Anonymous wrote:Severance is paid in lieu of sufficient notice. That would not apply in your case. Anything you give her would be a parting bonus, amount up to you.
Anonymous wrote:Severance is paid in lieu of sufficient notice. That would not apply in your case. Anything you give her would be a parting bonus, amount up to you.
Anonymous wrote:I love this story. I adore nannies. The pros know how to bargain hard to get as much money as they can out of their employers. It's inspiring. I also appreciate that even when they obviously really love the kids and get along with the family, they never forget that they do it for the money. They know you go around telling your friends your nanny is "like family" and that flatters them and they also know it's something they can use to their advantage to earn more money for themselves and their families. Nannies get it.
Anyway, OP, obviously you aren't going to give your nanny 100k in severance. But you introduce all these facts that aren't really relevant. It doesn't matter for her severance that you paid her through the pandemic when she wasn't working -- that's something you chose to do, likely to retain her services. That's a decision all employers had to contemplate this year. And the fact that she isn't working much now is also not relevant. It's not her fault that you don't need her that much now. If you wanted to let her go earlier, you could have. If you wanted to reduce her hours, you could have proposed that. You chose to keep her on full time, and to make the end of the year her end date.
Stop expecting her to do the hard work of laying her off. That's what you are doing. You're the boss. You don't have to give her a severance, but I do think some amount of severance after many years of good service is the right thing to do. Figure out what you think is fair and give it to her. She is allowed to ask for more; you are allowed to say no. Stop looking for permission, from us or from her. Do what you think is right, be clear with her about it, and then move on.