Nanny is late every day

[Anonymous]

We had a new nanny start about 3 months ago and while she is great in almost every way and my kids have really taken to her... we are having one recurring issue in that she is late almost every single day (at least 3 days a week). It’s usually just 5-10 mins, but sometimes it can be as much as 30 mins. She takes the Metro to work and pretty much texts me every morning at 7am that there are delays/issues and she is running behind. She lives about an hour away and claims to leave by 6:45am to buffer extra time so she can get to us by 8, but that rarely happens.

We have spoken to her about this twice now and she completely understands and tells us she will try to make it but says sometimes it’s just out of her hands with the way the Metro is running. And despite our talks it’s not better overall.

It’s not that big of a deal most days when she is late since DH takes our older one to school on his way to work and then I usually end up waiting at home with the baby until she arrives. However, today I have a 9am meeting that I am now going to be late for since my nanny arrived at 8:20am and my commute is about 35/40 mins. So her lateness impacts me being late and that can’t happen regularly.

What would you do here? Keep the nanny with the understanding that she clearly just isn’t a punctual person and it’s probably not going to change, but your kids really love her and she is great in most other ways? Or look for someone else and let her go despite the headache to find and train someone new? Really torn since we really do like her, but part of me feels like it’s going to become an issue long term.

[Anonymous]

Change her start time to 30 mins before

[Anonymous]

I have the same problem but I don’t have to be in the office at a specific time. I chose to let it go. She’s reliably 5-15 min late every day and absolutely perfect in every other way. On days where I must be out at a certain time, I let her know and she will come on time. There have also been times I needed her to come 30 min or an hour early, once a month max, and she shows up on time when explicitly requested. I pay for the extra time on those occasions, of course. If she’s otherwise great and you can deal with the delay at work, I say let it go and stop discussing it but be explicit ahead of time on days where you must leave at a certain time.

[Anonymous]

Pp above here. I just reread your post. 30 min would not be ok more than a very rare occasion. I’ve accepted the ~10 min especially since it’s become her reliable start time now

[Anonymous]

Buy her a car.

[Anonymous]

I would put the ball in her court. Ask her what she thinks she can do differently to get to work on time, seeing as she is late more than she is on time. Any sensible person would see that she needs to leave 15 mins earlier. I would cut slack for legit delays, like metro closed for smoke or emergency stuff. but 3 days a week is just poor planning. She knew what her commute would be when she took the job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would put the ball in her court. Ask her what she thinks she can do differently to get to work on time, seeing as she is late more than she is on time. Any sensible person would see that she needs to leave 15 mins earlier. I would cut slack for legit delays, like metro closed for smoke or emergency stuff. but 3 days a week is just poor planning. She knew what her commute would be when she took the job.

+1

[Anonymous]

Nanny here. People all over the world manage to get to work on time. It is unacceptable that your nanny can not seem to manage it. Her excuses are ridiculous. Tell her to work it out or lose her job. Period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Change her start time to 30 mins before

+1

Sounds like she has time management issues. This should help her leave her house sooner, which she DOES have control over. Good grief. People that do this drive me batty. They literally think it’s not their fault.

[Anonymous]

Do you have anything in your contract about late arrivals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here. People all over the world manage to get to work on time. It is unacceptable that your nanny can not seem to manage it. Her excuses are ridiculous. Tell her to work it out or lose her job. Period.

Agreed. I am habitually late, but it's because I don't leave the house on time. I also don't have a job that requires me to report at a certain time (unless I have a meeting scheduled). Occassionally there are issues with metro/traffic, but that just means that she needs to leave earlier. She's a grown up. Give her a warning, and start looking for a new nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here. People all over the world manage to get to work on time. It is unacceptable that your nanny can not seem to manage it. Her excuses are ridiculous. Tell her to work it out or lose her job. Period.

Agreed. I am habitually late, but it's because I don't leave the house on time. I also don't have a job that requires me to report at a certain time (unless I have a meeting scheduled). Occassionally there are issues with metro/traffic, but that just means that she needs to leave earlier. She's a grown up. Give her a warning, and start looking for a new nanny.

+1

She doesn't value your time, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy her a car.

Because traffic is so predictable and people who drive to work are never late?

[Anonymous]

If you can avoid it, don't have important meetings scheduled for right when you arrive. If you have a 9AM meeting, can DH switch off or something so you get to work at 8?

[Anonymous]

Echoing PPs so I wont repeat, but on days when it is super critical for you to get to work on time, can you give her a heads-up the day before- just a big nudge that she really needs to be there on time so she needs to prepare to move mountains if that is what it takes.