Nanny calling in sick

[LovelyTrees]

Hello just wondering what the view of experienced nannies is regarding calling in sick. I am new to nanny employing but my nanny has called in sick 3 times in the past 3 months and it's been really inconvenient for me having to cancel work meetings with just a couple of hours notice and work late at night to make up the lost time.

Obviously people get sick but what can I do, if anything, to stop keep being left without childcare?

Your nanny payroll provider may be worth a call to have a chat. They may be able to give some guidance on starting the disciplinary procedure. Whilst it is not nice to think about ending the agreement, ultimately that is what will happen if your nanny continues to be frequently off work. Akire has had to let people go, so you might need to if the situation does not improve... you will run out of annual leave to take, the costs will get too much to make this nanny a viable option.

I don't pay for the first few days of my nanny being off sick and then only SMP. This is legal and I do find it means nanny turns up. If she was ill, I would hope she would turn up and have a quiet day with the kids

So 11 days of sick in total? In 3 months? Working full time? So c65 days work.

So she is ill for more than 1 day in 6?

That is pretty terrible.

Checked the contract and spoken to the payroll company and they both say any pay above SSP is at my discretion so I think I'll have a chat with nanny once she's back at work and explain that in future I can't afford to pay her and pay for cover. Maybe she will be more committed when she realises there is a limit to what I can afford. Thanks for all your comments very helpful

That is quite close to working out as a day off per week. What have these illnesses been? I can't think of many contagious illnesses where you need a week off other than c pox.

Tbf you have said she has something contagious so you don't want her coming in and giving it to you and your family OP.

I'm going to check the contract but so far I have paid full pay for all sick days (and then paid on top for cover/taken annual leave).

If you have a standard contract then this is unlikely to be necessary. You need a contract with the standard sick provisions which is nothing for the first 3 days then SSP. You can then of course always be generous and pay in full if you want to.

It's true that I don't want her to pass on anything to the DC, and I'm trying to be a fair and generous employer but it's got to the point that my work is being negatively affected.

From the replies it seems that many sick days is not normal and also that most nannies would only call in sick when they really had no alternative. I think from now on I will just pay statutory sick pay and make it clear that reliability and a good attendance record is very important to her remaining in her job. Hopefully she will understand

We had a similar problem with a previous nanny, I calculated a sickness rate of around 10% of her working days, all odd days here and there. It was so stressful, and she used to text me in the morning to tell me so I often did not see the texts until she was already late! It was a bad time, my job means people are very reliant on me, but she didn't seem to care. Awful.

I strongly disagree Archie. Many employe S don't oay any more than SSP. the firm where I work was almost crippled by having to pay sick pay so actually niw has insurance. You get nothing for the first 3 days then SSP thereafter.

Sorry, but at that level of sickness she is swinging the lead. Time to replace her.

I suggest SSP only. You can of course use your discretion and pay her if its really only occasion, otherwise, as you're finding you get a nanny who is off sick a lot.

You should try to look for replacement.

I assumed 3 days initially as well, shocking how often it is!
I am a nanny and have had 2 sick days in the last 6 years both for highly contagious things! (D&v and a extremely bad eye infection)
Shes taking the piss massively

As someone who got very badly burned by this sort of behaviour, I would urge you to nip it in the bud immediately.

I unfortunately kept giving the benefit of the doubt.

Some people just have a very poor work ethic unfortunately.

11 days out of 60 working days - greater than 20% absence. What are these illnesses?

In 12 years of having nannies i can recall one migraine (2 days), one bout of something or other (2 days i think, then came in but on very reduced activities) and a fall down the stairs (1 day, which nanny spent in a&e). Even during her own pregnancy there were no absences other than the standard midwife visits and suchlike which we could plan for in advance.

Really shocked that someone can effectively cause you to lose half your vacation entitlement over such a short period.

The illnesses have been bronchitis, labyrinthitis and now shingles. Total nightmare with my work not at all impressed.

Sounds like she is very run down and she'll feel bloody awful with any one of those things.

What can she do about any of those illnesses though?

Like I said before I had carers with similar issues. It's not their fault and each time it's geninue bad luck and real illnesses. but I rely on them if they are sick very often, it reaches a point where they will have to go.

Some people just go from one disaster to the next. I feel sorry but there reaches point where they should rethink their job choices. Surely better they work in a job where taking time off can be covered without to much bother, or be caught up later. If you are in a job where someone else is relying on you 100% and you over course of months are only managing 70-80% it's a bad match something needs to change.

Maybe it is just a run of bad luck, but its not been a good start to her working for our family at all. I don't know what other nanny employers would do but her probation review is coming up soon so I'm going to have to address it as I can't keep covering this level of sickness absence long term. I do feel bad thinking of how to deal with it but equally I'm going to lose my job if this carries on and I keep cancelling appointments for my own clients

Thanks Akire that is how I'm thinking now too

It's really difficult isn't it, different if you worked from home few days and were free to chop change to cover sometimes drop of a hat but you can't. hope she is well soon and fingers crossed!

Can you self-cert for more than 3 days? We certainly can't (not a nanny but...). Maybe tell her that you require a doctor's note for more than 3 days.

You can for up to seven days (includes non working days) then you can ask for sick note but if they can't get to see GP or takes them days not much you can do.

In my case each was geninue so sick note not help much it was just one those people who got everything going. It was quite serial!