stealing nanny

[Anonymous]

My nanny steals from me. It is usually small stuff (less than $20) but it is really frequent.

On the other hand, she brings my kids gifts, about once every 2 months. They are probably about $40 dollar toys. She probably steals about $100 worth of stuff a month.

It's stuff that we have a lot of (I'm a costco fan.) She is probably making a judgement call on me and thinking I'm wasteful because I'll never use up all this stuff. But it is stuff that never expire and I'm certain I'll use it all up, eventually.

I'll buy a lot of kitchen trash bags and 4 weeks later, we're all out, for instance. I'm positive she did not use it at the house.

She prefers to take partial units (like half a box of kitchen trash bags) instead of a whole box of something. Maybe she thinks I won't notice.

I have a camera now. So I'll catch her. But I'm really not sure what to do once I catch her. Fire her? I don't really need the camera footage to fire her. I can fire her now. I don't know what I'm doing.

For a nanny, she makes a lot and she has a husband with his own business so she is not doing this because of need.

[Anonymous]

All I can think of is the mom from Honey Boo Boo with a kitchen full of shelves and racks loaded with shampoo, trash bags, paper towel, non-perishable food, etc. Is that what you have going on over there OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All I can think of is the mom from Honey Boo Boo with a kitchen full of shelves and racks loaded with shampoo, trash bags, paper towel, non-perishable food, etc. Is that what you have going on over there OP?

So tempted to say "... yes" [Enter]

But no. Like I said, she only takes half of stuff.

She even took half of my diaper rash cream. It was a huge jar and she scooped out about 3oz. I can see the finger marks where she dug in deep and got it out in one scoop, not repeated use. If my baby used up that much diaper rash cream, I would know it. Her little butt would be so white. Nanny does not bathe her. We only use the rash cream when she has a rash. She didn't even have a rash that week.

I was kind of amused at first because it was such minor things... but it is not stopping and getting really annoying.

[Anonymous]

I would call her out on it and say "oh hey, I just bought 100 garbage bags last month, and now we're down to half a box. We take the trash out twice a week, so we should only be down 8 bags, not 50. Do you know what is happening to the bags?"

Make her squirm.

[Anonymous]

Just line up a new nanny, and then fire the stealing nanny by saying "Unfortunately, we know you're stealing so we can't continue to employ you anymore." And then follow her while she gets your keys back to you and whatever else. Then escort her to the door and change the alarm code.

[Anonymous]

How many references did you have for her?

[Anonymous]

I ... what? What could she be doing with diaper rash cream? Are you sure she isn't just wasteful?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ... what? What could she be doing with diaper rash cream? Are you sure she isn't just wasteful?

+1 She scooped it and put it where??

[Anonymous]

Maybe she put it on her butt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All I can think of is the mom from Honey Boo Boo with a kitchen full of shelves and racks loaded with shampoo, trash bags, paper towel, non-perishable food, etc. Is that what you have going on over there OP?

So tempted to say "... yes" [Enter]

But no. Like I said, she only takes half of stuff.

She even took half of my diaper rash cream. It was a huge jar and she scooped out about 3oz. I can see the finger marks where she dug in deep and got it out in one scoop, not repeated use. If my baby used up that much diaper rash cream, I would know it. Her little butt would be so white. Nanny does not bathe her. We only use the rash cream when she has a rash. She didn't even have a rash that week.

I was kind of amused at first because it was such minor things... but it is not stopping and getting really annoying.

Maybe your husband needed to have it slathered on his butt when he came home for lunch that day. I'm afraid you need a shrink, OP.

[Anonymous]

Wait until you catch her on camera. Then review the footage with your hubby. If she is guilty... line up temp childcare and fire her. Make sure you and hubby fire her together. If she is capable of theft she might get violent.

[Anonymous]

First of all, don't accuse her of stealing without proof. And if you are using a camera, make sure of what the laws are in your state because it's not legal everywhere.

Secondly, you don't need to give her a reason to fire her but depending on where you live, if you don't have a documented reason, she can file for unemployment.

Third, I wouldn't wait to get rid of her, I would do it now. Give her severance pay and let her go before her next shift. If you are thinking about firing her for taking petty stuff (instead of bringing this up months ago when it first caught your attention and remediating it then) she is obviously not a great enough care giver for you to keep around.

[Anonymous]

Where did you get her?

[Anonymous]

If someone is stealing there is cause to fire her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If someone is stealing there is cause to fire her.

Duh.