Anonymous wrote:OP here- thanks 12:04. Her hours are 7:30-5:30 and she is paid for those hours regardless of when she works (most nights she leaves by 5 and usually has at least one day off every other week because of travel/flex schedule, etc) So, yes, I do feel a little bit upset when I had planned on using that hour at home to do something that is difficult to do with a toddler hanging around.
OP, you behaved like a dormat, the nanny saw you and took advantage of it. if her hours are 7.30-5.30 and she is paid OT for any hour over 40, the day she start putting her coat on at 4.30 you should have looked at her in the eyes and asked her if she was cold and offered her a sweater since apparently she was too cold to work without the coat. you do not "beg" an employee who is leaving one hour before the end of the shift to stay because you would like to cook dinner. whatever you wanted to do, she had to stay because that was her job and she was being paid (including overtime) for it.
if your contract says 4 weeks of advance notice, just provide that and move on, most nanny get 2 weeks notice anyway, 4 weeks is very genersou, and her behavior shows that she does not deserve any extracare. it is not your problem if she finds somebody else. your employer is not going to be concerned how you will be paying your bills if you loose your job. if I were you, I would just pay her and let her go now. I would not trust her around my child and BTW letting a young child nap on the couch is unsafe, doing it is bad, doing it against the parents' express instructions is even worse. moreover, if she finds somebody else next week, she is going to leave you cold in a day and you may not have the spot at the daycare anymore. this is a business relationship, treat it as such. if you let this nanny walks all over you, she will do it.