Pregnant Nanny, what do I do?

[workingmumoftwokids]

Early in the year, we discussed with our nanny that from january 2024 we'd need an after school nanny (no longer full time) and she was ok with it. We also discussed changing schedule from September (reduce her hours, shift the schedule while keeping the same pay) and while she wasn't pleased, she was ok with it.

However, she is now in the early stages of pregnancy and has been suffering a lot with vomits/nausea. She took the day off sick and I suggested she go to A&E if she is unwell and the GP is not able to see her.

I'm a bit worried she has the same issue that Kate had and will need lots of rest etc. which means she will need to take time off.

We have a boy that is only in nursery part time (14h-16h) and nursery can't take him for longer hours. Our oldest kid is in school until 15h30. We are both working parents with jobs that require us to be in the office at least 3x/week.

We can't really deal with uncertainty of her falling ill every now and again as we have no backup care and no family around. We also don't want to let her go as we feel that is unethical and we care for her, she has been with us for a couple of years, we want to treat her well and support her.

But what would you do? It's very hard to find childcare with a few hours notice. She also said she wants to work until her due date but I find that very hard and I'm assuming she will probably want to stop working in November (baby due in December). This means we will likely have less choice of nannies for after school then as most will have found a job in September.

We can't afford to pay 2 nannies at the same time just in case our main nanny is ill.

What would you do? What do you recommend?

Thank you!
A.

You couldn't just 'let her go' because she is pregnant and suffering from pregnancy related sickness.
Do you pay her through a payroll company?
It's time for you to get some employment law advice and think about her maternity pay and cover. You'll also have to work out cover for her antinatal appointments

That's so tough.

Do you have a contract? How many sick days is she entitled to? Do you employ through an agency? Can they help you with back up care?

Legally I am not sure what your position is, but it seems unreasonable that you should have to keep paying and employing someone who is incapable of providing the service.

Have you spoken to the nanny about what she wants to do? Presumably she's going to take time off after the birth anyway and you'll have to hire a replacement then anyhow.

There are emergency nanny providers. Or is there a family nearby who's nanny can take your child too if your own nanny is ill?

Legally I'd be extremely careful as she's off sick due to pregnancy for which there are very different rules than standard sickness.

We can't really deal with uncertainty of her falling ill every now and again

surely this is part and parcel of employing a nanny? We specifically chose a nursery as we couldn't cover the 28 days annual please plus potential sick days of employing a sole person.

We also don't want to let her go
if she has been employed for over 2 years you can't 'just let her go' there are laws around this.

What does your contract say?

You can't just let her go even if you wanted to.

Can you find ways to make sure she's able to have plenty of rest time during the days to help her get through the pregnancy. Like introducing quiet time / tv time at points in the day so she can have a sit down.

If she's your nanny, you'll be her employer and employment law will come into play. Pregnancy is a protected characteristic.

I'd look into your responsibilities and rights as an employer (maybe start with any nanny agency you found her through). Don't forget, she'll be entitled to go to her antenatal appointments in addition to time off for pregnancy-related sickness.

If she has been with you for over 2 years it will be very difficult for you to let her go anyway even if she was not pregnant. For the pregnancy sickness and to cover any medical appointments that she will have, you need emergency childcare options. There are emergency nannies who can be booked adhoc. I suggest you find a few options local to you. Also think about what will happen in December when she goes on maternity. You need to find maternity cover for her, pay her what she is due in your contract for maternity leave, think about what will happen when she returns - will she be bringing her baby to work with her?

We can't afford to pay 2 nannies at the same time

You'll have to get used to it as you'll be paying her maternity leave!

I think you should get legal advise. Employing a sold person fir childcare must have its own rules which should be different from working in a bigger company.

For practicality you need to either find another nursery or get familiar with an emergency nanny company

As others have said, you can’t let her go because she is pregnant. And she will be entitled to maternity leave, with all the usual statutory requirements of this, including keeping her job open etc.

You can reclaim the maternity pay though- you don’t end up paying for the nanny’s maternity leave. There is advice on gov websites.

I feel for you because it’s very difficult in this current period if she is off a lot at short notice. You may need to get advice from ACAS on specifics.

When she returns from mat leave, you will either have to offer her her job back or an alternative, or make her redundant following the correct legal procedures if you no longer require a nanny at all.

You'll have to have two nannies, what an earth will you do when she's on maternity leave?

As for suggesting going to a&e for morning sickness... really?

The nanny is temporarily unable to work on some days due to pregnancy sickness.
Ffs. No wonder people with disabilities and life limiting conditions find it so difficult to find work.
You cannot sack someone so easily.
The op will have to keep the nanny's job open when she goes on mat leave, hire a temp and pay the nanny maternity pay as per her contract

thanks everyone for the replies. if she wasn't pregnant, we were aiming to let her go end of the year and give the notice that is on the contract.

she is entitled to SSP via the contract which I plan to honour.

