I need to fire a nanny for being unreliable - do I just say that or make her redundant

[oranges]

this is the long saga
BAsically, my nanny has called in sick in a really dodgy fashion and we have issues with unreliability anyway. I have to teller to not come back. She's been with us six months and we have a one month notice period in her contract. What do I do now? She texted me today to say she's ill again (which again breaches contract that says text notification is not acceptable) and I have not replied yet. I don't mind paying a months' notice - priority is to get as clean a break as possible.

you need to be honest with her.
you can make her redundant but be careful about employing anybody else in a similar position as she could then challenge the redundancy.
You can sack her but again, be careful about the reasons given, have you warned her about her unreliability etc etc.

Can you convince her to leave, maybe recommend her to a "friend"

oh have just noticed there is a long saga.. Haven't read it sorry!

Agree, don't make her redundant as you will (presumably) be employing another nanny.

She has been with you for less than 1 year, dismiss her in relation to her unreliability - she has no recourse to unfair dismissal claim due to her length of service.

That said, she is entitled to pay in lieu of notice, plus any outstanding holiday pay. As per the other thread, ACAS 08457 47 47 47 will be able to give you free advice.

Make sure everything is in writing, one of the HR bods on here might draft you a letter...

Thank you. I am not employing another nanny. Am going to look at nurseries and after school clubs.

If she is breaking the terms of your contract, and if you have grounds for dismissal according to your contract, then you dismiss her. You do not make her redundant as the position is, presumably, still there and you will be replacing her with another nanny. It is, there, not technically or legally a redundancy.

I woudl not let one bad experience put you off using a nanny if it suits you (apart from this nanny's unreliability). Most of them are extremely reliable. You are likely to find nursery infelxible for other reaons, i.e. you can't send your child if ill.

I suspect your nanny is angling for you to pay her off.

At six months you can just dismiss her. You don't need to call it redundancy or even have to give a reason if you don't want to. Just pay her her notice.

Thank you. I've had a proper talk with her and outlined all the reasons I'm unhappy - the frequent leave and the way she just texts us and switches off her phone, giving us no chance to see if there's some way around the situation.. She admitted she was not honest about her medical history and hinted that sickness was a problem at her old job too. As its to do with periods, its going to appear every month, so I just don't think it will work out. SHe has now said that she will come in and work even if she has the period pains, but they either incapacitate her or they don't. I can't see how she absolutely could not work with them till now and suddenly can.

redundancy makes things messy - you can't replace her. If she's unreliable you should dismiss her.

Ring ACAS for advice.

To get rid of her you need to go through a disciplinary process first. If you just sack her you'll be in breach of contract and she could end up taking you to tribunal. You want to get this right, believe me.

The OP doesn't have to go through a disciplinary process magicmarvin. As long as she pays the contractual notice period there will be no breach of contract and as per my earlier post, as the nanny has only been there 6 months she will not be able to claim unfair dismissal at a tribunal.

Oh right, is that because it's less than six months?

That's interesting. A friend of mine was 'sacked' after 11 months in a job. Her boss said that he would pay her notice. He said that she had no rights as she had worked there less than a year. Anyway, to cut a long story short, she took advice from a solicitor and was told that her employer was in breach of contract. They couldn't just sack her. She requested a grievance meeting and they ended up paying her 3 months tax free.

The notice period might have taken your friend over the magic 12 month period magicmarvin. Or it could have been a sex discrimation case which there is no minimum time for,

The limit is a year, but if your frirnd's solicitor was talking aboutbreach of contract the most likely scenario is probably that her employer tried to terminate her employment immediately and pay her in lieu of notice without having the right to do so written in the contract.

Thank you. The payroll company I use also say I just have to give one month's notice. She's taken all the annual leave accrued for the year, so that's it.

Ah yes, it was a case of, "You can go home now and don't come back. I'll pay you until the end of the month."

She was very upset! Bizarrely, he got the boot about six weeks later so thinks he did it to make the incoming MD's life difficult.

OP, I saw on your other thread that you have given her notice. I'm really pleased, as it sounded like she was taking the piss completely. Good luck with the CM.