Help! Our nanny has given notice & her last day of work is...today!

[Maria2007loveshersleep]

I have already posted a thread here a few days ago about our situation & some of you have given me great advice.

I'm posting a new thread because our situation has changed & I'm very stressed! Our nanny, as I said in the previous thread, told us yesterday that there was a possibility of another job in her previous field (journalism) which meant she might have to resign. She is only able to legally work 20 hrs per week (which is what her new job would be) but offered to stay with us & get paid cash in hand until we find someone new. I don't really want that because I don't want to do anything illegal, but I'm sure she'll come by & visit our DS since they have an excellent relationship.

The problem is, today she did the interview, was offered the other job & is starting...(get this) tomorrow! This means that, for one thing, all appointments etc I have for tomorrow I've now had to cancel. She has given us no notice & I haven't shown my unhappiness to her at all because I care for her, we have an excellent relationship & she loves our boy (and he her). But I feel very hurt & tbh a bit angry mainly because I'm at the last stages of finishing my PhD- submitting in january- (which she knows) & am under a huge amount of pressure, so will have to lose loads of time now to find new childcare asap.

Anyway, rant over. As I said, the main thing for me is to remain on friendly terms.

In any case, I'm now on a mad hunt for a part-time nanny for 27 hrs a week. After all the info / advice you've all given we've decided to offer 9£ per hour net & then to look for a nannyshare after we find our nanny. I feel that with 9£ per hour is a fair price for this area of London.

Any advice on what's the best way to find someone quickly? Any good agencies in North London that you recommend?

Do you not have a contract with her? I'd be hopping mad. Is she expecting a reference from you?

have a look at gumtree....

(Last nanny did this to us and no matter how hugely fond I was of her, I was HOPPING mad.....)

(oh dear, rather a lot of hopping!)

I've put an ad on gumtree & other places & am calling agencies atm too. I'm angry but also upset because she's such a lovely person & we've had an excellent relationship for a year. The contract says 1 month notice. It happens that both me & DP are working from home (although DP only a few days a week) so that means we can take time off etc. But what if we were not working from home?! Already as things stand it's hard enough, what with my PhD deadline looming ahead...

If you need some help I run Busy Bee Nannies. My email is [email protected] if you would like to get in touch.

I do think that when you work from home part of the time, childcarers can be more likely to perceive your schedule as flexible - even when it's not.

Wow. I would be furious too. What does her contract say? Can't you insist on her giving you proper notice?

Oh no, not good. Pity she couldn't have given you a week or a bit longer notice.

Post an ad on NannyJob if you haven't already.
Look through CVs on NannyJob.
Contact agencies (you could try Eden and LittleOnes) though the cost of recruiting via an agency can be quite high.

Our last nanny was going into a non nanny job, gave us plenty of notice, and then the new job insisted she start the next week, giving us 4 days. When she called me at work to tell me this, I remember asking her "are you calling to ask me about this, or are you telling me?"
She was telling me. She didn't need the nanny reference. In fact, I don't think she ever asked for one.

You can't MAKE someone stay and look after your children. In fact, the idea that someone is looking after your children under duress is horrible.

In this situation she should pay you one months money.

You could also try looking on FindABabysitter - 5 days of contacting users access is available for £4, so won't break the bank. You could contact as many as possible tonight and hope that some get back to you tonight or tomorrow. I'd suggest trying all within 5 miles of your postcode, selecting Nanny Live-Out and Nanny Part-Time.

I would never ask her to enforce the contract. As Orangina said, she obviously doesn't need the nanny reference etc. Plus I really value our relationship, she's become a friend of the family & I hope it remains this way.

I'm just upset because I really don't think she fully comprehends that what she's doing is unprofessional She has said to me that she's able to work for us (paid cash in hand) for a while but as I said I'm reluctant. But I might need to do it for a couple of days, to have uninterrupted interviewing time with the applicant-nannies etc...

NannyNick, thanks I've put ads wherever I could (although 20$ here, 20£ there, it does add up...) & I've registered with agencies too (thanks Busy Bee Kim!) I'm now looking at the FindABabysitter website. Lets see how that goes.

I would find a local childminder as fast as a I could to tie me over whils I look for a nanny. I would not make a rushed rash decision on a longer term nanny. For two or three weeks I could muddle through most any childminder and be okay with it. But, for a long term nanny, I would want to take me time and choose carefully.

Call your local authority about local childminders with vacancies. There used to be a fab website for this but I believe the government saw fit to ruin it.

Well we're based at home so both DP & I will look after DS ourselves for the time being and maybe (although I realize it's not right) do a few hours with our current nanny here & there. We will definitely not rush the decision!! I agree completely with you AtheneNoctua...

Just been looking at an agencies rates... they charge 12% of net annual salary plus VAT. So if you were to be paying £243 net per week (£12,636 net per year) then 12% would be £1516.32 plus VAT at 15% gives £1743.77

Thought that may help if you do decide to go down the agency route. Make sure you ask agencies about their fees and if the fee includes or excludes VAT.

Yes it seems like a lot ....
But not sure what else I can do on such short notice?!

Your nanny has behaved appallingly and I would be demanding one months money if I had a nanny who did this to me. What is the point of a contract if she can just walk away and the money will go towards childcare.

I agree ComeOn... However I sincerely believe she's not aware that what she did is so unprofessional. She keeps insisting that she should stay & work with us (when she's not working at the other job, i.e. hours that are not necessarily convenient to us) & get paid cash in hand until we find someone else. I think she feels that because she's offering this, it's somehow ok

Don't know if it is a possibility (or how much it will cost), but agencies have in the past sent me nannies who were in between jobs/looking for work on a day-by-day basis.

I paid them a day rate, and got to essentially 'try them out'. i eventually hired a nanny from the agency who provided the temp nannies, and so temp fee was applied toward permanent nanny agency fee.

Maybe an option?

You need to have a word with then, sharpish. She must see what she has done is not on.

....a word with her...

Well even if she 'sees' ComeOn, what's the point really? It's not as if making her 'see' will change anything. I'm already very upset as it is, I don't want to create additional problems. She's looking after my boy for a year now, & has an excellent relationship with him / with us, so if I have an argument with her & end on bad terms I don't see the good for anyone. It's not as if there's anything I can do to change the situation.

No, but you can still tell her she has let you down without it ending badly. I wouldn't let her work cash in hand and would ask her to leave asap tbh as why should she carry on earning when she has dropped you in the shit. I was a nanny and just feel annoyed for you.