Access to Work? - nanny with mental health issues

[Tempjob]

We employ a nanny (part time, after school), sole charge, to look after our disabled daughters. She has been with us for 6 months.

Nanny has been off work for three weeks - she is staying in a mental health facility voluntary (she has not been sectioned). I know no other details apart from she has depression, anxiety and bipolar. Previously she has been off work due to a change in medication which meant she was not safe to drive.

My question is, how can I work with the nanny to ensure she is safe to work with the children? Would the Access to Work scheme allow the nanny to have a job coach, or other help, for instance? Obviously, being a sole-charge nanny with two disabled children is quite a responsibility and me and husband will be out at work so cannot supervise. In an emergency we could get home in an hour but no less.

I feel totally out of my depth as an employer in this situation and have no HR training and very little knowledge of her condition... Any advice is welcome.

Did the Clomid work for u both ?

Much as I hate to say this, I think that you have a serious safeguarding issue here. . There is no reason why someone with mental health issues cannot work in childcare, but given the severity of this issue,iI would question whether she is able to take sole responsibility for two children, whether disabled or not. Personally, I would suggest that you have a conversation with Children's Services at your local Council. They could advise you on where you might get advice, and what cousins you might need to look at. Or you might contact the NSPCC. These services are not just about when things go wrong, they are asks about helping you to make sure they don't.

Did she disclose this before starting?

@Moondust001 I have Bipolar and I have spent time in psychiatric units. I also have two children. Am I a safeguarding risk to them? No one has ever co sidered me a safeguarding risk to my children because serious mental illness does not equal a danger to anyone.

You should hate to say it as you are disablist and offensive to suggest children's services. If someone had diabetes that sometimes required hospitalisation would that be a safeguarding risk?

Contact Access to work and see. They usually carry out a work assessment. I would also suggest speaking to her about what adjustments she might need. Being in a secure unit does not mean you are dangerous or need someone watching you all the time.

Talk to her when you are able.

@Takingontheworld there is no legal obligation to disclose any medical condition upon starting. I used to be a teacher and was in charge of 100s of children and didn't have to disclose it.

We’ll hold on breathlesscommotion the fact that drugs have currently been changed (indicating that the current combination was not right) and that the nanny is currently in a unit (albeit on a voluntary basis) would indicate that the current episode is not being managed effectively. No one is saying that someone who has a mental illness can’t work with children only that their condition should be effectively managed and under control (it doesn’t sound like it is)

On diabetes, there absolutely would be a safeguarding issue if the condition was not being managed or under control

OP-you sound great to be thinking of your employee but I would want assurances that their condition is under control and for that they would need time to demonstrate that. I would think of alternative childcare in the interim

[quote BreathlessCommotion]@Moondust001 I have Bipolar and I have spent time in psychiatric units. I also have two children. Am I a safeguarding risk to them? No one has ever co sidered me a safeguarding risk to my children because serious mental illness does not equal a danger to anyone.

You should hate to say it as you are disablist and offensive to suggest children's services. If someone had diabetes that sometimes required hospitalisation would that be a safeguarding risk?[/quote]
I didn't say it did. I said to take proper advice about this matter because there is a difference when someone is employing a person to care for two disabled children. The employment relationship is not the same thing. And as a matter of fact I am disabled and not fit to look after two disabled children. That's a fact. If you want to take offensive where none was given then go for it. Perhaps you'd like to indemnify the OP for not taking advice on what they need to consider? And by the way - in some circumstances it had been shown that people with disabilities are not safe to take sole charge of children in a working situation. In schools they may need an occupational health assessment before being employed, for example. I didn't say that bipolar people are dangerous. Safeguarding doesn't just look at danger. It also considers a wide range of suitability criteria. It isn't all about you. It's about this specific situation. Wouldn't you want to be absolutely sure that a person looking after your children was safe to do so? Because that is what the OP is asking - how can they be sure they are managing this properly?

Thanks all for these comments and ideas - very much appreciated. I will look into all these things. I have a duty of care to our employee so I need to ensure she is fully supported in her role... hoping that Acccess to Work can fund any help that she needs, so that she can stay in post.

