Is severance pay for a nanny customary?

A parting gift of 1-2 weeks' pay for a nanny of two years is common--we gave two--but severance pay beyond that is not. Assuming you have been paying over the table, though, your nanny is eligible to receive unemployment if she does not have a job immediately lined up.

I don't know what's customary, but we suddenly found a preschool and had to work through how to part ways with our awesome nanny.

We ended up delaying preschool start by a few weeks due to a previously scheduled vacation. We ended up giving our nanny 4 weeks notice, and paid her 1 week's pay extra in her final payment. I guess it could be considered severance, altho we were already planning to pay her while we were on vacay, so it was a natural blend of the two.

We also acted as a reference and would have posted on bpn if needed. 

We did not pay severance per se, but our nanny had accrued vacation time during her time working for us, and we paid out the unused vacation time when we parted ways.  The expectation of this was laid out in our initial nanny contract.

In doing some checking around, unless your agreement with your nanny has a severance clause you are NOT legally obligated to pay her anything.  However, given that nannies to talk and should you find yourself needed a nanny in the future, you might want to consider paying her the standard two weeks of severance.  Two weeks is the what appears to be standard in the industry for severance pay.  Good luck.

When we parted ways with a nanny we adored (and hope to hire back for #2, I'm currently pregnant), we and the family we shared with decided to jointly give a $500 parting bonus (less than 1/2 week's pay) along with some other small gifts (e.g. framed photo of kids). It certainly isn't required especially if not mentioned in your agreement, though in researching the topic, it sounded to me like it was not that unusual for some families to give up to a full week's pay. Tough decision, and now more awkward that she brought it up directly. Good luck making the right decision for you!

Your contract basically provides for two weeks’ severance by requiring two weeks’ notice. When we had a nanny we had a similar provision but provided 30 days notice/severance.

It’s up to you whether you want to increase this amount over what was agreed to in the contract. Though it’s not required, you may want to provide a parting bonus if your nanny was a good employee. 

We are relocating as well and are giving our nanny a full month’s pay as a bonus/severance. She has been working for us nearly a year. We also helped her find another nanny job. 

Everyone I know paid 2-3 weeks severance on their last day for nannies who had been with them up to one year. Our nanny had been with us for two years so we paid her four weeks severance after two weeks notice and made sure to secure another position for her.

Hi there - It's not required but I think it is customary if employment is ending due to no fault of their own. Plus it's what we'd want and expect from our employers if there were a parallel situation. Severance is usually 1-2 weeks per year worked, so you'd want to pay 2-4 weeks of pay if you go this route. 

2 week notice is required, severance is not.  Some families decide to do severance, some do a gift, and some do nothing. It really depends on how good she is, how much you liked her, and your financial ability to be generous.  She is not entitled to severance unless it is in her contract.  If you are helping her find another family and gave her full 2 week notice, she should be able to find work quickly and not have loss of income.  If she is having a hard time finding other work that might be a reason to give her a bit of severance to help, but it is totally optional.   I gave my home daycare 2 weeks’ tuition as a gift (divided between the co-owners/caregivers) when my last child left there but I LOVED them and they had all my kids there at some point.  If you end up doing severance you could do one week’s worth.  For me, the fact that she asked for it would make me less likely to give it, unless you promised it to her or it is in contract.  

We have parted ways with several nannies due to a variety of reasons. Severance is not common practice and should not be expected. As long as you have paid her any accrued vacation, then there should be no other payments as per your contract. Definitely not necessary.

When we parted ways with our nanny, we paid her for all unused vacation and what we would have normally given her as a bonus at the end of the year (two weeks pay). I don’t know what is customary, but in my industry our US office provide two weeks pay for each year of service if an employee is being laid off. Our Asia-based offices provide one month for each year of service.

If you pay your nanny legally, she can access unemployment, which provides a cushion. This is a big reason we really wanted (and did) pay our nanny legally. When we parted ways (through no fault on either side), we provide a bit of a bonus since she was an amazing part of our family for more than a year and we were deeply appreciative of her efforts for our child. If you pay "under the table," it's a tougher situation since there's potential legal risk involved.

We paid our nanny a bonus when we transitioned our child to preschool after 2.5 years in her care. I think severance pay or a parting bonus is appropriate and normal. I would ask yourself, "what would YOU want your employer to do if it were you in this situation?" I think giving her 2 weeks notice and helping her find her next family are the bare minimum and I encourage you to go beyond the bare minimum with someone who helped you with your children over the last few years.