When to tell nanny that DS is going to preschool

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:After Christmas is fine. And if you give a months notice at least you're good.

No. Please don’t keep this secret from your nanny. My former employers did this to me and I heard I was losing my job and a charge I loved since birth by overhearing a loud argument between my employer and her mother.

[Anonymous]

I personally think you should let her know sooner rather than later OP.

I am a Nanny & would be hurt if I knew that my employers chose to tell me even a few weeks after they knew.

It is really an act of goodwill on your part.

Yes, Christmas is around the corner.....
But it is NEVER a good time to find out you will lose your job.

If you tell her now, she will be able to plan ahead financially which is something that takes weeks in advance.

You sound like a kind employer!

[Anonymous]

If she loves your child, she can start preparing her for daycare (eating lunch from a lunch box, drinking from an open cup, hanging up own coat, etc) Tell her now and let her help your DD in those first weeks of daycare.

Such a hard transition.

[Anonymous]

I’d tell her now so she doesn’t over spend for Xmas

[Anonymous]

She's a grown up, she can handle being told before Xmas

I think the sooner the better so she can find another job.

Good luck !

Nanny.

[Anonymous]

I also think asap is the better option. Just personally, I’d want as much time as you’d be able to give me, even if it was right before a holiday. It’ll give her more time to plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, PP. The contract says we give 2 weeks notice. I know 2 MONTHS in advance that her employment is ending. Are you really suggesting I only give her 2 weeks notice because that’s what the contract says? I’m not going to follow your suggestion.

I'm the 16:12 poster who asked what was in your contract. At the end of the day, your nanny is your employee and not your friend. Human decency would be following your contract and being ok with her taking a few phone calls for possible new jobs and writing her a letter of recommendation. You need to do what's best for you and your family not what's best for your nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Interesting suggestions, 16:33. If she leaves early, DS can actually start early at the school, so I’m not worried about that. We picked the start date that’s most convenient for the school, but if his nanny needs to leave sooner, we can work that out.

In that case, tell her now. She may want to cut back on her holiday spending in case she doesn't find something, and she will probably want to start looking right away.

Two months is long enough that I don't think it's going to ruin her holiday; it's a lot of notice, she'll still get her Christmas bonus, she'll have some time off to process, and plenty of time to say goodbye when she comes back from the holiday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Youbshoukd have told her the day you decided that you were putting child in preschool because you could no longer afford her. You are a horrible person.

Uh no she is not. She's trying to do the right thing here on figuring out the notice. You should just stop writing no value added comments and just go away!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, PP. The contract says we give 2 weeks notice. I know 2 MONTHS in advance that her employment is ending. Are you really suggesting I only give her 2 weeks notice because that’s what the contract says? I’m not going to follow your suggestion.

We had a one month notice requirement. When we decided to move we gave our nanny about nine months notice. Basically there was no way we were going to be able to keep it a secret for any longer than that, but I do regret it. Her attitude changed and she became a nightmare to deal with at the end. We thought we were doing the nice thing by giving her plenty of leeway and it backfired. And yes, we gave her a bigger than normal Christmas bonus, a severance bonus, we paid to have her come with us to the new location (at her request), we wrote glowing letters of recommendation, we talked to her potential future employers over the phone, and we gave her time off to do interviews, etc. to find a new job. I'm not saying you only give her two weeks, but I wouldn't feel bad about not giving her two months.

[Anonymous]

One month is plenty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One month is plenty.

But why wait? There is no downside to telling her now and having her help prepare the child for group care.

[Anonymous]

One month is plenty. At the end of the day, she's an employee and there's no upside to telling her now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One month is plenty. At the end of the day, she's an employee and there's no upside to telling her now.

No upside except preparing the child for daycare, you idiot. That’s what employees do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, PP. The contract says we give 2 weeks notice. I know 2 MONTHS in advance that her employment is ending. Are you really suggesting I only give her 2 weeks notice because that’s what the contract says? I’m not going to follow your suggestion.

We had a one month notice requirement. When we decided to move we gave our nanny about nine months notice. Basically there was no way we were going to be able to keep it a secret for any longer than that, but I do regret it. Her attitude changed and she became a nightmare to deal with at the end. We thought we were doing the nice thing by giving her plenty of leeway and it backfired. And yes, we gave her a bigger than normal Christmas bonus, a severance bonus, we paid to have her come with us to the new location (at her request), we wrote glowing letters of recommendation, we talked to her potential future employers over the phone, and we gave her time off to do interviews, etc. to find a new job. I'm not saying you only give her two weeks, but I wouldn't feel bad about not giving her two months.

Yes, unfortunately there can be a downside to too much notice. See above. Consider your nanny's perspective. Be fair and at least follow your contract but understand she may look for a new position and find it before your preschool starts. Definitely consider the severance bonus and make it contingent on her performance, reliability, etc during the notice period.