The issue for me is that nannies work alone, apart from a 2 minute hand over at the end of the shift. Put bluntly, I would not be able to see signs of relapse. I may need to schedule more regular catch ups, though this is difficult to arrange from a practical perspective.... I am wondering whether a job coach - funded by Access to Work - could help in this way.

There is something called a WRAP- wellness and recovery plan, Mind have downloadable templates. The idea is to have a conversation where she would talk about triggers, things that keep her well, early warning signs. The idea is she is aware of her early warning signs. The more open someone can be, the more likely they are to flag up early warning signs.

Relapses rarely happen suddenly, there would be a build up of small signs. Bipolar UK offer fantastic resources for employers.

I think you need to ask her what she needs. I have found it very difficult when employers have announced adjustments that they think will help. I would worry she would see it as you keep not trusting her.

I worked, alone in a classroom for nearly 15 years very well. I had someone I could speak to about early signs and could make adjustments if necessary. My mental health was not why I left teaching.

If she's been with you for less that 2 years you can just give notice as per your contract.
You don't need to make it personal at all.
I'm amazed at some of these other responses, the nanny is responsible for special needs children - they have to come first.

Two periods of absence in the six months she's been with you?

I'd be laying her off in I'm afraid.

@BreathlessCommotion it's great that you were able to function on a high enough level to teach but not everyone would be 'safe' (more accurate to say be able to cope) in a childcare role, especially with two disabled children.
Most parents are only considered not a safeguarding risk if they have their medication balanced correctly or have another adult within the home. This is a requirement for social services to allow children to stay with a parent who comes out of a unit. As most people (not all) have another adult within the home it doesn't tend to be an issue but it can become a major safeguarding risk

The safety and well-being of your children comes first. You need to find a new nanny.

Wow. My dd has SEND (ASD) so I do understand looking after high need children. I have never been considered a safeguarding concern because I have never shown any danger towards my children. I was in a mother and baby unit with Mt daughter and was allowed home to be alone with my son and baby with no issue.

If her medication is sorted during this stay then there wouldn't be a problem.

I may seem defensive, but its the usual response to me personally and others when it comes to mental health.

Ask her how you can best support her.
She’s an informal patient, she’s recognised that she needs to be in hospital at this time.

Being a parent with MH illness is NOT the same as being employed to care for someone else's

It sounds like the nanny has realised she is unwell and taken herself hospital which is commendable, and i truly wish her well soon... but as someone who worked at ground level in early years for years, she should also recognize that working alone with young children and a severe MH illness isn't a good match. A nursery with peers who can monitor early signs of deterioration and cover when ill yes, but not sole charge care.

I have never been considered a safeguarding concern because I have never shown any danger towards my children.

People here are showing an ignorance of what safeguarding means. Keeping children safe in this context does not mean the same thing as them being in danger. A person does not need to pose a threat in themselves for a situation to pose a risk to a child's safety. It means being able to be employed to take sole charge of two children, being able to exercise appropriate care and judgement at all times, and being able to do so consistently and reliably. Or are people genuinely suggesting that that shouldn't be a parents concern and that they should just employ any old person because they happen to be available? The OP has a responsibility as a parent and not just as an employer. Nobody is saying that the individual isn't able to look after their children (although if they have had two lengthy periods of sickness for any reason in such a short space of time, I'd say that was questionable). What is being said is that in order to safely make a judgement it is not all about "fixing things" so that they nanny can continue to work. It is also about whether the nanny should continue to work in this capacity. And checking that the children are safe in this situation should be equally as important as being fair to someone with a mental health issue.

Or, possibly to put it another way, what is this person, whose current situation is highly unstable, was responsible for something that resulted in harm to the children - not deliberately, but the result of an accident because they weren't in the right place to adequately look after someone else. Do you think that having that happen would help their mental health, or that they would ever forgive themselves? And do you think they would ever be allowed to work with children again?

Shame about employment law then, eh?

@Packamack

Two periods of absence in the six months she's been with you?

I'd be laying her off in I'm afraid.

And putting yourself at risk of being taken to an employment tribunal for discrimination under the equalities act?