https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 11 May 2026 07:38:56 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-758889 Fri, 03 May 2013 00:52:11 +0000 SAHM0811 758889@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We've let go two nannies. They were both pretty upset even though we gave them at minimum 1 month's notice and a month's severance pay. What helped to ease things more was that I offered to help them find other families afterwards by posting their availability to my local mom's group listserv. The notice and severance pay were nice it seemed, but their biggest worry, I think, was how and when they'd find another job afterwards. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-758681 Thu, 02 May 2013 21:49:56 +0000 Andrea 758681@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have the same paranoia. No way would I want someone taking care of my child after I've given them notice. I just fired a nanny recently (mainly for poor performance reasons). We called her at home and told her not to come back and mailed her a severance check. She was happy about the money. I would think the bigger concern is loss of wages rather than notice period so if you pay severance then that should be fine. </p> <p>@Honeybee: that is terrible about leaving DD out in the car!!!</p> <p>@irene: I've fired several nannies! Maybe I'm just really bad at picking them! Maybe I am too picky. Who knows ... glad I do not need one anymore! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-758588 Thu, 02 May 2013 21:02:19 +0000 Honeybee 758588@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@irene: Ah, gotcha. We had some performance issues with our nanny, but I fired her on the spot the day I came home from lunch to find her in the house and DD out in the car. :/ The nanny said she just left DD in the car for a few minutes because she was sleeping and she (the nanny) wanted to put the dogs out before bringing her inside. But it was winter, and her car was turned off and unlocked; there was no way we could know how long DD was actually out there before I pulled up. Plus, the nanny admitted she had done the same thing multiple times before and didn't think it was a big deal. So I told her she was no longer needed and that we'd send her a check for the rest of the month's wages. Pretty much the most awful feeling in the world when I saw DD in that car without anyone around.... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-758557 Thu, 02 May 2013 20:50:02 +0000 irene 758557@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Honeybee: No we didn't... our deal was we needed a nanny between 4-12 months because the daycare I liked doesn't have availability until he was 1 year old. So I tolerated the last months because I didn't think anyone would take a job for only a few months. If it were a long-term job? Heck I'd have fired her before LO turned 10 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-758547 Thu, 02 May 2013 20:47:37 +0000 Honeybee 758547@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@irene: Did you fire your nanny, as well? We only had a nanny from the time our oldest was 3 months to... 7 months, I guess. She's now almost 3, so that feels like a long time ago! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-758539 Thu, 02 May 2013 20:45:23 +0000 irene 758539@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Honeybee: Now I want to hear your story of why you fired your nanny. I was wondering why no one ever had any problems with their nanny but me!</p> <p>For us we gave her MONTHS OF NOTICE. I gave her flying review until she landed her job. Then she became quite difficult. It bothered me tremendously but I guess to her she thinks she is doing a great job (including not doing what was told, rolling her eyes whenever I asked her to do something, chatting on the phone on a bluetooth headset all day, laying on the guest bed while LO was napping, skyping her sister with my ipad, taking LO to watch a 3D cartoon movie at the aquarium when he was just 10 months old). It literally traumatize me that I do not want to see her face around my son ever again (even though she was quite nice in offering to coming to visit, I didn't let her). </p> <p>If I were you, I'd give her 1 week notice and give her 3-4 weeks of extra pay..... if you liked her. If not, give her 1 week notice and 2 extra weeks of pay. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159768 Tue, 15 May 2012 20:32:31 +0000 eeh 159768@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would give her the option. Call her in and explain the situation and tell her she can either continue working for 2 weeks or be done then and there with 2 weeks pay. My guess is that she would take the 2 weeks pay and be done because it would give her time to be actively looking for a new job while still getting paid. Of course make sure you have alternative arrangements for if she decides to take the money and walk (you or your husband can be home, mom or mil can watch LO, etc.). </p> <p>I do agree that she's not very likely to change her quality of care in the next 2 weeks because she's probably very dependent on you as a reference. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159668 Tue, 15 May 2012 19:31:08 +0000 mrbee 159668@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would definitely give her notice. Nannies are 100% dependent on good references, and can't burn any bridges. We gave our last nanny both notice and severance... we definitely had the same concerns as you, but worked our way through them! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159557 Tue, 15 May 2012 17:15:17 +0000 Honeybee 159557@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We fired our nanny at the beginning of the month and paid her out the rest of the month; since we fired her, though, I just told her not to come back one day and sent her the final check in the mail.</p> <p>ETA: Reading your last posts, I think you'd be ok to give her a little notice. It doesn't sound like she would neglect or abuse DS, but just not follow through with your requests exactly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159489 Tue, 15 May 2012 16:08:07 +0000 lavender 159489@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would let her go suddenly but with the two weeks pay. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159323 Tue, 15 May 2012 14:29:22 +0000 chopsuey 159323@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would tell her last minute and would give her 2 weeks extra pay to soften the blow. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159257 Tue, 15 May 2012 13:51:26 +0000 LuLu Mom 159257@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I woudl say if you are willing to give her two weeks pay as she leaves that is fine, she will have some income to live on, but I would say notice is always the best. I would hope that a nanny wouldn't neglect her responsibilies just because she knows the job is coming to an end. