Help with Nanny related problems

[janethomas]

We employed a new nanny 6 months ago. Within the first month we had to suspend her for a week as we found out she was under psychiatric care which she had not disclosed.

One of the stipulations in her contract was that she be ofsted registered as we could not really afford her otherwise. But as we had this problem we did not immediately apply for Ofsted until I was satisfied as we were having a couple of problems.

The person in question has been late on numerous occasions and as it is we get her to start 30 minutes later than her contract sstipulates. But time appears an issue and I have issued a verbal warning.

She has now been refusing to empty the dishwasher and when instructed to write a shopping list and menu for the days she works, she has completed it only once out of 4 occasions.

We have had to reissue her with her duties which is in her contract of employment as she was not fulfilling them and was adamant that certain domestic chores such as this were not in her contract.

I am generally not happy with her performance and under normal circumstances would have severed her contract but she has told us she is 13/4 weeks pregnant so I now do not know what to do. We were going to put our son in nursery as of next year as we cannot have another nanny but I am not sure I can have her in the house until then as it is becoming a problem for me.

We have also noticed that the letter we had on file related to her suspension is missing but I cannot question her about it.

Please can someone offer some help.

Ask her for proof that she is pregnant.

Is her documentation in order? Has she got a national Insurance number? Have you seen her proof of identity and proof of nationality citizenship etc etc.

Buy a book on normal duties of a professional Nanny.

Fairly apparent she's pregnant now, but I think the issue for me is that the situation is becoming increasingly difficult and in an ideal world I would say that this isn't working and serve her notice as I am finding the situation is upsetting and affecting me.

The next time she is late, tell her that you are going to give her a written warning that her lateness is a serious problem. Then record her arrival time in future.

Do you hold her National Insurance Card and do you pay her NI contributions and tax to HMRC OR is she self employed or through an agency?

Hi - yes all paid through nannytax. I think we have just had an absolute accumulation of problems over some time and certainly would not want to get rid of her because she's pregnant as its obviously very exciting for her - its the other issues which are the problem for me. In hindsight I think we might have been better with a nursery not sure I deal with someone in the house very well.

And very much appreciate your advice

Consider negotiating what notice she will require.

It may be worth offering her six weeks notice to end her employment with you.

Would that be legal?

I'd be inclined to write to her listing the issues that currently concern you (lateness, not fulfilling her job description) and giving her a month/6 weeks to pull her socks up. At the end of that, hold a meeting and if she has not improved give her notice.

As long as your actions are unrelated to her pregnancy you should be ok. Of course, she may try to claim that her pregnancy is the reason for your actions, so you must keep records of lateness etc and so far as you can write down a history (incl dates) of what has happened so far. You need to protect yourself by making sure your version of events - that it is her performance and not her pregnancy that is the issue - stacks up and is well documented.

Now keeping a diary of lateness/defiant attitude and not following instructions. To be honest I don't think her heart is in the job sadly.

I do see why you have problems with her - totally understandable.

I do take issue with you needing to know that she is under psychiatric care. I am currently working with mums and babies and am under care of a psychiatrist. It has no bearing on my work - why should I tell anyone? IF it was going to impinge upon my work, then yes. Otherwise my health = my business. Do you need to know if she is under medical care for any other condition?

How old is she, and has she got professional qualifications?

Early 30's and just finished an NVQ.

Weegimum - I think you will find that we were very fair minded when we discovered she was under care of a specialist. As you will appreciate we had no knowledge that she was under care or taking medication as she had not disclosed it - she left a letter lying around. We had to suspend her until we were able to satisfy ourselves that she was safe to look after our son unsupervised.

What I think you need to establish is:

Can you serve notice under the terms of the contract, even though she's pregnant.

So if the contract says 4 weeks notice... can janethomas give the nanny 4 weeks notice?

janethomas - your nanny should have given you documentation concerning her pregnancy. Think it has to be given by the 15th week before they expect to start maternity leave. For example form MATB1

BIS.gov.uk : Pregnancy & Work - What you need to know

Totally out of order but could you let her go, pay her notice and deny all knowledge of the pregnancy?

I think I remember your original posts and had a feeling this wouldn't work out for you.

Couldn't do that Sorrento feel it would be unethical.

Thanks to all of you for your advice

I agree, just trying to help.

Have you decided what you will do?

If it were my problem, what I would do is:

The next time she is late or fails to carry out reasonable requests or instructions, I would give her a written warning.

Try to itemise now all the instances that you remember of lateness or failure to carry out reasonable requests/instructions.

Then after a period of two weeks review whether her performance has improved. What is she doing while you are out of the house?

If you use nannytax, their legal help line is included in the (substantial) fee.

Bear in mind that even if you dismiss her fairly and in accordance with her contractual and statutory rights, she still has the right potentially to argue at an Employment Tribunal that you sacked her because she was pregnant which would be stressful and time consuming and/or costly for you, and the stakes will be quite high.

So get on to nannytax, and also check the domestic employees liability cover on your home insurance as they may well have a help line too. As sprogger says above, if you go through the process fairly and document it thoroughly you will be best prepared for whatever comes next.

Good Luck!

The truth is that she will almost definitely be unable to secure alternative employment so she will have absolutely nothing to lose in terms of pursuing you with a claim, and you will have all the stress to deal with. A claim would also be on the grounds of sex discrimination so is a highly charged area. The fact that you read through a confidential letter addressed to her about her private medical details (no matter where she left it) would very much count against you. Suspending her because of a condition that didn't affect her ability to nanny could possibly count against you too.

Not that I am saying you are wrong in all of this - in fact I had a nightmare situation once with a nanny and had to go down the legal route so I do sympathise.

You have two choices

1. As everyone says, keep meticulous records and provide everything in writing. when you issue written warnings get her to countersign them and document her responses and arguments too at the time. Then if she doesn't improve go ahead and dismiss.
2. As per option 1, except instead of dismissing her at the end, make her redundant (get an offer from a nursery for your DS first so that you can prove the job is being made redundant.

If you really distrust her and want to ensure you get no further comeback then you may want to consider terminating her employment via a compromise agreement. You can get some examples on the net. Basically you will have to pay her extra (maybe 3 months pay or something) in exchange for her relinquishing any right to make any claims against you. you will need ot pay for her to get legal advice on the compromise agreement and you will need to see a lwayer too.

Are there slightly different parameters when you employ a person in your own home? If the person is in your home alone or with a baby, there needs to be a higher level of trust. Google Nanny employment and see whether there are special reasons for terminating a nannys employment on grounds of a breakdown of trust in the Nanny.

Google Nanny employment law.