perhaps consider offering a retainer so if you do have to cut hours pay etc now if she stays with you in x months time there is a pre-agreed bonus.

As a nanny, I'd prefer my hours cut then gone altogether, especially in a nanny share where it'll be trickier to find more work

But sit down and discuss it with her, tell her as much of what you've told us as you're comfortable with....she may be happier to cut down or leave when she knows how much you're struggling...either way at least she'll know something is happening rather then just springing it on her that you're cutting her hours one morning before the school run (ex-MB I'm looking at you...!)

I understand you feel guilty but you cannot sacrifice your own financial/emotional well being and that of your family for the sake of your employees. It is horrid but you just can't.

I take from your OP that your preference would be the second choice i.e. nanny reduce hours? Talk to your nanny. Be as frank as you feel able to about your current financial situation. Talk to your nanny. Be as frank as you feel able to about your current financial situation. Give her the choice and you may well find she is much more receptive to the idea rather than it feeling like a fait accompli .

I agree with the others, but also you need to take into account the other family in the share: is there a written agreement between you and the other family? Is the nanny employed separately by each family, or is there a joint contract for the time she is working for you both?

if the nanny works 3 days with the other family and 2 with you then she is still working full time but her money would be temp cut for a couple of months

maybe she might still nanny share on have your dcs on the days she has the other family so she gets 2 days off per week

She works 3 days for both of us and the other 2 days just for us.

I pay the same either way but she obviously gets paid more on the days she works for both of us.

I have talked to her today and been very straight. She is going to think about it. The thing is that work could come at any time for DH but then again this could go on for ages. I just have no choice in this. I think she will probably agree but its a big drop income for her.

Now I don?t know what to do about the cleaner. She is lovely and has lost loads of work in this recession her DH is out of work and she is sole earner. I would like to be giving her more work not taking away what meagre income she has.

But I am struggling! I might tell her that she has a month more and that if DH doesn?t get work I wont be able to keep her on. But of course if something happens then this will all go away and its business as usual. So frustrating he has had so many opps materialise and then fall away at last moment. Soul destroying for him too as he is really good at what he does and likes to work hard.

God this is so depressing I am ruining everyone?s Xmases. DH is so stressed out he is doing everything he can and he REALLY doesn?t want to spend any days doing childcare (as he is very industrious with his time out of work and always has lots of things he is working on) but we really have no choice.

In a year or two my salary might rise enough to cover all of this plus if DH gets some work we can start saving (rather than paying huge business debts which is what we have been doing this year) but that doesn't help me now!!

TBH my preference financially would be no nanny at all but that is unrealistic for DH and doesn't give him any chance to work on getting more work.

When he does work it is well paid so it is worth it for us - especially if we aren't paying off debts! Its been a really tough year or two for so many reasons, most of them work/money related. I think my nanny does appreciate that she is a nice person just hate doing this to her.