In terms of choosing nursery over a nanny: a sick day now and again is fine, but it changes if she is sick every other week or so. this is the scenario I'm worried about. we've never had any issues with her taking sick days now and again. antenatal appointments etc, all good with us.

she has been with us under 2 years and I believe we treat her well. we let her take extended unpaid PTO when she wants to, up to a 2-3 weeks per year even if it's complicated for us to be without childcare.

I think in the end, if it comes to it, we will have to keep her under SSP and hire a new one :/

I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with a similar situation..

You're her employer. Would you expect your employer to fire you for being ill and/or pregnant? I don't imagine you would.

You'll need sound legal advice on whether you can end her contract. If you still need a nanny her role won't be redundant. Her pregnancy grants additional protections - precisely due to what you're attempting to do now.

just to be clear: she is not experiencing normal "morning sickness". she has lost a lot of weight and is unwell.

I told her to go to A&E because I'm worried about her and she didn't want to seek medical advice for a few weeks. I also told her to call 111 because she didn't want to and they just told her she needs medication and go to do some tests.

it's unfair to say that I want to dismiss her because she is sick. I don't want to do that, I want her to feel better and have a great pregnancy and healthy baby.

I'm asking if anyone had any suggestions in terms of how to deal with times like these of uncertainty and whether they could offer some advice.

I think the best thing you can do in this situation is sign up with an agency that provides temporary nannies at short notice. It still won't be that "immediate" though.

You could look for a local family who is willing to share on an ad hoc basis.

Alternatively, when my DH and I both needed to be in the office but our nanny was sick he would go in v early and start work at 6am and then come home for 1pm at which point I would go to work and stay there until 9 or 10 pm. Not ideal but worked for the odd day here and there.

You plan to honour SSP?
Don't want to let her go?
Do you realise how some of the things you are saying makes you sound?

1 - you can't let her go
2 - she's protected and has pregnancy rights - just like all women do in any place of work.

Even if you didn't plan to honour it you have to because she's entitled to it.
You're her employer, this is no different to someone working in an office elsewhere. You will have to arrange suitable maternity cover when the time comes.

I had hyperemisis in a twin pregnancy and so know the degree of sickness you may be considering. Separately we have had a nanny we value greatly but who has been seriously unwell over a number of months. In our case we had to consider that she might be considered to have a disabling condition, which as a protected characteristic has similar protections to maternity.

It has been very hard because the costs are terrifying. Like you, we simply couldn't comprehend paying double costs for childcare and so had to go on to SSP fairly quickly.

This is not what you will want to hear but I found it almost impossible to work for a few months, exacerbated by not knowing what days our nanny would feel well enough to come in. It was emotionally and personally one of the most tiring things we have been through and I would be very cautious about having a nanny again for this reason, although as I said, she has been great.

Ultimately our babies made the decision for us in that they started to visibly agitate to get out and about. They aged into nursery, and we worked out a reasonable transition our nanny could manage. We did our best for her and she reciprocated by being very helpful and positive about the change which amounted to a deletion of post under employment law. She will get a fab reference from us and is looking forward to some proper time out.

Most people find hyperemisis starts to recede around 16 weeks (and also does respond to the right medication). For now I think you have to concentrate on support - your nanny will really be suffering.

Aren't nannies are self-employed?

No, nannies are employees. You, as the parent/employer, are obligated by law to pay tax and also to arrange for a pension if you have a nanny, and you are in violation of the law if you do not do these things.

A childminder who works out of their own home and sets their own hours would be self-employed. A nanny who works in the employer's home, to hours set by or agreed with the employer, is not self-employed.

You can't just "send your child to someone else's nanny" for the day

The nanny wouldn't be contracted to care for the child for a start. And if OP doesn't want to pay for two nannies why on earth would the other nanny want to work for two families with no pay incentive!

Incredibly disrespectful and ignorant suggestion.

OP is far better off seeking some proper legal advice on employment law, focussing specifically on maternity rights.
I wouldn't suggest a knee-jerk reaction though as Nanny may well begin to feel better pretty quickly or at least be able to cope if she's given permission to stay in the house and take it easy with additional TV time etc.

I'm not saying just send it to the other nanny. Obviously this would need to be discussed with said nanny. But if the child is going to school soon presumably he/she is over 2. If there's someone nearby with a nanny for another pre-schooler that nanny may be willing to look after 2 children at the same time, on occasion. Of course OP would need to pay the nanny.

OP you need to get proper employment law advice from professionals not Mumsnet.
If you get it wrong you are leaving yourself open to significant financial risk.

One of friends was fired due to pregnancy and at a tribunal was given enough money for a deposit on a flat. She didn't have a particularly well paying job.

Be very clear what your legal responsibility is as her employer.