Nanny here:
Two weeks. I gave my previous bosses 5 weeks and they only honor 3 and told me that they will not need any longer cause families will going to visiting to hel w children.

Please no more that two weeks.

Hey folks - this is a two year old post, resurrected by someone who needed to rant.

Anonymous wrote:Two weeks is not appropriate in a nanny position, or in any important or professional position. You should give a months notice. Two weeks is standard only in jobs where the departing employee can be easily replaced or where there are other employees who can pitch in until a replacement is found. It is not standard in a professional position.

You sound like a dumb ass. In any professional position 2 week notice is given before you leave or quit. Please educate yourself before writing here.

You might try giving them notice and letting them know you ar available for up to x weeks to facilitate the transition. Ask them to let you know whether they would like to continue using you for that time. If they say yes, give them a draft letter of recommendation with some of your accomplishments over the last three years. Let them know you'll need the final draft at the end of next week.

I went this route with my previous position and the family was very receptive. If they were very upset then they had the option to terminate our relationship immediately and I would not expect a reference in that case. But if they were comfortable with the way I care for their children and felt the kids would be safe in my hands then that meant we could take our time to make a smooth transition. They really appreciated the draft letter because it saved them time. It also was a good reminder of our accomplishments together, widening everyone's focus to the overall success of our time together.

Anonymous wrote:MB here. Two weeks is appropriate. Three or four weeks is very gracious if you can do it.

Remember that you want to preserve them as a reference so keep that in mind when deciding how to handle notice period, communication around why you're leaving, etc... Keep your eye on the big picture for you - not any immediate satisfaction of making some point about why you're leaving. A three year tenure is terrific - focus on that and maintaining good will.

Good luck w/ the new position.

agree. - another MB

My sister is giving her nanny of 3 years a 1 month notice....I think your notice should be similar.

Apparently, nannies are supposed to be more professional and compassionate than their soon to be former employers, in order to receive a good reference. If employers were as decent as they expect their departing Nanny to be, she wouldn't be leaving!

Anonymous wrote:Did they give you a reference letter yet?

OP here, no reference and I fear things will get nasty when I do quit.

Did they give you a reference letter yet?

MB here, who had a nanny quit by email with 2 weeks notice, and then took the last week off--

If they really don't know you're thinking about leaving, I would give them 3-4 weeks notice. Despite what plenty of people say on here, I think it is very hard to find a great, dependable nanny and 2 weeks is not going to do it. If they have jobs which will allow them some flexibility as they look for someone new, then that might work out, but closer to a month is way better.

I would advise saying it face to face. They see you all the time, so it seems odd to send an email. Our nanny (who left to pursue something better) admitted that she was just scared to talk to us. But we're really reasonable and even though it SUCKED there's no way I would have yelled at her or fired her that day or whatever.

As for why you're leaving--if they ask, I'd advise just saying what you initially said--that you want an opportunity to make more use of your degree. I'd only tell them the other details if they ask if there was anything they could have done differently.

It's up to you how you want to give notice, you can either give a written notice or a verbal, whatever makes you the most comfortable.

If you can stand it, ideally a month's notice would give them enough time to find a good nanny w/out feeling rushed into it. It would also give them some time to train her as well as ease into the transition since that is a difficult aspect for the child.

If that is too long for you, the minimum would be two weeks.

I do want to warn you that for some reason, the minute a family receives notice that their nanny is leaving, for whatever reason...They tend to get kinda snarky about things. And considering that this family has been getting away w/taking advantage of you by adding extra chores, chances are high they will get pissed you are leaving because now they have to take the chance that they won't find anyone else who will put up w/their B.S.

Hopefully, you have some form of income to float by on in case they give you the boot immediately.

Nanny here

Give them verbal notice saying something along the lines of "I have really enjoyed working for you for the past 3 years but want to pursue other career paths using my degree. My last day will be X." Then follow up later that day via email so it is in writing.

As far as how much notice to give: 2 weeks is standard, 3 weeks is generous. If you have the ability to offer some flexibility with your end date then you can let them know that as well.

MB here. Two weeks is appropriate. Three or four weeks is very gracious if you can do it.

Remember that you want to preserve them as a reference so keep that in mind when deciding how to handle notice period, communication around why you're leaving, etc... Keep your eye on the big picture for you - not any immediate satisfaction of making some point about why you're leaving. A three year tenure is terrific - focus on that and maintaining good will.

Good luck w/ the new position.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MB here. You should give two weeks notice at a minimum. You should not feel obligated to give more than that.
I would not bring up any of your grievances before you leave no matter how badly you'd like to. Since you're leaving it can't help you in any way and you never want to burn bridges, you may need them as a reference one day.

+1 I agree - Why dredge up issue now? There is absolutely no upside to that. Leave as happy as you were on your first day on the job.

And do make time to talk to your charges - let them know that your leaving has nothing to do with them and that you just want a different kind of job but you love them and will visit them. And I hope you do make at least one visit to them which is another reason to leave on a good note.

I've heard of angry parents who don't allow the nanny to see the children.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two weeks is not appropriate in a nanny position, or in any important or professional position. You should give a months notice. Two weeks is standard only in jobs where the departing employee can be easily replaced or where there are other employees who can pitch in until a replacement is found. It is not standard in a professional position.

You're probably the same poster always going on about how uneducated and unskilled nannies are, how unimportant we are, how anyone can do our job, and why you don't need to pay more than the bare minimum. You can't have it both ways. Either we are important and integral employees, who should be paid and valued as such, or we are replaceable and unimportant and you should have no issue replacing us.

You sure did nail her ass.