Should Nanny demand Money?

[avablueshoes]

I was recently hired by a family as their nanny. During the interview process I was told that they would need full time Summer care before going into full time term care. However, when it came time to agree on a start date and written contract the agreement suddenly changed. The family decided that they wanted to start the formal contract in September and have the Summer as a trial period, I was completely fine with this as it would allow me to adjust to the family and make sure that this would be a good fit for both parties. Three weeks ago the family suddenly decided that they wanted to go on holiday for 6 weeks during the Summer, as our formal contract would not be starting until September I would not be compensated for this holiday and would thus only be working for 3 weeks of the summer instead of the 9 that we had first agreed to. This left me with an uneasy feeling about this family but because they have always seemed nice during our three interviews I decided to go ahead with this agreement. I asked the family to put the 3 weeks of trial period, along with the agreed upon Summer salary in writing with confirmation that they agreed to these terms, this made me feel confident that they would not go back (again) on their word. I am due to start my Summer trial with them on Tuesday, however I have an uneasy feeling that they may cancel on me at the last minute. I have attempted to contact the family multiple times over the last week to confirm the start time for Tuesday and none of my calls, texts, or emails have been answered. My question is this: If they do cancel on me at the last minute do I have the right to demand that they still pay me the agreed upon Summer salary?

How much notice is in the contract for the trial period ?

I'm not sure that you do, since you haven't actually started the agreed work. Someone more qualified might give better advice.

It's very shitty though.

Thank you for answering. It is two weeks notice in the full contract.

The thing that is really upsetting is the fact that they have not been in contact. If they had given me sufficient notice then I would have been able to find another job. I have also expressed multiple times how dependent I am on working this summer, it is very upsetting situation which may leave me in a very bad financial situation.

Unfortunately they do not have to pay you, unless you had a retainer claus in the contract.

I would start looking for something else, they are messing you around before you have even started, I think it sets a precedence for the rest of your working term.

A verbal agreement is a form of contract. The piece of paper is a Written Statement detailing the agreement and can be given during the first two months of employment.

So I feel that if you have a verbal agreement with regard to a start date, then that date is the date from which they pay. The date in September would be the date from which probationary period is over and full terms apply. During the probationary period the agreement could be ended by either party at short notice - have you discussed how much notice?

It does not sound great. If you do any work for them, then I feel you can expect to be paid for that work. However if you don't actually do any work for them, then I expect it's a bit more tricky. They seem to messing you around which is not a good sign. With luck things will turn out OK, though maybe wise to keep looking out for work should things not turn out well.

I wouldn't bother going down that road and I agree that you should starting looking for another Nanny job. Based on the fact that things have started out this way is a sign of possible other problems you may have encountered with them later on down the line. It's unfortunate, but sometimes things happen for a reason.