Nanny maternity leave

[Beaker12]

Sorry if this has been posted a lot before but I was looking for some advice.

My very lovely nanny has just told me she is pregnant. I'm very happy for her but can't help feeling a bit stressed about how I deal with the whole mat leave cover etc ( obviously I am not mentioning anything to her, just congratulations). I know it is a bit ridiculous to be worried about this now as it is early days, but I have PND which results in anxiety and I'd really like some reassurance as this has made me very anxious. This is partly because my nanny will go on mat leave 6 weeks after I return to work ( I have a 3 month old and a 2 1/2 year old). I know I am lucky in having been able to keep her on during mat leave in the first place, and worrying about this is silly but I just can't help it :(

Anyway so my question really is how do I advertise for mat leave cover? I know I need to leave the job open for a year, so presumably this means the person applying won't have any idea how long the job will last and I just need to state it is to cover mat leave? Does this put people off applying generally, or do people looking for permanent jobs still apply on the basis I imagine quite a lot of mat cover jobs turn into permanent? Do nannies generally want higher pay for mat leave cover ( I was intending to pay my nanny 12.50 an hour net in zone 2 london once she had both children, she currently gets £11 net for a 9 1/2 hour day, 4 days a week. This really is the maximum
I can afford).

Many thanks!

No experience with nanny mat leave, but 12.50 net is pretty top whack so that bit shouldn't be a problem

It's not usual to increase a nannies pay by that much (if at all) when you go from one to two children. Unless you have very odd working hours, or need something very specific like a mandarin speaker, you don't need to offer 12.50/hour.
Most of my Central London friends still pay £10, except for the Chelsea ones who pay £12, but they have a mandarin speaker.

Your current nanny will need to give you one month's notice of when she wants to return to work, unless she takes the full 52 weeks.
So you can offer a six month maternity cover post with a one month's notice period. I would just offer it at the gross equivalent of the £11/hour rate.

Thanks so much for the replies - that is really helpful to know re pay. I don't have any special requirements, and my nanny gets quite a lot of additional holiday too and gets to go home early most days. It is difficult to know what to pay as I really do want to pay a good wage, as I know good nannies are very hard to find! I had had the impression that my nanny and her friends were paid a minimum of £12 for 2 children ( and I know I should be talking gross but it seems net still seems the norm!).

I've had nannies that gave that impression too. Not sure it's the truth. Got plenty of applicants advertising at £10 per hour net (London zone 3) and I needed a driver who would use her own car. Nannies and agencies have a vested interest in talking up the "going rate".

Do you want her to come back with baby?

So would have 3 under 3.5 if came back asap / when bubs a few months old

Always discuss gross and agree that you are paying too wack and no need

Factor in that you still need to pay holiday that your nanny (on maternity leave) gets, so I would not be offering the maternity leave covering nanny as high as you propose. Try offering less and see who applies.

Advertise it as maternity leave cover, with a one month notice period.

Thanks all, very helpful advice. She currently thinks she wants to take 9 months off, am open to considering returning with the baby but would need to carefully think through the practicalities. She is very much a loved member if our family so I would like to make a retribution work, but at the same time can see the disadvantages of 3 plus my youngest would have been with whomever I get to cover for a long time at that point ( hopefully anyway!).

It's all a bit complicated as I took shorter mat leave to keep her on, but with the current timings think realistically will have to try and delay going back by another 6 weeks as don't really want to leave my baby with one person for a short time and then swop. Plus need a settling in period. Lots to think about anyway.

Thanks again for the advice!

Its normal if your nanny does come back with her own child to drop the salary a bit (to make up for the fact that you no longer have dedicated care for just your own children.)

I think taking a slightly longer mat leave period (especially if you're not feeling well) would work well.

no practicle help but our nanny returned with her baby, my kids love it (but they are older 4 and 8) she comment this morning "how come it is never morning nanny but always morning baby"

Thanks - that is good to know for the future! I suspect the nanny bringing child to work can really work well if you sort everything out clearly at the beginning.