Help!! How do I sack my Au Pair

[agides]

I have a new AP joined us on 2 Nov, she is a very sweet girl, she cleans without prompting even walks the dog! In everyway she is wonderful, the only reason we need an AP is to drive my son to school (no other means other than driving to get there) and look after my son after school on the days I am working away from the home (about 2 days a week) it is an easy job. So why do i need to sack her 1. She cannot converse at all in English (the agency assured me she could) and 2. She has crashed the car 3 times, once into our garden wall knocking it down, got 2 parking tickets and got lost for 5 hours (took my husband 2 hours driving around to find her) because she could not tell us where she was or ask anybody. How do i tell her she has to go, even though she is a lovely girl when she speaks no english. I'm at my whits-end as I do not want to totally destroy this poor girls confidence but I cannot allow my son in the car with her as her driving is so dangerous. How do I tell someone who only speaks Czech?

get the agency to do it

What language does she speak. Could you get someone to translate a letter to her.
That way you could tell her that you think she is lovely etc.
What have the agency said about it ?

Get the agency to do it, explain to them that her English is so poor that there is no way that you can make her understand what you need to say. Also next time (assuming there is a next time) make sure you speak to the AP in advance to assess her English, agencies will tell you whatever they think you want to hear! Oh and demand your fee back or another AP for free - can you tell I'm feeling very agressive today?!

you have all my sympathy-can you bar her from driving but have her continue the rest while the agency replaces her? just so you have SOME sort of help. The agency will have to provide a translator I think, you will never get her to understand the ins and outs of this and she would be fine for some families. Though not many! My latest cleaner can't understand (or won't?) that her main job is to do the ironing, even though I have stood over her while she did it for 3 sessions - she just keeps cleaning the floor around the basket over and over again unitl it is time to go, unless I am there to watch her!

Agides - feel for you. There are some very dodgy au-pair agencies around and will send you anyone just to get their fee. Many charge the girls a fee as well.

After a couple of difficult situations with au-pairs (nice girls, wrongly placed by agency who told me one thing and told them another!) I never employ au-apairs now unless they are already in the UK and I can interview them first.

Good luck.

How's it going? Have you told her that you want her to leave?

It's a horrible situation to be in. And you certainly have my sympathies. Could you offer to help her find another position so it is quite such a devastating shock to her. She might be a good au pair for someone who wants hepl round the house but doesn't require any driving. If you could assist this transition for her, it would probably be a happier end for everyone.

Then, I'd give the aagency a piece of mund and demand they return any angency fees or find me a replacement who does fit the specified job requirements. Stories like this are exactly why I wouldn't trust (or pay) an agency. This mess is most likely the agencies fault. Not yours, and not the au pairs. They probably lied to her about the job description just as they lied to you about her qualifications.