OP, I don't think you should fire her, but I do think this warrants a formal warning.

Schedule a time to sit down with her and say that you realize the two of you hadn't sorted out your policies surrounding sick days and proper notification, so you'd like to do that now. Let her know that if she is sick, you need to know by 6am (or whatever time) and that if you haven't heard from her by then you will assume she is coming in. Tell her if she is unable to provide that notification, you will unfortunately need to terminate her employment. Give her this in writing, or amend your contract if you have one, and ask her if she has any questions or needs any clarification (for instance, I let my employers know two hours before I'm scheduled to be in if I'm sick, but I do so by text so as not to disturb anyone who might be sleeping - would you rather she call or text? would you prefer a heads up the night before if she's beginning to feel under the weather? etc.) and then move on.

Your nanny absolutely should be reliable and I agree that with only 10 minutes notice she probably overslept, but since it hasn't been clarified before I don't think it would be right to fire her on her first offense. Set some firm expectations for future sick days and hopefully that will be all it takes.

Bitch

Anonymous wrote:You knew she was sick. If your meeting was that important, you should have checked in with her and explained that to her last night or earlier yesterday so you had time to find a backup. If she said she was ok and would be in and then called in today, then yes, fire her. If she's otherwise reliable and this is the first incident then you need to have a conversation with her and let her know you need more notice than that for calling in sick. You also need to be registered with an agency that will send someone out on short notice.

This is true, but most employees are allowed sick days, no? What if she overslept because she was sick? Can't be helped? I'm at odds here. She is in her 50's, maybe I should have hired someone younger. Ugh

B.

She should of told you the night before.

I'd talk to her and give her another chance....if she wants it.

I think you're right. I guess you get what you pay for. Her drive is 30 to 45 minutes. She probably did oversleep. The kids love her and she goes above and beyond w/them, but, still, no excuse for what she did.

thanks,
B

How long is her commute? If it is 30 minutes, then she didn't inform you she wouldn't be there until 20 minutes after she was supposed to leave the house. Sounds like she overslept. If she was sick last week and all weekend, she would have known by Sunday night at the latest that she would not be feeling well enough to go back. Also, she knows she is leaving you in a bind and that there is no form of backup care that will be there within 10 minutes, and yet she sends a text message?

I would start looking for a new nanny.

Anonymous wrote:You knew she was sick. If your meeting was that important, you should have checked in with her and explained that to her last night or earlier yesterday so you had time to find a backup. If she said she was ok and would be in and then called in today, then yes, fire her. If she's otherwise reliable and this is the first incident then you need to have a conversation with her and let her know you need more notice than that for calling in sick. You also need to be registered with an agency that will send someone out on short notice.

Do other bosses have to do this for their employees, even in the case of something very important? No. If you want to be treated like a professional then act like it! As a nanny, 10 min before is absolutely unacceptable. Not only that but it's straight up rude. If this happens frequently OP then yes I would say it may be time to have a sit down with her and discuss this issue. Being reliable should be a top priority for nannies.

You knew she was sick. If your meeting was that important, you should have checked in with her and explained that to her last night or earlier yesterday so you had time to find a backup. If she said she was ok and would be in and then called in today, then yes, fire her. If she's otherwise reliable and this is the first incident then you need to have a conversation with her and let her know you need more notice than that for calling in sick. You also need to be registered with an agency that will send someone out on short notice.

My nanny texted me 10 minutes before she was supposed to be here at 7 a.m. to tell me she couldn't make it in because she was too ill. I had to cancel my very important meeting at work and it made me look bad with my employer. She informed me two days earlier that she was sick and I gave her two days off without pay, but expected her on Monday since she had the whole week end to get better.

I feel that I can't count on her, this just can't happen again because my job is too important.

I appreciate that she gets up very early to be here and is often here even earlier on a moment's notice. She has been flexible for me in the past. I pay her by the hour to the penny and do not offer her any type of guaranteed wage, however, I don't think there is any excuse for her giving me 10 minutes notice for being sick.

Should I let her go, or am I being unreasonable?

Please be brutally honest, I can take it. Thanks so much.

Bernadette