Number of sick days you pay at full pay before SSP?

[UpsyDozy]

Just putting together a contract for our prospective new nanny (if we ever find one!) and wondered what the standard rate is for number of sick days?

ie. the number of sick days you pay at full pay rate before you pay only SSP?

4 per annum? 10? Just wondered what is generally offered as there seems to be no hard & fast rule!
Any thoughts appreciated!

When I worked in private nursery our first 3 days sick were unpaid before SSP kicked in. It's the same for my current LEA job, first 3 days are unpaid.

Thanks Groovee

Just so I'm clear, was that 3 sick days per year? So if you were ill for 3 days then the rest of your sick days that year were paid at SSP?

Thanks!

Our contract says SSP only but our nanny has been really good and has only had 3 days off sick so we've just paid her as normal.

If we weren't able to cover the days by working from home, it would be more of an issue.

I have always made it clear in the contract that I am not obliged to pay in full for sick days, it is always at my discretion, but that my usual policy would be to pay up to 3 days in full. In practice I have always paid in full for up to a week. (I've not had to deal with longer absences than that).

Usually for every instance of sickness it's 3 days unpaid then SSP. If you put SSP only in the contract you can always pay in full if your think the nanny is genuinely ill.

Personally I've gone with sick pay above SPP being at employer's discretion.

I would always pay someone who only takes the odd day and gives as much notice as possible, but I'd be irked if my contract said 10 days and then the nanny then took a lot of sick leave shortly after joining, before leaving or not passing a probation. Same would apply if I had any other sort of employees in a business or whatever.

Our nanny was fab. The couple of times she was ill, I knew she was really ill and she kept us warned through the previous evening with texts, so I had no hesitation in paying her.

None, in the contract.

Reality may well be different but you would decide on a case by case basis if you would provide pay for the sick day.

SSP kicks in after 3 consecutive working days (qualifying days). Until then sick days are unpaid. More about SSP

Some nannies are rarely sick, so if they do suddenly become ill you may well decide that you will pay them in full as usual. Whereas another nanny may be frequently sick, so you would not pay them and let SSP kick in if they are off for sufficient time.

As others, my nanny's contract states SSP only, which i think is something like 80 per week after 3 days off sick.
In reality, my nanny has had hardly any time off sick, and the couple of days she has had, i have paid in full and she has made up the hours.

I personally would never put anything other than SSP in a contract.

None for me either - I've never had sick pay myself, I certainly can't pay someone else.

have always had sick pay in my contract and last 3 jobs had 4 weeks sick pay in contrct - which i admit is very unusual but ive always asked and got it

bh i think a weeks sick pay is fair, so if full time then 5 days and obv less if part time

To follow up on Blondes' good comment, if you do add sick pay, I'd add a service requirement. So if you chose to gave a week's sick pay, perhaps they have to have 3 months' service to be eligible. Before that it could be discretionary.

Like Blondes I have sick pay in my contract - I ask for 2 weeks. I ask for this as I have bills to pay and don't want the added worry of next to no money if I get flu or something. Also a lot of bugs that us nannies get are picked up from the children we look after. However, I do have 25 years experience and a track record of taking very little time off. Like most nannies I go to work when ill and would only really take time off if I was physically ill enough not to be able to drive to work.

I think with a younger nanny SSP is the way to go and then you can pay sick pay at your discretion. When checking references it's always worth asking how much time off the nanny has had due to sickness.

blondes - I know this clearly doesn't apply to you (!!!) but I would get serious alarm bells ringing if a nanny I was interviewing asked about sick pay / negotiate to make sure there was sick pay in the contract!!

negotiated - doh!

When I negotiate this I tell them my reason why (as above), point out that I have very rarely needed to take time off (3 days in the last 7 years) Last time I was job hunting I had 3 interviews - none of them refused or seemed worried about it - and I was offered all 3 jobs.

To be honest, I actually go to great pains not to take time off as I almost want to prove to them that the clause is not there just so that I can have a few duvet days at their expense. I've certainly had one day this year that I struggled through and fell into bed as soon as I got home.

Nbee84 - Yes, I can see it would be much easier to negotiate sick pay if you're an experienced nanny with a good track record. I guess the worry with a younger, less experienced nanny is that you are never quite sure that they won't turn out to be of the 'ooh, I've got a sniffle' variety, powering through all their entitlement because it's there. Being able to point out your record must put a lot of those worries to rest.

nbee sorry, x posted with you. Agree totally with sheeps x

I have in my contract that it's statutory but any serious illness (as in bad enough to be off work) caught from the DCs is paid in full.

many of my employers have sick pay in their contract and tbh i dont see why us good professional long term experienced nannies shouldnt have it either

i believe in - dont ask dont get :)

but yes also having a 3mth period before sick pay starting is good

I had either 4 or 6 weeks full pay before SSP kicked in in my contracts.

I asked for it, and i got it in my conctract.

In 10 years of nannying I can only remember having about 3 sick days though, and they were all for nasty illnesses that I got from the children (that the parents also got and were also off work and in bed with, and the parents were also being paid by their employers)

I get 5 days paid sick leave

Although in 4y I've only had 1 day off sick so no idea what happens after that!

I would be crippled if I had to pay four weeks sick leave
I agree to start with ssp only and pay on discretion. You will know if your nanny is taking the piss.
Do other professions really have your weeks sick leave in contracts?

boys - yes, I think it would be quite usual to have a specified amount of sick leave in the contracts of other professions. I've only had 2 jobs outside of childcare. One was in a shoe shop, the other was Ocado and both had paid sick leave that kicked in once you had been working for them for 6 months - I can't remember how much exactly but it was several weeks worth at full pay, then the same amount of weeks at half pay and then SSP.

And I understand that nanny employers would be crippled at paying 4 weeks sick pay as well as paying for alternative childcare, which is why I've only requested 2 weeks in my contracts. I just have to keep my fingers crossed that I don't get a serious illness that lasts more than 2 weeks as I would be crippled on SSP as it won't cover my bills.

a weeks ssp isnt even a days wages for me and if i didnt have sick pay and i was ill, i would be crippled big time