Nannies with their own children

[cluelessbutcautious]

Have NC'd for this and apologise in advance if said nanny is on here, but:

I'm interviewing at the moment for our first ever nanny so this is all new territory for me. I was due to see a nanny (who looks great on paper) last week but she cancelled because her child was sick. We rearranged for but she has cancelled again because her child has taken a turn for the worse. Her CV doesn't mention her family but given the age of the nanny herself, I would say the child is fairly young.

Obviously, I have every sympathy for her as it must be very stressful having to cancel a job interview (once, let alone twice) because your child is sick. However my concern is is that if we hired this nanny, might there be times where she couldn't look after my kids because hers was sick and how would this work? If I had to take time off work because one of my kids was sick I'd either take it as a day's holiday or use the few days parental leave I get or rope in my parents to help if they could. If I have to take a day off because my nanny's child is sick and my children are fine, this doesn't seem right.

I assume I can't ask at interview what her childcare arrangements are (she's not mentioned about bringing the child with her) but I suppose it might come up in a round about fashion. I just wondered what the norm was in these sorts of situations. I'm doing other interviews this week and have told this nanny that I'll drop her a line if I don't offer this week and we'll rearrange but the issue would still remain.

Does anyone have any advice please?

I have a nanny but she doesn't have children as yet. She has had to take emergency leave due to a family member's sudden illness which is more or less the same thing.

I would try to view it as an employer. If you have to take time off work because your children are ill and you don't have cover (which happens even with a nanny) then you take it as emergency family leave or holiday depending on your employers policies. If you call in sick yourself you put yourself at risk of being first in the line for redundancy but people do, do it.

You should ask what arrangements she has in place for emergency care for her child(ren) and on what basis that might fail.
You should speak to your payroll agency if they offer contractual advice
Look at the legal right for Parental Leave - your own office will have a policy. I don't know if you can establish in advance if she has a disabled child which would mean a weeks notice rather than 21 days. It could be a discriminatory question.

Attached is an excerpt from our policy. It doesn't state on what grounds your employment could be terminated for a poor attendanc on the basis of repeat emergency leave requirements. You could perhaps insist on a period of parental leave but I am not a HR person.

Emergency Leave for Dependents
2 Length of time off
This policy entitles you to reasonable unpaid time off which will normally be one or two days. If you require more than two days, please speak to your Manager. Please note that, dependent upon the circumstances, you may be asked to take any further leave from your holiday entitlement or as unpaid leave (as per the Unpaid Leave Policy).

Whilst there is no restriction on the number of occasions that time off for dependants may be granted, where amounts of leave are deemed as excessive you may be asked to meet with your Manager to consider what alternative arrangements can be made.

3 Pay
Please be aware that any time taken under this policy will be unpaid.

4 Notifying your Manager
In order to be eligible for time off under this policy you should, as soon as reasonably practicable, and where possible in advance of your start time, notify your Manager or HR representative of your absence, the reason for your absence and how long you expect to be away from work.

If the emergency occurs when you are at home, please make sure that you phone your Manager as soon as possible.

If you need to leave work at short notice, you are required to agree this with your Manager.

Please be aware that your Manager may ask to see evidence to support the reason you require time off for dependants (such as a doctor's note, or letter from the school).

Avoid any who have children within the limits of the law of course. There are loads who are very good candidates who don't have them. Why court the problems? Ours had two children whilst employed with us and stayed 10 years but the first 5 years she had none. It as much much harder once she had her own on all kinds of levels (we let her bring them to work).

Gosh Laura - I'm glad my employer doesn't actively discrimate against women of childbearing age/women with children no more than any other firm anyway.

The OP said that the nanny had a great CV. Encouraging the OP to avoid her on the basis that she has children is not only illegal it is downright shoddy. Should she scan all candidates to check for an engagement ring too, just in case it is a pending problem?

As a parent, I definitely have to take anywhere up to 3 days emergency leave a year. As does my DH. Lucky sod gets 5 paid days emergency leave p.a. for kids, floods, etc.

Of course you can ask at interview what her childcare arrangements for her child would be, and what her fall back position would be if they were sick, the person looking after them was sick, school was closed for teacher training etc.

Sorry I agree with Laura. If you are employing a nanny and twice she has had to cancel it doesnt bode well. Does she want to take her child to your house I wonder.

If she has cancelled interview twice due to her sick child it would be a red flag to me. Once is ok, twice is telling me something. The major company I work for provides an interview date and if you cannot make it then you dont get a second chance. A way of natural candidate selection.

Thanks all. I think you are right about the red flag 2plus and handcream. If it was me and my child was sick I would move hell and earth to find someone to look after them for an hour or two so that I could go to the interview for a job I wanted. Not doing so certainly suggests a lack of enthusiasm for the job. However, on a more positive note, I am very excited about tomorrow's interviewee as she also has a great CV, better than today's candidate and I already have a good vibe about her from her emails and from checking her out on FB Fingers crossed!

Yes, if she cannot even make it to an interview she is not likely to make it into work very often. Most nannies don't have children and most parents prefer that. I am sorry . I am just statig it how it is. I am one of the employers who was very toplerant of this. she had two lots of maternity leave whilst working for us so I would say we were some of the good guys, bent over backwards etc but once she had those children and brought them it was a very different arrangement - it was her children in our home and as they were younger than ours quite rightly their needs came first, lots more mess etc etc.

It is very different from a general office worker having babies. It is such a personal relationship and fundamental the nanny is there.

I actually agree, if she can't even make it to an interview (TWICE), then she's very unlikely to be a reliable employee.