This is very typical for nannies. There was a thread awhile back about favorite things about being a nanny. There were numerous posts about watching Netflix and having downtime. On any posts where an employer asks about tasks, the nannies start posting about organizing clothes and saying it takes 20 minutes to unload a dishwasher.

I would be very upset that she was leaving my child in after care longer than necessary. I would definitely let her go. Unless your contract requires severance and notice, I would do one or the other, not both.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So she is actually doing her job, just not going above any beyond? And you feel as though firing her without severance, without a conversation/chance for improvement, might be justified? Reverse the situation. You were performing the assigned tasks at your job and had no indication that your boss was less than satisfied (because they never said anything to you) and then you are fired without severance...pretty shitty, eh?

Act like a boss and have a conversation with your nanny. If this is too difficult, you are perhaps not cut out to be an employer.

No professional would think her job entails sitting on the couch for 5 hours a day. This kind of performance is on par with a high school sitter. Talking to the nanny and assigning specific chores might yield marginal improvement, but it isn't going to turn her into a hard-working professional who looks for ways to help this family run more smoothly and raise its children more effectively.

She is transporting the kids safely to and from school, keeping them on schedule, keeping up with the tasks she was assigned...if OP is not giving her more tasks, what else is she "supposed" to be doing. No, she is not going above the call of duty and taking on tasks herself but she is, technically, performing her job requirements.

What about the fact that she's folding the laundry while the younger one is awake and she's supposed to be picking the older one up at school? She doesn't have enough time in those 5 1/2 hours that she's alone?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So she is actually doing her job, just not going above any beyond? And you feel as though firing her without severance, without a conversation/chance for improvement, might be justified? Reverse the situation. You were performing the assigned tasks at your job and had no indication that your boss was less than satisfied (because they never said anything to you) and then you are fired without severance...pretty shitty, eh?

Act like a boss and have a conversation with your nanny. If this is too difficult, you are perhaps not cut out to be an employer.

No professional would think her job entails sitting on the couch for 5 hours a day. This kind of performance is on par with a high school sitter. Talking to the nanny and assigning specific chores might yield marginal improvement, but it isn't going to turn her into a hard-working professional who looks for ways to help this family run more smoothly and raise its children more effectively.

She is transporting the kids safely to and from school, keeping them on schedule, keeping up with the tasks she was assigned...if OP is not giving her more tasks, what else is she "supposed" to be doing. No, she is not going above the call of duty and taking on tasks herself but she is, technically, performing her job requirements.

No professional would think her job entails sitting on the couch for 5 hours a day. This kind of performance is on par with a high school sitter.

What exactly is a professional going to do while both kids are either at school or napping for 6 hours a day? Nannies here who claim to be professional are always balking that they shouldn't do any tasks beyond kid laundry and washing bottles.

OP here. She is being paid $19 an hour. She started at $17 and we've given her a $1 raise every year. I just don't see how talking with her will change things. She might start folding laundry twice a week during her 5 hour break but this still wouldn't justify what she is being paid and how little she is doing. When DC#2 started preschool I did bring up extra tasks and she resisted. She offered to organize clothes and unload the dishwasher but this only needs to be done twice a year. She doesn't want to do the rest of the laundry or any housekeeping tasks. She makes a big deal of how busy their day is all the time.

Can you afford a professional? They usually charge you more.

Anonymous wrote:So she is actually doing her job, just not going above any beyond? And you feel as though firing her without severance, without a conversation/chance for improvement, might be justified? Reverse the situation. You were performing the assigned tasks at your job and had no indication that your boss was less than satisfied (because they never said anything to you) and then you are fired without severance...pretty shitty, eh?

Act like a boss and have a conversation with your nanny. If this is too difficult, you are perhaps not cut out to be an employer.

No professional would think her job entails sitting on the couch for 5 hours a day. This kind of performance is on par with a high school sitter. Talking to the nanny and assigning specific chores might yield marginal improvement, but it isn't going to turn her into a hard-working professional who looks for ways to help this family run more smoothly and raise its children more effectively.

What made you want this person, OP?

