Nanny on sick leave

[exhaustedmumto3]

Hi - my nanny is on sick leave & is unable to come back whilst undergoing treatment. It is highly unlikely she will not return to work for over 6 months. She was working 16 hours a week. The current SSP requirment means I pay approx. 60% of her weekly salary in sick pay.

Since she has been off I have been relying on our cleaner who has stepped up to the mark to help out with the children. They are older now (11,13,15) and can look after themselves more so dont need constant nanny help. Just having someone in the background is enough.

I have therefore discovered over the last 2 months that she has been off that I dont need the nanny any more. I am also going to struggle to pay for her when she wants to come back.

Is it possible / ethical to make her redundant during sick leave as I guess I would be doing that shortly after she returns to work (if indeed she wants to return to work) after her statutory 28 week sick leave anyway ?

I dont want to be heartless here but am struggling to pay for the extra cleaner hours and the nanny SSP.

Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks

The job role is redundant if you do not need to have someone be with your children. Sounds like you still do need someone and have for now appointed your cleaner in that role. The role though now has a cleaning aspect to it, so is more a housekeeper role.

The role of cleaner has changed... they are no longer just cleaning. If you employed the cleaner, then their job is redundant (cleaners are often self employed, so you just don't hire them anymore).
The role of nanny has changed, as they would now be doing cleaning. So I would say that the role of nanny is redundant but your nanny might want the new role of housekeeper.

I would have a talk with your payroll provider. They may in turn have you talk with a legal adviser. You can also talk to ACAS. You need to tread carefully as your nanny may want the housekeeper role and once off sick leave may want to return to do that role. Your cleaner (if an employee) also may want the housekeeper role. You want to know from legal/ACAS about how this situation can be managed to avoid any claim of Wrongful Dismissal or Unfair Dismissal.

ACAS Code Of Practice
www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2174
ACAS: Can you be dismissed while on sick leave?
www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=5629
ACAS: Manage staff redundancies
beta.acas.org.uk/manage-staff-redundancies

As nick says you need to be careful.
Some patients, for example, cancer patients are covered under the disability discrimination act.
I would seek proper legal advice from a solicitor who does employment law.

Since she has been off I have been relying on our cleaner who has stepped up to the mark to help out with the children.

She’s nannying, not cleaning, now. So - unfortunately - there is no redundancy of the nanny’s role.

Am just about to take on an employed nanny and worried about exactly this scenario. How do people afford to pay SSP for 28 weeks (potentially) yet have zero childcare did that/have to pay someone else as well? I wanted to post myself about SSP insurance but can't see how to do this (I'm new!). Agree with previous posts tho. She is not redundant technically and may be protected if disability discrimination law applies. You could be exposed to a claim (and how on earth do people meet the cost of that kind of thing too?!). Scary stuff this employer business

PJPests - It can be very hard to afford to pay SSP plus the cost of alternative childcare. Insurance is now available for that risk but as with all insurance you need to consider the risk vs cost. As a nanny I have not had any time off sick, so SSP insurance would have been a waste for my employers but you cannot predict the future - could break a leg tomorrow and be off work.

How much are you finding SSP costs for a small employer with one employee?

Thanks nannynick so far I can only find only provider, Oasis, recommended by one of the payroll cos. That it was paye for nannies. It's £135 per year plus we'd have to pay the first 14 days SSP anyway. 28 weeks SSP would be £2.6k 😱 Plus not having childcare while paying that. On top of payroll co, paying for contract etc it's a big start up cost. I'm just worried about then being tied to an expense we have no control over. People get sick/have accidents of course, it just never cost me £98 a week before 😂

Would recommend you get insurance if available.
Im a nanny.
Three years ago i had a sudden illness which meant i was off for two months. I had worked for over 25 years prior to this and never been sick for more than a couple of days. Previously worked in a stressful NHS job too.
I was unable to walk and had to sleep downstairs at home. It was absolutely horrible being ill and letting the lovely family i worked for down. I did offfer to resign but the family said no. I went back to work and a couple of weeks later was made redundant. I hadnt worked for them for 2 years so no redundancy pay due.
I was never sure if it was because of the sickness.
Im now self employed as dont want to put another family through this.
While sick i was paid @ £80 per week. Luckily the family had grandparents who stepped in to cover my absence so didnt have to pay twice.
But the whole situation was horrible. Personally i would be happy to be paid £135 less per year for the family to have insurance.

I understand you can’t just replace someone but surely if they aren’t going to work for 6mths you can find a way round it

As in can’t leave the nanny’s jobs open forever ?

What is there under 2yrs ?