Nanny ill 3 times in 5 months.

[Christmaspanic24]

We have employed our nanny for 5 months for 3 days a week. In that time she has been ill 3 times. This has been manageable because I'm not currently working, but I go back to work next week. My job isn't flexible and a lot of people count on me to be there, it's quite a disruption /difficulty if I have to be off work. We don't have any family nearby that can provide emergency childcare. I'm wondering what others do in this situation, how do you cover the nanny if she goes off sick? Thanks

If you are going back to work next week, this is the ideal time to discuss with her what your expectations are now that you aren't going to be in the house during the day. She should be doing cooking for the DC and their household duties at the very least - i.e. their laundry, tidying their rooms and toys.

I would also raise the issue about reliability.

She doesn't sound fantastic, frankly.
However, it's also possible that because she knew you were home, she felt less obliged to come in when sick.
She's also an employee with the same rights as By other. So I'd go with what a pp said, you going back to work is a good opportunity to go over your expectations (including cooking for the children, especially if it's in the contract), and being more official about absences including a return to work interview, and keeping proper note of holiday and sick pay etc.
If she's then having persistent absences you'd need to follow a proper procedure for any redundancy, do you use a nanny payroll company? They can help.

Thanks everyone, it's been really useful to get your thoughts. I've informed her we need to sit down to review her duties and responsibilities and also that we need a back to work interview. I'm hoping with me being back at work she might take the job and taking time off more seriously. As you say, stuck at present she knows it's only me she inconveniences and probably doesn't think it's a big deal. Keeping my fingers crossed we can get things working better and out my mind at rest. Thanks for all you thoughts and advice.

I agree with return to work and also making clear she won't get paid. We have had two nannies over past four years and first was just one of those people who wasn't super resilient - picked up bugs and not good at working through a minor illness. I can think of two occasions where she had three absences in 5 months. My experience of nannies generally has been that they are more resilient than most.

You may find when you go back to work that she's more reliable - she may feel both that it's less of an inconvenience to you now and also less inclined to drag herself in if you're around and may see her taking it a bit easy.

That said, reading your post I'm going to be honest she doesn't sound great, I would probably look for a new nanny now so you have time before you go back.

As a nanny, I have taken 9 days sick in 32 years, none in the last 5 years. 5 of the 9 were 3 when I put my back out and 2 when I had abscesses and hadn’t slept at all the previous night and had a lot of driving to do so didn’t feel safe to be in charge of young children. The other 4 were when my employers sent me home after coming in to work looking and sounding like death!

I will go into work when ill rather than letting my employers down unless it’s dangerous for me to (back or neck problems) I will go in with a tummy bug if the children have had it (and given it to me! Although I very rarely get tummy bugs as I’m meticulous with hand washing and not getting too close)

I would tell her that you need to have a meeting, tell her that you understand that people get ill but that you cannot not go into work at very short notice being that you are just going back. Tell her that if she takes time off you will be unable to pay her more than SSP as you will have to get emergency cover.

I would also buy her a simple cookbook, Delia or Annabel Karmel are good for novices, ask her to have a look through and to let you know what recipes she would like to try next week and you’ll get the ingredients in.

To be fair, my first job my charge ate rehydrated baby food for the entire 20 months I looked after him! He was 7 months at the start and mum and I had no idea! Second job, 2.5 and 1.5 boys who lost their mum 3 months previously, youngest ate baby jars and older one ate sausages or beans on toast or sandwiches! Was a tough job for the first 6-8 weeks, eldest was scared his dad wouldn’t come back, just like his mum. Dad wasn’t eating properly either so once I had the children’s trust, I started cooking for all of them, my repertoire was not that great, dad sent me on a 10 week cookery course!! I now cook for my employers 2/3 times a week.

If you have a nanny contract always put SSP only in it and that way you can choose whether to pay sick pay or not. We decided to do that as I had a few friends who had exactly the same issue as you do.
We rarely had anyone ringing in sick.

Proper nannies should be cooking for the children, its a basic nanny role. Do it one meal at a time and take photos of each stage if necessary. We now have au pairs and they all could cook for the children within a couple of months.