You’ve Cancelled On The Nanny Last-Minute. Should You Still Compensate Them?
From experience, we know that at any given moment, parents are juggling a million things. Your schedule is full and your time is precious.
Given your personal, professional and family workload, it’s understandable that your plans are always changing, including your childcare needs.
Consider this scenario: You’ve lined up a nanny or sitter to care for your children on Saturday evening but it’s now Saturday morning and you don’t feel so well. You’re likely not going to be going out anymore so you contact the nanny right away to cancel.
The question is: Should you compensate the nanny for their time even if you no longer need their services?
The answer is yes.
In our professional opinion, you should always compensate a nanny for their time when you cancel on them last-minute.
Why should you compensate a nanny for last-minute cancellations?
A nanny’s time is important and valuable, much as yours is. If they’ve put aside time in their schedule to babysit for you and you cancel last-minute, it’s only right to make it up to them by paying them for at least part of their time, no matter the reason for the cancellation.
Paying a nanny for a last-minute cancellation shows that you’re considerate and that you appreciate the service they offer.
A nanny is more likely to babysit for you again, especially on short notice, if you’ve shown them your appreciation in the past and compensated them for a last-minute cancellation.
Consider that a nanny is very likely counting on the income they’ll earn from working with you to make ends meet. If you cancel, paying them for at least part of the originally scheduled time will be greatly appreciated.
The Nannies on Call Cancellation Policy
As a company, we know that we wouldn’t be able to provide the service we do without the team of professional nannies we represent.
The way we see it, a Nanny’s time is valuable.
For that reason, we have a cancellation policy in place. A family can cancel a nanny appointment at any time, but if they cancel with less than 24 hours’ notice, we automatically charge them a cancellation fee equivalent to 4 hours of the nanny’s time. The cancellation fee goes directly to the affected nanny.
Our cancellation policy is in place to protect nannies, their time and their ability to earn an income.
Our cancellation policy helps us have a pool of nannies that is willing and able to work with families, and even commit to last-minute babysitting appointments because they know that their time is respected and protected.
What we offer: Our by-appointment babysitting service is a subscription-based membership that gives you access to our pool of expertly pre-screened nannies for in-home babysitting appointments in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa.
You can learn more about our service here. Visit the Babysitting Help Centre.