Nanny returning on maternity leave

[jay27]

My head is running around in circles at the moment. Not too sure what to do. My nanny is pregnant and will be going on maternity leave soon. This is her second child. The birth of her first child coincided with both my daughters starting school, so we did the part-time(term) and full-time(hols) change to contract, My DDs are now 11 and 8, I'm not sure I feel comfortable going forward that age-related activities will be possible with my Nanny's 4/5 year old and new baby (it had started to get a little strained in the last half-term); as her DD has now started school (part-time) I find she can be late picking up mine from school after picking up hers. My eldest was at a school that had different holidays to hers and there was one week that she just couldn't arrive in the mornings at 8:15; it was luck that I had some flexibility with my employer that week. My girls have multiple activities after school I can't seem to see how she will manage all 4, help with more complex homework and do age-related activities; however she's pregnant and I feel that my hands are tied with regard to saying she is unsuitable for the position any more.... Any advice would be much appreciated

When you took the nanny on, what were the terms with regard to her also bringing her own child?
Do you need a nanny, or could you use other forms of childcare, thus making the job redundant?
How long have you employed the nanny?
Are you in England?
Sorry lots of questions, but the answers to them may help people to give a view.

Dear nannynick, thank you for your reply.

I did not change the contract in terms of her bringing her own child; the contract was changed to reflect the change in hours (full-time to a part-time/full-time basis), and pay only, all other duties & benefits remained unchanged. Bringing her own child was really agreed between the two of us. I have employed our nanny for many years; her new contract has been in place since 2005; her previous since 2001. I do not wish to offend her, but feel it would be unsuitable for both us going forward (difficult subject to broach as birth is close, hormones raging and I do not wish to upset). If I make her redundant I'm assuming I could not employ another live-out nanny but more like a live-out au-pair; but they do not seem to exist.

Dear nannynick, thank you for your reply.

I did not change the contract in terms of her bringing her own child; the contract was changed to reflect the change in hours (full-time to a part-time/full-time basis), and pay only, all other duties & benefits remained unchanged. Bringing her own child was really agreed between the two of us. I have employed our nanny for many years; her new contract has been in place since 2005; her previous since 2001. I do not wish to offend her, but feel it would be unsuitable for both us going forward (difficult subject to broach as birth is close, hormones raging and I do not wish to upset). If I make her redundant I'm assuming I could not employ another live-out nanny but more like a live-out au-pair; but they do not seem to exist.

nannying with one child of your own is workable, but when you have 2, and 2 to look after and different ages and activites it is a lot harder

tbh i dont think your nanny would be able to give 100% comittment with a baby, 4 and then your 8 and 11, esp if she is having problems with picking up at school time

you will have to decide if you want her back with 2nd child, and if not then explain to her and she will have to decide what she wants to do

i do have 2 friends who are nannies and mums to 2 children, but they both look after a baby/toddler so older one is at school, and then her baby plays with the families toddler iykwim

When I got pregnant I knew I would have to leave my job as I worked weekends, over night at least once a week and travelled at least 5 wks of the year. Obviously I couldn't do that with my DS and, as my circumstances had changed not the job, I felt I had no option but to leave. My boss still paid my maternity pay. I am hoping to find a job part time that will allow me to bring my son. I would like another child in the future and realize that finding a job with 2 children in tow would be nigh on impossible. That's fine. If I were your nanny I would get a childminder to care for her 4year old after school but I guess that probably isn't financially viable? However at the end of the day if she can't do the job then you need to have an honest and realistic chat and decide whether or not it will work for you. She must realize it will be hard. I do understand it will hard for you to broach though as she's been with you for so long. Does she definately want to come back to work?

Sounds like you could tell the nanny you don't want her to bring her children to work with her.

What childcare will you be using while your nanny is on maternity leave?

Have you thought of a mothers help, part time afterschool and then a holiday club or use the mothers help during the holidays?

We let our nanny bring her baby to work after maternity leave as most of the children were at school by then. When she had the second we let her come back with that one too - she had 2 within 1 or 2 years. that got a bit much as really the older children were having to fit around a baby and 1 or 2 year old but at the time we wanted to maintain the continuing - she lived out but stayed 10 years. For other reasons she was sacked when pregnant with the third a year later. We probably should not have let her bring the babies to work but it seemed a good solution because of the children almost all being at school by then.

but from an emp[loymentl aw point of view, have you basicalyl said she can bring it by allowing the first? So would you be altering the arrangement if you go back on it now?

