Start the New Year off On-time!

Need a perfect New Year’s resolution? Resolve to always be on time. We’ve all done it, 3 to 5 minutes late seems like no big deal. But the truth is that this kind of tardiness is a bigger issue than just the actual time that you are late. Between a family and their Nanny, this is one of the most common items that can sabotage a great working relationship. For both parties, it can become a matter of professional respect.

Here is the “tardiness” scenario viewed from both sides to give you an opportunity to think about how your tardiness can affect others, and how you might react so as to help manage the situation as best as possible.

The Nanny ‘s situation:

“I only live 30 or 40 minutes away but there was horrific traffic.” Everyone can relate to this! While it is a legitimate excuse from time to time, it can’t be your excuse regularly. At some point, you have to say to yourself, “At this time of day I need to leave earlier than I anticipated, my commute is longer than I thought.”

Tardiness can often be due to misjudging travel time, unforeseen obstacles or last minute interruptions prior to leaving. The best advice anyone can give you is to start earlier than your scheduled start time. If you arrive early you can entertain yourself in some way or get a coffee to start off your shift right. It’s so important to practice good punctuality to show that you value your employer’s time.

The family’s’ situation:

“I just have to take this last phone call before I get home, our Nanny won’t mind if I’m ten minutes behind.” All of us in the work force have encountered this very situation. But the fact is that your Nanny has a life outside of your home. They also have places to be and things to do that they’ve planned for.

It is just as disrespectful for an employer continually to come home late, make unplanned requests to stay late, or take extra time to talk to them after their day is over and you’ve come home to relieve them. Undoubtedly you don’t embrace your Nannie’s tardiness and it’s only reasonable to expect that she needs to be able to rely on your schedule as well.