Nanny here.

Since you are letting her go for cause I think it's perfectly acceptable to let her go at the end of the last day you plan to employ her. I don't think any notice is required in a situation involving a nanny who hasn't been fulfilling her responsibilities.

I think the only financial obligation you have is paying her for time worked through her last day. She should not receive severance pay if she is being let go for cause. Severance pay is usually reserved for employees (nannies and otherwise) who are being let go through no fault of their own. That's not the case in your situation.

I agree 100% with this.

It sounds like you've already talked to her about this, and she has not improved, so I think it's up to you if you want to give her one last chance, this time saying, "If you're not on time every day for the next two weeks, we will have to part ways."

If you've already said some version of this, no, I don't believe you need to give her severance; if you've been paying her for the full time even though she's late, then she's already gotten a lot of extra pay.

It's for cause. No need to give severance.

If she is 5-10 minutes late on a frequent basis, I think you should implement a probationary period. Let her know that you absolutely must have her in the door, jacket off, things put away, when work begins at 8am. Give her two weeks probation with the understanding that if she doesn't get it together, she'll be dismissed without notice. I don't think this warrants dismissing someone without notice or severance. If you chose to go that route, because there are other reasons not to keep her employed, I agree one week's severance.

If this is more like 20min+ late, I agree you can dismiss her without notice or severance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here.

Since you are letting her go for cause I think it's perfectly acceptable to let her go at the end of the last day you plan to employ her. I don't think any notice is required in a situation involving a nanny who hasn't been fulfilling her responsibilities.

I think the only financial obligation you have is paying her for time worked through her last day. She should not receive severance pay if she is being let go for cause. Severance pay is usually reserved for employees (nannies and otherwise) who are being let go through no fault of their own. That's not the case in your situation.

+1. Be sure to give her a clear explanation why.

Yes!
Although you don't say, I'm assuming this is more than 5 minutes late?

How late is she usually for work? If 5 minutes, I'd give a warning. Otherwise, let her go and make sure the next person you hire is aware the last nanny was let go for constant lateness.

No severance. No notice. Tell her at the end of the day, ask for your keys back, hand her a check paying her through the end of that day, and then promptly change any alarm codes & send emails to teachers that she is no longer your nanny and thus not allowed to pick them up from school or whatever.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand that she is being let go for cause, but since you will be giving no notice I think a week's pay would be appropriate. Of course you are within your rights to let her go with no notice or severance but that wouldn't sit well with me.

10:54 here. Why should OP have to give her irresponsible nanny an extra weeks pay? The nanny hasn't met one of her obligations...arriving to work on time (a huge issue for many families). In most industries an employee will be fired without notice or severance if they continually fail to meet one of their responsibilities. Why should this nanny receive special treatment?

Show up on time, do your job well, keep your job, keep receiving a paycheck. OP's nanny missed that memo and deserves a wake-up call in the form of no notice and no severance.

I'm the poster you responded to and I completely agree with what you're saying. I said that OP is well within her rights to dismiss her without notice or severance. I simply said its not something that I could do to someone.

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here.

Since you are letting her go for cause I think it's perfectly acceptable to let her go at the end of the last day you plan to employ her. I don't think any notice is required in a situation involving a nanny who hasn't been fulfilling her responsibilities.

I think the only financial obligation you have is paying her for time worked through her last day. She should not receive severance pay if she is being let go for cause. Severance pay is usually reserved for employees (nannies and otherwise) who are being let go through no fault of their own. That's not the case in your situation.

+1. Be sure to give her a clear explanation why.

Anonymous wrote:I understand that she is being let go for cause, but since you will be giving no notice I think a week's pay would be appropriate. Of course you are within your rights to let her go with no notice or severance but that wouldn't sit well with me.

10:54 here. Why should OP have to give her irresponsible nanny an extra weeks pay? The nanny hasn't met one of her obligations...arriving to work on time (a huge issue for many families). In most industries an employee will be fired without notice or severance if they continually fail to meet one of their responsibilities. Why should this nanny receive special treatment?

Show up on time, do your job well, keep your job, keep receiving a paycheck. OP's nanny missed that memo and deserves a wake-up call in the form of no notice and no severance.

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here.

Since you are letting her go for cause I think it's perfectly acceptable to let her go at the end of the last day you plan to employ her. I don't think any notice is required in a situation involving a nanny who hasn't been fulfilling her responsibilities.

I think the only financial obligation you have is paying her for time worked through her last day. She should not receive severance pay if she is being let go for cause. Severance pay is usually reserved for employees (nannies and otherwise) who are being let go through no fault of their own. That's not the case in your situation.

I'm also a nanny, and I agree with this.

Nanny here.

Since you are letting her go for cause I think it's perfectly acceptable to let her go at the end of the last day you plan to employ her. I don't think any notice is required in a situation involving a nanny who hasn't been fulfilling her responsibilities.

I think the only financial obligation you have is paying her for time worked through her last day. She should not receive severance pay if she is being let go for cause. Severance pay is usually reserved for employees (nannies and otherwise) who are being let go through no fault of their own. That's not the case in your situation.

I understand that she is being let go for cause, but since you will be giving no notice I think a week's pay would be appropriate. Of course you are within your rights to let her go with no notice or severance but that wouldn't sit well with me.

Most professional nannies request to speak with former nannies, so you may want to keep that in mind.

Our nanny has been with us for several months and is fine (but not great) with our two kids. She
has been frequently late and despite having been told in a pretty frank discussion that we need her to be on time, she continues to show up late with some frequency. It's not every day, but it's often enough that it makes her unreliable.

What obligation do I have to her in terms of notice/pay? Once I let her go I'd prefer she just be gone, as I don't want her to take out her frustration on my kids. But I don't really want to hand her a huge check, either, as we're letting her go for cause. Contract does not obligate us to do anything - we can dismiss at any time. So I am asking less for the legal version of what should I do and more for the "what is standard/reasonable/appropriate" version.

Feedback welcome. Thanks.