Thank you all so much for your replies. An interesting point from Xenia, have I basically implied it's okay because we allowed the first. Overall (last year ignored) she has been an excellent nanny and I would be more than prepared to give her a leaving bonus.
What to do when she is on maternity leave is proving challenging, but have looked at holiday clubs and after school clubs - may mean other after school activities need to be dropped. Mothers Help is something I will explore - thank you
Does she want to come back - I'm unsure; in this financial climate it could be difficult for her whole family. I talked to her tonight, but it was difficult, she needed to get home and although we've agreed a start date she was hesitant to talk about for how long - I suspect she is thinking along the lines that it will be hard Ebb. I've just finished her maternity letter stating leave entitlement and pay with the assumption that she will take the full 52 weeks and attached a copy of her ToR and Contract reiterating the responsibilities which may may her think more carefully about the doability (is that a word

I think you are coming at this from the wrong angle. You should be stating what the responsibilities of the job are and asking her to advise if she thinks she will be able to do the job with two children. You don't need to change your kids activities (if you don't want to). You can't make her redundant because you feel she will not be able to do the job. IT is up to her to decide if she can do the job. You have every right to say the requirements are exactly as they always were.

I would sit down with her and explain my concerns, give her some time to think about it and then get together again in a couple of weeks and ask how she felt. If she thought she would be able to still do the job or if she wanted to resign. And, of coursem there is no reason not to give her a generous leaving gift (as you already said you would be happy to do).

Also (not sure if it's been pointed out already) you are under no legal obligation to take her back after maternity leave with both of her children. The job as it stands at the moment is Nanny + 1 child. So you (legally) only need to offer her the job back on the same conditions that she was on when she went on her maternity leave and it would be her choice if she didn't want to come back without her new baby.

Therefore you wouldn't be making her redundant (and having to pay redundancy as she has been with you since 2001). Obviously you can still give her a leaving bonus .

Sometimes it's such a shame to lose someone that has worked with you and your family for such a long time, but over the years needs change and this nanny is just not offering what you need for your older children.

Those are good points.

We hired a live in nanny for the month or 6 weeks our nanny took off, only time we had someone living in. A year must be much more difficult as the bond with the children will be kind of separated etc.

I think she doesn't have to tell you if she's coming back anyway yet but you're entitled to expect her to come back able to do the job and without the new baby so if she wants to be helpful she'll let you know in advance but she doesn't have to.

Years later we had a second nanny leave to have a baby (she moved away and didn't return) but later we heard she went back to work as a nanny and had her own baby in a nursery.

I think you need to make it clear to your nanny that they are not able to bring their new child to work. The job remains open on the same terms are before, no changes - so no additional child.

Is your nanny currently intending to take Ordinary Maternity Leave plus Additional Maternity Leave? SMP is only for 39 weeks, and only first 6 weeks of that is at 90% salary, then it drops to Standard Rate (£117.18 per week -Apr08). So financially she may not want to take Ordinary Maternity leave plus Additional Maternity leave.

Think at the moment all you can do is congratulate her on the birth of her new child (when the child arrives) and keep in touch with her, pending her notice of her decision to return to work. She may not decide to return to work, especially if you have already said that job would only be on the current terms, not any new terms (thus not including her new child).
If it gets to the point at which she does return to work, then you can use disciplinary procedures to deal with any issues, such as picking up your children from school late... not being able to do the activities you require her to do, etc.

Nanny has a day-off today for a hospital appointment. You are all right, I need to be honest with myself and our nanny. It is hard because she is part of the family, the girls have known her all their lives and my worst fear is that she feels hard done by and we never see her again. I will spend today working out how to talk about it and still get happy people at the end of. Many many thanks everyone. I'll post what actually happened....

when does the nanny have to tell you if she will come back without her baby

does she have to tell you now or after her 2nd child is born

it obv makes a difference to you, as if she def isnt coming back, then you can find a new perm nanny where if she doesnt decide till after she has given birth, then you may have to get a temp/3mth cover in, only to find that she wont leave her 2nd child

does that make sense, i know what i mean but i dont think i havent explained it well iykwim