Contract Termination letter / state reason?

[moderationincludingmoderation]

Planning on Terminating/giving notice to a newish nanny. The contract is between ourselves (private individuals) and a nanny (also private/independent).
Contract states 1 month notice which we will give.

Question is, in the termination letter, do we have to state the reason/s for termination?

She calls herself a contractor not an employee.

What she calls herself is irrelevant. What the law calls her is what matters. How long has she worked for you? If it is two years or more then she is entitled to ask for a reason. Otherwise you don't have to give one. But that doesn't mean that you can dismiss with impunity. I kind of think that the way this is written you have a reason, but don't want to give it. Legally you don't have to. Just be aware that you can be sued for a variety of things and she could certainly make your life difficult if she was minded to. She may be an employee in law. She may also have some employment rights even if not an employee.

@@Quveas the OP says she's a newish nanny so I assume she's worked for them for less than two years.

OP is there a reason that you wouldn't want to tell her why you're terminating her employment?

We will tell her in person, but we just weren't sure if we have to put it in writing.
The law would consider her a contractor as well.

It's very, very unusual for a nanny to be legally considered self-employed unless it's obviously a very short term and temporary arrangement (e.g. newborn night nannying). Are you really sure that the nanny is legally a contractor? What you have agreed between you matters a lot less than whether the working situation meets the HMRC definition of "employed" or not.

Precisely this, she is actually usually on those types of contracts

She is registered as self employed and manages her own taxes etc.

This doesn’t actually matter, what matters is the fact and reality of the contract.

When you say she is “usually” on one of these sorts of contracts, is she on one with you?

If she currently works solely for you, is not allowed to send a suitably qualified substitute to nanny your children in your absence, cannot dictate her own working days and hours you might find she’s an employee and you’ve not been meeting your obligations as an employer.

In short, we need to understand the arrangement better to answer your question.

**her absence

There is a contract, provided by her, it states we are her client and its a contract between the client and the care provider.

Otherwise hours are agreed mutually.

Sorry to drip feed. Wary of outing too.

The substance of the arrangement is what matters.

Doesn't matter what the contract states if the reality is this is an employment relationship.

If she has been with you less than two years you can dismiss her without stating reasons regardless of her employment status.

As others have said, the fact she is self-employed for tax purposes does not mean she is self-employed for employment law. The test is whether she has the rights and responsibilities of an employee. Employment status: Self-employed and contractor - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) gives useful information about the tests used. However, this is academic if she has been with you less than two years - in that situation, her employment status is irrelevant when it comes to ending her employment.

However, this is academic if she has been with you less than two years - in that situation, her employment status is irrelevant when it comes to ending her employment.

Unless, of course, the real reason for terminating her employment (or the one she claims) is one of the several reasons for which two years service is not required.

It’s easy to get caught up in thinking someone is self employed when actually they should have been an employee. The government cracked down on this a long, long time ago.

If the nanny consistently works from one location, has set regular days and doesn’t dictate her own hours I suspect she would be classed as an employee. When I fell fowl of this I also needed to have my own equipment - which I wasn’t 🤦🏻‍♀️

Thanks all. It's only been a few months.

Much clearer now.