Employment law question

[sobeda]

Can someone clarify for me the basic rules about terminating a nanny contract? We have a perpetual contract with our full time nanny which specifies that it can be terminated by either party with 4 weeks notice. If we gave four weeks notice, do we also have to pay a redundancy payment if we then went on and employed another nanny? She has worked for us for 18 months to date.
Many thanks

I don't know anything about this BUT I would have thought that if you have grounds for dismissing the nanny then that's fine but if not and you just don't want that person anymore then I'm not sure?

Why would you be dismissing her? You can't just dismiss someone with no reason, and if you will be continuing to employ a nanny then she isn't redundant.

I knew FBB would be here to confirm (she knows what she's talking about! ) My thoughts were she can't just give notice for no reason but I wasn't sure if there was some kind of clause in the contract which is why I said I wasn't sure (as I'm a childminder and we don't have to have reasons for notice being given).

We may want to make a change because the nanny is very skilled with babies and ours are now getting past that stage and we might want a different style. Our contract does say that either party can terminate without cause on 4 weeks notice, so I thought I could give 4 weeks paid notice and be acting properly. I'm very keen to make sure I do everything exactly according to the law. Is the redundancy situation different if we no longer need a full time nanny and subsequently hire a part time nanny? Thanks!

Wanting a different style doesn't count as a reason for dismissing someone I'm afraid.

The notice clause in your contract just means that in the event of termination, you will give 4 weeks notice, it doesn't mean you can terminate without good reason as long as you give 4 weeks notice. In fact even if it did say that the law would override a contract term like that anyway.

If you no longer need a full time nanny that's slightly different. That could be a redundancy situation, and you should offer the new hours to your nanny, with the alternative being redundancy if she feels she doesn't want to accept the reduction in hours.

Is that the case? Do you need less hours? How much less?

oh, and if it is redundancy, she wouldn't be entitled to redundancy pay as she has less than two years' service, so if it is that, it won't cost you more than her notice anyway.

Thanks flowerybeanbag, that does help clarify things.

are you saying you want to get rid of your nanny as she isnt good with toddlers only babies?

So what happens if you get a new nanny then have a new baby? Do you change for another nanny again?

Or what happens when your toddlers become school age children? Are her skills then called into question again?

If you're not happy with the care that she gives your toddler - and I mean genuinely not happy, and not just thinking someone else could do it better (eg, she doesn't do extra activities outside the house when specially requested to, or isn't able to encourage independent play (have a look at the early learning guidelines which CMs and nurseries have to follow) ) - then that would be genuine grounds for a fair dismissal, but only if you have taken the time to talk to them, see if things could change, etc.