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159253 Tue, 15 May 2012 13:48:25 +0000 calsmom 159253@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Giving her 2 weeks pay would be best, esp if you aren't satisfied with her performance. I was a nanny for years, and I faced both having to give notice and being told that I am not needed anymore...sometimes with notice, sometimes no notice but with severance. I always dreaded giving notice, so it sucks for both parties! I found it best for both parties they as long as things are going well, then a month's notice is very much appreciated. </p> <p>Good luck and congrats on becoming a sahm and law student! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159193 Tue, 15 May 2012 13:21:24 +0000 red_seattle 159193@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. bird: We don't have a contract (wish we did, obviously that was a mistake). So this is completely uncharted territory.</p> <p> I absolutely want to be fair though, so we'd either let her know that we won't need her in a couple weeks or we'll give her 2 weeks pay if we let her know suddenly. Especially since her husband can no longer work and I don't want to put them in more of a bind than necessary with us letting her go. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159179 Tue, 15 May 2012 13:16:25 +0000 PBandBaseball 159179@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If you aren't thrilled with her performance now, I can definitely see why you'd be concerned about what would happen if you gave her a two-week notice. I think that you're very generous to just consider paying her for that two weeks &amp; I doubt she'll be terribly upset. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159178 Tue, 15 May 2012 13:16:05 +0000 T.H.O.U. 159178@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It sounds like it would be best to just give her the two weeks pay and leave it at that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159173 Tue, 15 May 2012 13:13:29 +0000 mrs. bird 159173@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>do you and your nanny have a nanny agreement/contract? mine yearly contracts (as the nanny) have usually stated the terms of departure if someone choses to break it prematurely.</p> <p>if you question the care your son would receive after letting her know when you'll no longer need her, i would absolutely just give her the check for the two weeks and be done with it. hopefully that isn't the case. or if you think it would be helpful, offer to keep her around for the 2 weeks while you are home and give her the option to leave before that if she finds a new position quickly. better to be upfront though.</p> <p>i left a job (knew they wouldn't need me as one had lost their job &amp; planned to be home with them for the summer before putting the kids in school full time in the fall and was still given my official 6 weeks notice) and after they gave me a check for my unused personal time, plus the personal time i would have accrued for the remaining time on my contract as a thank you for being with them for almost 4 years. if was very much kind of them &amp; meant a lot to me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159171 Tue, 15 May 2012 13:12:41 +0000 Andrea 159171@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It doesn't sound like you want her around anymore so I would just give her the 2 weeks pay and send her on her way! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159157 Tue, 15 May 2012 13:05:37 +0000 red_seattle 159157@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@TheHistoryofUS : The truth is, we aren't really thrilled with her performance anyway. She doesn't follow through with our requests or follow our routines despite our repeating things that are important to us. The first red flag was when she asked about him watching TV (Before she started, she said " Is it ok if he watches TV? Some babies really like those shows for babies on The Discovery Channel or PBS."--- Baby X was 4 months at the time!! TV watching for a 4 month old?! We made it clear that that was not ok, but I still noticed a couple of times the TV was turned to those channels when we got home from work. We started leaving the XBox on and she doesn't know how to change it all back to the TV, so that issue was resolved.)... So I don't worry about my son's safety, but I do wonder if she'll care even less about following our rules if she knows her time with us is coming to a close. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159149 Tue, 15 May 2012 12:58:39 +0000 heffalump 159149@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think that would be awesome of you to give her two weeks pay, then you wouldn't have to worry about it. Although I would think that she'd still be a good nanny knowing her job will be ending. It's not like you're firing her for a stupid reason, it's just what you need to do right now for your family. Plus, she'll be wanting a good reference so I feel like she'll still have to try her hardest in order to get that from you. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159143 Tue, 15 May 2012 12:56:22 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 159143@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't think that should be so much of a concern. Situations change and I'm sure she'll understand! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159141 Tue, 15 May 2012 12:55:25 +0000 T.H.O.U. 159141@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If you are willing to give her 2 weeks pay as a parting gift then I wouldn't worry so much about notice. I would also offer a nice letter of recommendation. </p> <p>I would be curious though, if you are happy with her performance, why would she treat your son differently knowing you no longer need her services? Hopefully she would be more understanding then to go to that level. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159139 Tue, 15 May 2012 12:54:23 +0000 Shutterbug 159139@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've never employed a nanny, but I've been a nanny. I think her main concern would be the sudden loss of wages, so if you're going to give her 2 extra weeks pay, I think that's totally reasonable. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/letting-nanny-go#post-159133 Tue, 15 May 2012 12:52:14 +0000 red_seattle 159133@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>In a few weeks, I'm going to be becoming a SAHM and a part-time law student. (Yay!) It looks like we will no longer need our nanny or any childcare besides my mother-in-law once per week, so we plan to let her go. While I would love to give our nanny 2 weeks notice to give her time to search for a new position... I'm a little concerned about the care she'll give Baby X in that 2 week period. Is she really going to give the best care if she knows her position is about to end? Part of me would rather let her know at the last minute "Thanks, but we won't need you going forward. But here's a couple weeks of pay to help tide you over while you look for your new position." I'd give a few weeks notice if she weren't entirely responsible for my son's care, but since she is, I'd rather minimize any potential issues there.</p> <p>Am I being paranoid thinking that way? If you've had a nanny you had to let go, how did you do it? If you've nannied before, what has been your experience when families found they no longer needed your help? </p>