Redundancy letter

[MrsGee1]

Our nanny is currently on maternity leave and whilst she’s been off we’ve changed our childcare. We do still have a nanny but on fewer days and hours than she was working.
I understand I need to offer her this new role first but I also want to let her know that the alternative is redundancy and to reassure her that I will pay the remainder of her maternity pay if she chooses redundancy. I want to make it 100% clear to her as I don’t want her to accept the new role thinking I’m not going to pay her the rest of her maternity pay if she declines.
Does anyone have a template I can use or is there certain terminology I need to use?
Can I include the reassurance of maternity pay in the letter or does that need to be separate?
As she’s been with us for less than 2 years do I just need to pay her the remainder of her maternity pay and any annual leave she’s accrued?

Your payroll company will uaually advice you.

I would consult with your payroll provider. The wording needs careful thought as it is not clear to me from what you have written when the role is redundant.. is that now, or is that at the end of her maternity leave?

The complication is to do with the build up of holiday entitlement. If the role is redundant now and she does not accept the new role, then holiday entitlement will stop being accrued once the notice period ends. If the role is redundant at the end of her maternity leave and she does not take the new role, then she will have built up holiday entitlement throughout her maternity leave.

Redundancy pay does not appear to apply in this particular case (due to less than 2 years of service) so the holiday pay part is going to be important to her, as regardless of when the role is redundant she gets the SMP. If you are aiming to maximise the amount of pay she gets then you want to talk to your payroll provider with regard to how to maximise the holiday entitlement whilst legitimately making the role redundant.

Thanks for your reply Nannynick.
I’m not sure what constitutes the role being redundant now or at the end of her maternity leave. She worked before and after school every day, and the same hours every day. Since the beginning of this year the children go to breakfast club every morning, after school club on 1 day and we have a nanny for the other 4 afternoons, with 1 shorter afternoon. It was due to be a temporary arrangement because I couldn’t find someone to do the exact same hours (I did have cover for a few months but she finished in December). However, I’ve found this arrangement works much better for us.
So do I need to offer her the new hours from the point of her returning from maternity leave? And do I just have to wait until nearer the end of her maternity leave for an answer from her?
I’m pretty confident she’s not returning to work as she’s now moved away so I can’t realistically see how it would work. This applies to both the hours she was doing prior to going on maternity leave as well as the new hours.

I don't know. I think you decide for yourself at what point your childcare requirement has permanently changed. Sounds like that moment has come as the temporary arrangement you now feel should be permanent.

So your next step is to talk to payroll about starting the redundancy procedure.