Anonymous wrote:So she is actually doing her job, just not going above any beyond? And you feel as though firing her without severance, without a conversation/chance for improvement, might be justified? Reverse the situation. You were performing the assigned tasks at your job and had no indication that your boss was less than satisfied (because they never said anything to you) and then you are fired without severance...pretty shitty, eh?

Act like a boss and have a conversation with your nanny. If this is too difficult, you are perhaps not cut out to be an employer.

It doesn't sound to me like she's doing her job. She has 5 1/2 hrs/day when she's being paid but the children are at school and/or sleeping but she waits to fold the laundry when the child wakes up from his nap when she is supposed to be picking up the other child at school. I agree that OP could consider speaking with her about this before she terminates her but let's not go so far as to say the nanny is doing her job as she's supposed to. Also, OP knows the nanny better than we do and said she is the type to pout and sulk so it's not likely that anything good will come from speaking with her.

Does your contract require you to pay severance in addition to providing a certain amount of notice? Generally speaking, severance is paid in lieu of giving the requisite notice, in circumstances where you feel like you won't be able to trust the nanny after she has been told she is out of a job. Some people do give a departing long-term nanny a cash gift or bonus when she leaves (NOT severance), but this is generally only done when the family is very pleased with the nanny but will no longer need her due to a move, kids aging out of home care, or the like.

You just gave her a holiday bonus and she is not meeting your expectations. Why pay severance?

Just wondering, what numbers are we talking when you say "highly paid"?

So she is actually doing her job, just not going above any beyond? And you feel as though firing her without severance, without a conversation/chance for improvement, might be justified? Reverse the situation. You were performing the assigned tasks at your job and had no indication that your boss was less than satisfied (because they never said anything to you) and then you are fired without severance...pretty shitty, eh?

Act like a boss and have a conversation with your nanny. If this is too difficult, you are perhaps not cut out to be an employer.

Looks to me like you didn't get a nanny.

Nanny watches 2 kids one older toddler and one preschooler from 8:45-5:45. Both kids are in Montessori preschool. DC#2 goes from 9-12 5 days a week. DC#1 was originally in the 9-3 session but since DC#2 naps between 1-4 nanny convinced us to keep in aftercare until DC#2 wakes up. I looked at the sign in sheets and noticed that DC#1 was being signed out later than 4pm, sometimes as late at 4:45. I started watching and fast forwarding through the nanny cams. Yes, nanny knows that we have always had these but we only watched them in the beginning.

8:45 nanny arrives and I leave for work Nanny drops both kids off at preschool immediately.
9:15 nanny gets home and does no more than 10 - 15 minutes of tasks. She unload a dishwasher with clean dishes and twice a week throws in a load of laundry.
9:30-11:45 nanny naps on the couch, does something on her computer on the couch, watches TV on the couch.
11:45 nanny leaves to get DC#2
noon-12:15 nanny gets home with DC#2, makes lunch, they both eat lunch
1pm DC#2 goes down for a nap
1-4pm Nanny goes back to napping, watching TV, or on her computer
4pm DC#2 wakes up, nanny plays with him and folds laundry twice a week while he plays for 30 minutes
4:30 nanny leaves to get DC#1
4:45-5:45 - nanny either plays with both kids at home or gets home at 5:30 (they do go to a nearby park.
5:30 I get home 15 minutes early each day to guard against traffic, nanny is packed up and ready to go, usually leaves by 5:35 or 5:40

This wasn't one day. I fast forwarded through the video and watched for several days. She is literally spending 5 hours and 15 minutes everyday on the couch. At most she is with the children for 2 hours and 15 minutes a day. Even during this time she is feeding herself and folding laundry twice a week which I wouldn't mind if she didn't have such a huge amount of downtime.

This clearly isn't working for us and a huge waste of money. Nanny is definitely the type that will pout, sulk, and avoid any additional tasks. Nanny is also highly paid, is the type that asks about her Christmas bonus (so she can plan) in early December, calls immediately whenever it snows just to check that we'll be staying home because it *might* be treacherous and would die if it wasn't a paid day off. These things were annoying but on top of how she is basically being paid to sit on a couch all day, its too much for me. DH wants to terminate her and replace her. I agree that this isn't working for us. DH wants to just give her the notice in the contract and no severance because she doesn't do anything beyond the bare minimum. I'm on the fence about this.