Cleaner and nanny

[Anothercovid1]

We have a cleaner who comes once a week for 5 hours, it never takes that long but we pay for 5 hours (£12 p/h + £60 at Christmas) and a nanny who comes 4 times a week for 3 hours a day (£15p/h plus £200 at Christmas)- term time only to pick up from school.

I am pregnant and due in June and as such I am now self isolating and we will probably continue to be careful with the new baby until they have at least had their jabs, but this will depend on research into COVID and the effects on babies.

I have no idea what will happen with the COVID. Given that we will not be having visitors for at least the next 3 months I gave notice to our cleaner and will be giving notice to our nanny which we were planning on doing for the end of the school year anyway as I won’t be working so we won’t need after school care.

Our cleaner had responded saying that she expects us to continue paying her as she is not unwell and she has bills to pay. While I understand this, the whole situation could go on for a very long time and I am about to be on maternity leave and therefore take a significant salary cut. She may be fit and well but there is evidence that you can pass it on asymptomaticaly so im really uncomfortable with having anyone here.

This is essentially an AIBU but I thought it was more appropriate in the coronavirus forum. So AIBU to let them go?

If your income hasn’t stopped then I believe you should keep paying them. I think it’s a social responsibility to try and keep people’s lives as normal as possible. I am continuing to pay my cleaner. A gym has closed here (the government haven’t told them to as of yet) but asked for members to continue their membership so they can pay staff. Coronavirus isn’t fair, if you can afford it pay her a notice period at least

What does your contract say? If you give someone notice then of course you pay them right up until the contract ends. That’s how a contract works. If she’s saying you can’t break your contract due to Covid-19 then break it for another reason. You aren’t supposed to be held hostage with a contract.

Regarding the nanny just be prepared you may not be able to get one again when you need one after maternity leave. A lot of nannies are now being snapped up (and shared) by NHS workers and I don’t see that changing for the next 18 months at least.

We've cancelled our cleaner and will pay her wages this week. I've said we can't afford to pay her full pay but will pay something the following weeks. My income is hosting foreign language students who will all be away by the end of the week. I am fortunate as I have a pension as well. I know she will be struggling financially.

@Starbucksbasic123 If I wasn’t pregnant this would be a different situation completely, that’s the main complication really. It’s the difference between a few weeks and potentially a year, who knows?!

@grumpy We don’t have a contract with our cleaner. With our nanny we obviously have a contract as she works for us enough hours that we are her employer and pay pension etc. She has another job which is in the mornings and then she works for us in the afternoon. She has a 4 week notice period which we would of course pay and would pay for any accrued leave but we can’t afford to keep her on for all of maternity leave. With childcare costs as they are around here I’m not even sure if I can afford to return to work after this baby (DC3) anyway.

What would you want in her situation? What would be fair. Or imagine it’s your daughter in 20 years. Do the right thing.

I have cancelled my cleaner for the next six weeks but will pay her for that period because I know she would be in dire financial straits if I didn't. I'm not well off but feel better about sharing what I do have with someone who needs it. I'm disabled, couldn't cope without her and she has become a friend more than someone I employ.

We offered our cleaner 4 weeks pay and she was happy with that. This whole situation is horrible :(