Reply to Nanny car accident - should we help pay fines?

Forum Index » Employer Issues

Reply to "Nanny car accident - should we help pay fines?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hi - I'm the OP.

First, I want to thank everyone for their advice and suggestions, they were super helpful.

We have helped the nanny with the lawyer arrangements, but we have not helped pay the lawyer's fees at this point. The fines have not come due as there is a court date at which they will be finalised. We will probably help to pay the fines. I think her parents are also helping with some of these costs.

We also found a good driving school and helped to pay for a lesson to become more familiar with driving in our area. (I think it might have ended up costing more than I expected. I had originally given her what I thought was enough to cover the entire amount, but the lesson was longer than I was expecting so probably cost more - but she hasn't said anything.)

We followed up promptly with our insurance company and all of that now seems to be well in hand. Unfortunately our insurance has increased substantially and it will be many years before we can get it down again. Also they will not cover her to drive our car.

Prior to this accident, the nanny had also scraped the side of our car and we covered the full expense of the repair - $600.

So now, since she cannot drive our car, she is occasionally taking the kids in her car. The other day, she parked somewhere and couldn't figure out what the parking rules were for that spot, & the ticket machine would not take her money. As she and my daughter were only popping into a store briefly, she thought it would be ok. But it was rush hour, and there is no parking in that location at that time (hence the machine would not take her money). There was a sign up on a post right beside where she parked (my daughter pointed out the spot a couple of days later) that said no parking at that time. So they come out of the store and there is a tow truck about to take her car away. She was able to pay the tow fee and have it released.

*My question is - should we pay the tow fee?* She was on an errand to buy something my daughter needed, so she was acting as our employee at the time and wouldn't have otherwise been there. We are inclined to reimburse her but then say we will pay her a set amount for mileage but she has to take responsibility for any further tickets etc. Up until now we have just been filling up her tank every once in a while, which for the limited amount her car is used on the job is an incredibly good deal for her, but not something we have formally agreed upon (the original plan had been for her to drive our car!).

Needless to say, I am incredibly annoyed that she has been so irresponsible and continues to have driving/car-related issues. To complicate matters, I have now realised that she used the petty cash to pay most of the tow fee, without telling us.

Obviously I am going to talk to her about all of this, resolve the current situation and come to an agreement about the future. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to handle the petty cash issue. I also need to go through our contract as she is not doing some of the tasks that are outlined in it. The kids love her and this is mainly a before and after school / dinner time job so  it is hard to find someone who is willing to do it. She is a college student who lives in with us, a really sweet girl, and in so many ways this is a great arrangement. While I am getting frustrated about how things have been going recently, I suspect that apart from trying to resolve some of the issues I should be less of a perfectionist about things like some of the 'light housekeeping' that is not being done (wiping table after a meal, for example).

I would welcome any further opinions or advice from the folks on this forum![/quote]

No, do not pay the fee. She chose to park somewhere she should not have. If you keep paying for her mistakes, she will not learn responsibility. Deduct the fee from her next paycheck. I agree with the other posters who say it is time to fire her. She is not responsible and she is going to continue to cost you money and give you plenty of drama. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics