For those paying nannies not to come ...

[Anonymous]

How long do you plan to keep doing so? We’ve been paying our nanny to stay home since mid-March because we weren’t comfortable with her level of social distancing and didn’t want to take the risk of having her continue to care for our children during what we thought would be a few weeks, maybe months. Now with the realization that the current situation could go on indefinitely, we are thinking that the chances of being able to safely bring her back are slim. For others in this situation, are you continuing to pay or have you parted ways with your nanny and plan to make new arrangements when things start to open up? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I’m not in your position as our nanny has never stopped working (she lives alone and is strict about social distancing) but if I were in your shoes, I would start the termination policy with the nanny. This isn’t going to be over until next year at the earliest and you need someone who matches your protocols.

[Anonymous]

We are asking ourselves the same question OP. We don’t know what to do. We love our nanny, and she is taking this seriously, but she lives with a family member who is an essential worker and lives in a high rise in an area with a lot of cases. Some days we think we should have her back, and other days we think we need to start from scratch and find someone who basically lives alone. We thought there’d be more of a plan nationally by now and more cohesion and consistent guidance on combating this, but it’s sinking in that this is going to continue for a very long time. We are very lucky that our kids are pretty cooperative most of the time and thus far we’ve managed a weird split schedule. But looking out at a horizon of many months of this is starting to feel overwhelming. I’m curious what others are doing. We will probably give it until mid June to see how it goes with reopening and then make a decision.

[Anonymous]

I am surprised that anyone would still be paying their Nannies for not working since this whole pandemic began!

I mean, we are well into our third month of this!

I am a Nanny myself & feel that this Nanny will not be a suitable fit for you now + into the future.
Sure starting from scratch is no fun, yet keep in mind that everyone is adapting to this new “normal” while making major sacrifices along the way.

I wish you only the best in whatever you decide to do.

[Anonymous]

Let her go now before the very attractive unemployement benefits go away. Right now there is good infrastructure in place to ensure she can get an income. Given how volitile congress and the WH has been of late, those could be yanked at any time. Now is the time if you want to make sure she can file in a window to benefit from the more generous payments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let her go now before the very attractive unemployement benefits go away. Right now there is good infrastructure in place to ensure she can get an income. Given how volitile congress and the WH has been of late, those could be yanked at any time. Now is the time if you want to make sure she can file in a window to benefit from the more generous payments.

+1 it is very attractive right now.

[Anonymous]

We’ve been paying our nanny since March. We suggested giving her a ride to our home and back in a few weeks but she claims she is worried. I can’t keep paying for nothing. Is it a moral obligation to continue to pay her for no work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ve been paying our nanny since March. We suggested giving her a ride to our home and back in a few weeks but she claims she is worried. I can’t keep paying for nothing. Is it a moral obligation to continue to pay her for no work?

Well obviously it can't go on forever. I think you are going to have to make a decision. Tell her she can come back or give her notice (not sure how much is appropriate). It's one thing if you don't want her to work but she doesn't want to just explain to her that you are not going to pay her forever to not work. Are you telling me you have seriously been paying her for the past seven months? That is extremely generous of you unless you are very wealthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve been paying our nanny since March. We suggested giving her a ride to our home and back in a few weeks but she claims she is worried. I can’t keep paying for nothing. Is it a moral obligation to continue to pay her for no work?

Well obviously it can't go on forever. I think you are going to have to make a decision. Tell her she can come back or give her notice (not sure how much is appropriate). It's one thing if you don't want her to work but she doesn't want to just explain to her that you are not going to pay her forever to not work. Are you telling me you have seriously been paying her for the past seven months? That is extremely generous of you unless you are very wealthy.

You can start the termination process and feel morally fine. You want to find someone to pay who DOES feel comfortable working.

[Anonymous]

I would give her two weeks paid notice and move on if you are not comfortable with her coming back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ve been paying our nanny since March. We suggested giving her a ride to our home and back in a few weeks but she claims she is worried. I can’t keep paying for nothing. Is it a moral obligation to continue to pay her for no work?

If she is refusing to work, you have no more obligation to pay her. You offered to drive her, she said no. She's taking advantage of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve been paying our nanny since March. We suggested giving her a ride to our home and back in a few weeks but she claims she is worried. I can’t keep paying for nothing. Is it a moral obligation to continue to pay her for no work?

If she is refusing to work, you have no more obligation to pay her. You offered to drive her, she said no. She's taking advantage of you.

+1. Tell her you understand but cannot continue to employ a non-working nanny. Make this her last paycheck and watch her change her mind.

[Anonymous]

Nanny here. If she is high-risk and avoiding outside contact then she can find a family to work for as a live-in who is also being super careful. There are many. Let her go now while the demand for nannies is high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here. If she is high-risk and avoiding outside contact then she can find a family to work for as a live-in who is also being super careful. There are many. Let her go now while the demand for nannies is high.

This.

~High-risk live-in nanny