It’s never easy when you need to cut your nanny’s hours, especially if you want to keep your nanny. When having the conversation with your nanny, make sure that she knows the reason behind the change, make sure that she knows that the change is not because of her performance. Remember how stressful it is to lose money or financial stability, but there are a few things that you can do to make this change in your nanny’s financial circumstances easier.
Help her with finding a new family for full time or share care: The first thing that you can do to help your nanny with the loss of compensation resulting from the change in hours, is to try helping her to find another family that she can split her hours with. Your word is as good as gold when giving a recommendation, and you should know if any of your friend’s are in need of help around the house or with their kids. Talk to your friends who live nearby and find out if your friends or neighbors are in need of help, and let them know about your super amazingly wonderful nanny whose hours you unfortunately have to cut and ask if they might be interested in sharing your nanny’s hours. Also make sure that your nanny is interested in spitting her hours between families. Also write you nanny a glowing letter of recommendation, should she pursue other employment opportunities.
Offer her a raise if it’s financially possible: Look for alternatives in compensation, perhaps offer her a slight raise to help offset the wage loss that will result from you cutting the hours. Raising salaries or wages doesn’t mean that our nanny will now be worry free following their hours being cut, but this will make some difference. Also maybe give your nanny a good year end bonus (if this is financially possible). Ask your nanny if there is anything you can do to make the transition easier.
Be honest: It is never easy to cut someone’s hours, especially if you are happy with their work and have a good working relationship with the individual. Make sure that you are sensitive to your nanny’s feelings and situation. By being kind, honest and sincere you can make the transition hopefully ease the stress of the situation all together. Also realize that your nanny may decide to leave for more stable work, and if she makes that decision, realize it’s nothing personal, but your nanny needs to be able to make enough money to live comfortably.