What to do with nanny??

[uhoh1973]

We have employed our lovely nanny 2.5 days per week for the last 4 years. She is fantastic and we think the world of her.

We have 1 child at school now and the other at nursery 1 day per week. I have been working mostly full-time for most of this time but the outlook for my job for next year is bleak. My current contract ends in December and I have nothing for next year. We currently spend some £14k per year on childcare, the biggest chunk of which is about £9k for the nanny. The obvious solution is to make the nanny redundant and continue (increase?) the nursery. This would save us £8-10k per year depending on how much babysitting / childcare in the holidays we use. I am a softie and worry the children will be sad but my husband figures they can put up with some sadness for the amount of money we would save??!!

Anyone have a similar dilemma? I am also considering some kind of half way house (e.g. 1.5 days per week of nanny) but obviously the savings are proportional.

your nanny might not want to stay for such a small amount of hours.

I think you need to speak to her about the situation, explain the maximum hours you think you could keep her and let her find alternative employment - give her a brilliant reference and help her find a new position.

You might have to go down the redundancy route.

I think you are right. I will discuss it with her. Probably leave it til after Xmas. She knows I am looking for a new job at the moment. We have done our best in the past to keep her on e.g. when I was on maternity leave but my area of work is in a major downturn which could last for sometime...

Keep nanny informed of your job hunting progress. They already know you are looking and so already know that the future is uncertain. They might get another job themselves and resign. They may be willing to work a lower number of hours but if you are not going to work, then would that really be an option? If you are at home you would not increase the nursery hours, though you may see if they could do occasional care so you could schedule job interviews.