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[quote=Anonymous][quote]Anonymous wrote:
OP it sounds like you were in the position to offer lots of flexibility on arrival time and attendance. This is great for you and your nanny but you should be honest in providing a reference. If you lie, there is a good chance that things will not end well for your nanny and the new employer. Your nanny could very well end up fired then what will you do? Lie about her start dates to cover the gap in employment.

I think you have an idea that your nanny may have taken advantage of your generous leave benefits or you wouldn't be posting here. In over 25 years of employment, I have never taken two weeks of sick leave in a year. Honestly, I can't think of any employee who didn't develop something serious (cancer) that ever took this much and I managed multiple groups. Two weeks let alone more than two weeks of sick time without serious underlying healthy problems is a sign of a poor immune system or enjoying quite a few rest and relaxation days calling in sick. Being late 5% of the time is pretty frequent for an hourly job. OP -your job may not mind if you are late or don't have hard standard hours but many people have meetings or appointments and can't be late once or twice a month.

Your nanny either needs to find another very flexible position or she never really needed to late 5% of the time and take more than 2 weeks sick leave in a year.

OP here. These are not generous leave benefits. I get 2 weeks sick leave a year (I actually have much more because my employer rolls it over) so I give my nanny 2 weeks a year. And I give her 2 weeks annual leave - which seems absurdly short, but this is America.

And don't presume to judge that my nanny is taking advantage. I said previously that her honesty was one of the most important qualities for me. When she came back after having flu this February, she had lost about 4 kg  [/quote]

OP are you looking for advice or are you looking for people to fawn over you for offering so much leave? Your nanny will have a very hard time finding a position that provides 2 weeks vacation plus 2 weeks sick leave and extra days if she needs it. You are not in Europe and I assume that your nanny will be searching for a new position in the US. Either your nanny is savvy enough to know that she could take advantage of all the leave you gave her and will adjust in her new job or she will end up getting fired.

In your references you should state that you offered generous sick leave and paid vacation which your nanny used. That's it. Your nanny didn't abuse it because you clearly didn't care about attendance so it isn't a black mark against her. This will inform the person seeking the reference that she be very clear with the nanny on what their job is offering. Most people searching for a nanny have used up much of their leave on maternity and paternity leave. It is far more common to see 2 weeks offered for vacation -1 week at the nanny's choosing and 1 week at the employer's choosing and then 2 sick days. There are many positions that only offer 1 week of vacation.

In most office senior level employees never even take most of their leave. This is why some companies are losing to unlimited leave but all the employees know that if you actually call in sick for a total of 2 weeks that you will be quickly laid off or fired for non-performance. Work is much more serious and intense in the US.

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