AuPair has twice in 2 weeks left front windows open when she goes out..

[Domesticette]

Not sure if I am being unreasonable about asking her to leave but I have a lukewarm aupair who, has started to improve (has taken time but there was progress this week ) but I have twice returned to an empty house with her front bedroom windows wide open. I have warned her about this before as she has done this previously. We have burglaries on our road, like everyone else. I also gave her the children/windows risk warning when she started . I feel a tad mean about asking her to leave as she has just bought a ticket home for Christmas and has arranged for her boyfriend to holiday near us in a few weeks. This is a good reason to ask her to leave....?

I didn't ask an annoying au pair to leave and I wish I had. There are so many families and so many au pairs, that it's not worth putting up with things tht bother you.

Unless you live in a bungalow in the middle of nowhere I think its very unreasonable . I always go out and leave bedroom windows open , I would imagine its more of a risk to leave the back windows open anyway , I'm sure somebody would notice a burglar climbing up the front of your house .

i would warn her again and say that if anything happens you will hold her responsible for the cost (as your insurance won't cover if windows are left open)

if she still does it i would maybe lock the windows!! would that be too mean?

Bundaberg - Even if an insurance policy was invalidated (seeing as wide open windows massively increases the risk for burglary Floralnomad) she wouldn't be able to cover the cost. The issue is reliability...

I don't disagree with telling her off ,it just seems a bit harsh to sack her ,unless you have other issues with her .

No that is not a good reason to ask her to leave!!!

Talk again, give a warning. Stick a note on the back of the door saying close windows then there are no excuses.

No it's not enough to ask her to leave.

She left an upstairs, front window open? It's really not a massive problem.

Talk to her, give her a warning, put a note on the door.

Upstairs or downstairs windows?

If she is good in other ways I would give her a final warning. If she's not very good at her job and you feel the risk of burglary is high enough in your street then I would ask her to leave (assuming you can find a replacement quite easily).

flora I was burgled in this way on a busy street in London with cafes etc opposite in the middle of the day!

I would fire for this. Its a huge security and safety risk and also shows that, if you have twice warned her, she either can't follow or doesn't respect your instructions.

Don't feel mean. It is unfortunate about the ticket and the holiday but those were her decisions. You can't have someone in your house you don't trust.

(And for those saying Su pairs are more like big siblings than proper employees, well my mother would have torn me another one for this sort of behavior.)

Where I live, Roma gypsies send small DC climbing up the front of apartment blocks to enter through open windows. Of course a first floor open window is a major risk for burglary - and open windows invalidate insurance. You need to sit down with your ditsy au pair and run through very basic safety and security procedures.

Is she German? All my German au pairs were obsessed with opening their windows wide even in very cold weather.

It's a bit by-the-by but I've emailed my contents insurer before to specifically ask about leaving upstairs windows open while the house is empty and whether this would invalidate my insurance - they said it wouldn't for them:

"Although you do have a duty of care to ensure you property is secure, there is no actual lock requirements or clauses within the terms and conditions of the policy. In any event, we would not consider first floor windows to be ‘accessible’, therefore there is no issue with leaving these open."

Slightly different, but our AP left the lights full on and the shutters open in the sitting room until we came home at 1am last weekend. I think this is a security risk - all our worldly goods are on display in a London street. And it wouldn't be that hard to break a window if you wanted to. I think he got it - anyway, no repetition so far!

I would give a final warning to your AP.

I would give your AP a final warning too - and tell her next time it happens you will tell her to leave. I think some APs don't fully realise the conseqences of their actions.

You could always stick a note by the door reminding her to close windows, lock doors etc

So you specifically warned her after she had had left the windows open previously and she has since left them open twice in the last 2 weeks. That is very careless and I agree that it is a major issue.

It would invalidate our insurance.

I can't say if I would sack her or not, I would have to look at the whole picture.

Well it is a serious burglary / child safety issue. If you gave her a final warning and made it very clear there were no more chances, do you think it would sink in?

Thank you all for your contributions. I am going to give her the final warning that if she does it again, she must leave with 2weeks notice (a typical notice period for aupairs). I have already shortened her stay by 4 months as I have told her my needs have changed (my needs insofaras not walking around like a nervous wreck!).

That seems sensible and fair. Hope it works out.