Fired Nanny - Employment Insurance
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Anonymous
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we fired our nanny of three months a little over three weeks ago due to safety concerns. Our son has been seriously injured twice in her care (once involving an ER visit). The first time we were understanding (accidents happen) the second time her story about how the accident happened was bizarre and the ERA staff said it didn't make sense. We have her two weeks severance even though we didn't have to per our contract and that was that or so we thought.
We got a letter over the weekend from the VA employment commission saying that the nanny had applied for EI and there was going to be a telephone hearing to determine if she's eligible. We paid her on the books and paid the required taxes. We feel she was fired with cause but what does this letter even mean? If they decide she's eligible do we have to pay her EI? Will we get penalized for firing her? This is truly bizarre. |
Anonymous
| OP here - That should read the ER staff said ... |
Anonymous
| You tell your side of the story when they call. Make sure to have copies of the ER visits, you might need to fax those as proof of cause for firing her. But if they decide in her favor you don't pay her unemployment, that's what unemployment insurance is for. Your rate may go up next time you employ someone. Right now you pay a percentage on all employees for unemployment insurance, that could go up. But she only worked 3 months for you anyways and that's usually not long enough for her to even qualify |
Anonymous
| Where did you find her? What kind of experience did she have? How were her refs? |
Anonymous
| we found her through care.com. She had excellent references but didn't provide any for the last three years. We knew she had a toddler at home and chalked it up to time off to stay at home. She was working for us part time and we knew she had a second part time job. We later found out she had two other part time jobs and was effectively working seven days a week. One other job ended about a month into her time with us and she weirdly seemed more stressed out by that even though we were paying her $25/hr. I'm guessing if she's applying for EI that her other other job ended as well. |
Anonymous
| She was fired for cause. Have all your dates and figures and facts in front of you.. Read carefully and see if the notice you received says where you should send any documentation - it'd be good for you to send a copy of the employment agreement. |
Anonymous
she was fired for cause, impairing the health and safety of your child quite seriously. done. |
Anonymous
| If she is approved, you don't pay the UI benefits. The only thing that can happen is that your UI tax rate can be raised. |
Anonymous
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She was fired for cause, you can contest unemployment benefits, and she probably will not receive them. Additionally it was such a short employment period that your insurance would be minimally impacted anyway.
Do have your documentation in order and just tell the truth. It will be fine. I hope your child is ok! |
Anonymous
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I highly doubt that you can be sued by her. It sounds as if you had a legitimate reason to fire her. Any parent in your shoes would do the same thing.
You can tell the person on the phone all that occurred during her time w/you, then let them decide where to go from there. While you can mention what the hospital workers told you, unless you have written proof from them, it is just heresay for now. Hopefully you can document something in writing to support your case. I am truly sorry all of this occurred. I hope you do not lose your faith in nannies because in all honesty, the majority of nannies would much rather die than hurt or neglect a young child. Really. |
Anonymous
| If the ER suspected abuse, they should have reported it. In that case, there should be a report somewhere that you can cite, and the case for UI dies instantly. |
Anonymous
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Careful OP. This person sounds like she may be in a somewhat desperate situation (working 7 days a week, at least 2 of her jobs have ended, outwardly appearing stressed out).
Most of the time, this is no big deal. However, you don't know her very well, yet she knows your home and family rather intimately. She had a key to your home (I assume), she knows the layout, etc. In very very rare situations, people feeling desperate can do stupid things - or they might know people who do stupid things. It's not unheard of for a worker to have one of their friends break into a house they worked into, etc. You should absolutely do what the PPs said, just state the facts and provide documentation, but if her UI does get denied, she may feel even more desperate. I would make sure the locks on the house have been changed since she left (which is a good idea anyway). I don't say that to scare you, only to make sure you've thought through security since letting her go. 99.99999% chance it will be fine and nothing will happen. But you didn't know her that long, she had quite a bit going on in her life, and you don't know what kind of people she hangs out with. If she feels like you denied her a benefit she was owed (even if she wasn't), there's a small chance of it getting ugly. Something to think about. |
Anonymous
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Thank you everyone for your responses and support. This experience has been traumatizing. The telephone interview is in a week and a half. I'm having a hard time trusting anyone with my son after this. She had such great references and started out fantastic, but the last month was a complete disaster. Before all of this I couldn't understand secret nanny cams and parents that grilled nannies, now I do. I'm going to do my best to do a rational person with our new nanny but ... I already find myself wondering if her daily reports "make sense" and asking my son more about what he does with the sitter all day.
Child care is so hard. |
Anonymous
| Nanny here. I'm having a hard time believing that she had such great references and then everything deteriorated so quickly. The only way I can rationalize it is that she was going through something extreme personally (drug addiction? Alcoholism? A combination of factors like a close friend or family member with terminal cancer PLUS an abusive relationship or something?), OR maybe something about her really /wasn't/ that great (was she foreign? Was she much older, over 50? Was she relatively new to nannying; less than five years of experience? Is it possible the references she gave you weren't genuine, like family members or friends posing as her former employers?). I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around this. I think if you can pinpoint something I've mentioned here as a possible factor in her poor care, then maybe it will help you feel more comfortable with your new nanny, if she doesn't have that issue. |
Anonymous
| Be upfront with your new nanny about your fears, and talk with her about what would help you to trust her more. |