Pregnant nanny advice! Post Reply

[bumblebeeknees]

Hi everyone,
I’m sorry for the long post but it’s a bit of a complicated situation.

Our nanny has been with us for about 15 months and has announced she is having a baby around Easter time next year.

We have three children- 6, 4 and 19 months- the older two are at school so she’s mainly with the toddler. It’s a bit of an odd set up as she works 2 full days as a nanny to our 18 month old (8.30 till 7) then works with me doing general admin another day while my daughter goes to my mothers. She picks up the older two from school, the nanny from my mothers and takes them all home for supper and bed. She does the occasional extra day and baby sitting (school holidays she often does 5 days a week as she has a 6 year old so they’re all together.)

We pay her £16 ph net.

She’s recently dropped hints that she is planning to bring the baby to work with her very shortly after giving birth (6 weeks or so). My daughter will be 2 then and would be around the time I would have been putting my daughter into a nursery.

I don’t want to loose her but she lives over an hours drive away (she moved while working for us) and I don’t see how she can possibly give my children the attention they need while looking after a newborn. Plus, it seems crazy to be paying her the full amount for half her attention.

I feel like I’ve set a precedent by allowing her to bring her older son but he keeps my two entertained so made sense.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Can you lay off a pregnant nanny? Surely there are rules around that? Plus I’d feel awful doing it. PLUS she’s the daughter of one of my clients which makes it even more awkward.

Selfishly from Easter I’d just like an after school nanny but our current one knows our routine, is currently super flexible and our kids are used to her.

Any advice?!?

[Nannyhelp1]

We used nannytax for our nanny payroll provider who gave an HR function to provide advice on these sorts of things - maybe if you do you can ask them?

If you have a pregnant nanny you need to follow all the same rules as a normal employer - maternity leave etc. however my understanding is that you need to offer her the same role on her return and if your current contract does not include bringing a baby to work you don’t have to agree that.

[RainbowBear]

We have been in this situation (a while ago) - compounded with the fact that we weren't happy with our nanny even before she got pregnant, but when she disclosed that she was pregnant we obviously couldn't lay her off! (in the end she decided not to come back after her ML, which was a big relief as her maternity cover was amazing and ended up staying with us until my children were in school).
As the previous poster said, you are only required to offer her the same conditions she had before she went on maternity leave, but don't have to agree to her bringing her baby, which would require a new contract (at which point you could also discuss different pay/hours); however good she is and however well you get along, you shouldn't feel pressurised to accept it if you have any concerns. A baby is very different from a child similar age to yours!
It might be worth having a chat with her and asking her how she would juggle in practice a baby's routine with a toddler's and two older children; she might not realise how difficult it might be, particularly coming back so soon after giving birth.
If you use a payroll agency they can advise, and they will also do her payroll whilst she is on maternity leave (HMRC will pay you her statutory maternity pay, and you will pay her).

The other option is to just switch to an after school/holiday nanny role, if you say that this is actually what you would need from Easter.
In this case she would technically be made redundant as her position is no longer available, and you would have to offer the new position (after school nanny) to her first. Only if she declines you can appoint someone else.
However, I agree that if you are happy with her the situation is awkward, and I see why, regardless of what you are legally allowed to do, you would feel bad!
Did she know that you were planning to put your youngest child into nursery and that her role might have changed anyway? This might reassure her that you aren't changing things just because of the baby.
Could you consider keeping her until the end of the school year and then switching to holiday/after school?

Good luck with your decision; a nanny becomes part of a family, and it sounds like you all get on well, so it's not easy to change things.