Reliability issues

[Anonymous]

Our nanny has been late approximately 5 times since we started about 3 months ago - ranging from 5-10 minutes late when stuck in traffic to about 4 hours late because of a personal matter she had neglected to take care of. She also has asked to leave more than an hour early at least twice for personal reasons. Others who employ nannies - would these attendance problems be a real issue for you? How likely are we to find a more reliable nanny? How would you address the situation short of finding a new nanny? Other than this issue, she seems to take good care of DD and we've had no other issues.

[Anonymous]

Have a conversation with her and ask her to be on time because it causes your problem in your own organization.
If you don't say anything she'll keep on being late 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there ...

[Anonymous]

I am not a "fire the nanny" type poster, but this seems like a huge issue to me. We have an amazing nanny and one thing that's so great is that we never have to give stuff like this a second thought. She is sometimes 10 minutes late since she takes Metro; when that happens I generally get a text 30-40 minutes before she's supposed to be there. I can swing coming into late 15-20 minutes late here and there, and so can DH, but neither of us has a job in which we can turn everything upside down on a regular basis (leaving work early, coming in late, missing days).

It's a huge hassle to find someone new but I would be looking if I were you. I believe it is possible to find someone who is great with your child and incredibly reliable.

[Anonymous]

Mb here. I'd fire. I've had the same person for almost three years. Late twice, once was my fault. You can find better.

[Anonymous]

I think being late 5-10 minutes once in a great while isn't a big deal, but if it's every single day that's a problem. Also, I'm assuming she's an adult, so she should be able to deal with personal issues on her own time, or take a personal day with advance notice. I would honestly question her reliability and ability to be responsible for my children if she can't even handle coming to work on time and scheduling personal matters around her presumably regular work schedule.

[Anonymous]

Definitely fire her.

[Anonymous]

I think you should talk with her first and reiterate how important being on time is to you. I know most people apologize if they're late and usually the other person says it's not a problem because it isn't if it only happens rarely. Maybe she doesn't realize how big of a deal this is to you. I've been a nanny for 13 years now and when I started I was late constantly, calling in sick for a cold, etc. It wasn't until I was fired that I realized how important reliability is in a nanny. The mom never once talked to me about the issue so I had no way of knowing until she fired me for it. I was really upset that she didn't even talk to me about it before she let me go. I honestly think it would have made a difference. In the last 10 years I've only been late to work 4 times and only once was it a result of my negligence. If you like her otherwise I'd say talk to her about it. But if this is one of the few things that is wrong then I would say finding someone new would be best.

[Anonymous]

As a nanny, I think she's incredibly unreliable... I would have an honest conversation with her and let her know the lateness / leaving early are not acceptable. If she continues to be unreliable after you talk to her then I would start looking for a new nanny.

[Anonymous]

Since she is so good w/your children OP, I would issue a warning to her. Let her know that she is great w/the children + that you enjoy having her as their nanny, yet you need to be able to depend on her presence at a certain time to avoid stress.

Stress to her that this is non-negotiable. No exceptions.

If she is serious about her job and has a great work ethic, she will step up to the plate and do what needs to be done. She will start coming in on time and showing more responsibility. However if she continues w/this unprofessional behavior, then as your last resort, your only option will be to let her go.

[Anonymous]

We have a similar issue with our live-in nanny. She is amazing with our very difficult kids (ADHD and other issues). She is meant to start at 7 am but she is consistently late coming down every single morning by at least 5 minutes. This morning it was 20 minutes. I work from home but do not set my own hours, so I always have a set start time, sometimes as early as 7, so I don't have a ton of flexibility on this, and my husband has to walk the dog and get ready for work too. We are finding it difficult though that she seems to think it is ok to start late, and she doesn't even apologise for being late!!! Luckily we have a written work agreement so I am just going to amend it to be clear that the start time is important, and tell her verbally that although we can be flexible at times, in general it would be so helpful if she can start as close to 7 as possible.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone had this problem resolve itself after a discussion with your nanny? Or does it generally stay the same/get worse?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had this problem resolve itself after a discussion with your nanny? Or does it generally stay the same/get worse?

It improves for a week or so after the talk and then goes back to how it was.

[Anonymous]

PP from yesterday (10:22) - I forgot to mention, the funny thing is in the summer my husband and I actually tried to co-ordinate our schedules so that some days our nanny could start at 7:15 or even 7:30, since this was the time she tended to appear. We let her know we wanted to try to giver a bit more time in the morning to get ready ... but she was still late!!! Basically she sleeps until the time she is meant to start work. I gave her an amended work agreement this morning and let her know how important the start time is to us, hopefully things will improve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP from yesterday (10:22) - I forgot to mention, the funny thing is in the summer my husband and I actually tried to co-ordinate our schedules so that some days our nanny could start at 7:15 or even 7:30, since this was the time she tended to appear. We let her know we wanted to try to giver a bit more time in the morning to get ready ... but she was still late!!! Basically she sleeps until the time she is meant to start work. I gave her an amended work agreement this morning and let her know how important the start time is to us, hopefully things will improve.

I hope you didn't actually say the thing about being flexible sometimes! She needs ot get her act together before she can count on more accommodations from you.

I think a better solution in your case would be to make her start time 6:50, and emphasize that you will only pay her once she appears. Yes, cut her hourly pay into 5-minute increments for awhile. If she still isn't there by 7, then you need to part ways. Is she at least getting your kids where they need to go on time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP from yesterday (10:22) - I forgot to mention, the funny thing is in the summer my husband and I actually tried to co-ordinate our schedules so that some days our nanny could start at 7:15 or even 7:30, since this was the time she tended to appear. We let her know we wanted to try to giver a bit more time in the morning to get ready ... but she was still late!!! Basically she sleeps until the time she is meant to start work. I gave her an amended work agreement this morning and let her know how important the start time is to us, hopefully things will improve.

I hope you didn't actually say the thing about being flexible sometimes! She needs ot get her act together before she can count on more accommodations from you.

I think a better solution in your case would be to make her start time 6:50, and emphasize that you will only pay her once she appears. Yes, cut her hourly pay into 5-minute increments for awhile. If she still isn't there by 7, then you need to part ways. Is she at least getting your kids where they need to go on time?

No, I didn't use the word 'flexible' in the end. I did emphasise that we want to make sure we compensate her fairly and she should record all her hours. Fingers crossed!