No one is saying that they don't. Requiring a nanny to care for sick children does not automatically equate to not giving a nanny sick leave, interesting that you made that leap though. |
There are people who do it. Trust me, I've had the misfortune of working for them. I accepted a job without sick leave because I was desperate, and honestly I just don't get sick. Fast forward to flu season, literally a few days per week someone in that family was home sick. Coughing sneezing puking in my work space. I was so sick that winter it was insane. They did not pay me for a single sick day, even though I got sick caring for them and their sick kids in their house of germs. |
Of course people do it, in every industry (and people get sick from co-workers in every industry). PP, however, was trying to assert that it is a given that if nannies are required to work with sick kids, they are also not being given sick leave themselves. This is very rarely the case. |
Yes it is ridiculous but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I was fired from a previous job because I was pregnant. I can't prove that's why they fired me so it's not like there was something I could do about it. It is what it is. |
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It has never occurred to me to not be okay with caring for a sick child. My bosses hired me because they both have jobs where it's really inconvenient to call out - one of them is a pediatrician so if she stays home with her sick kid, multiple other sick kids can't see their doctor that day.
Of course I can see making an exception when you have a wedding coming up or something, but as a general rule I fully expect to care for my charge no matter how sick she is. |
| Pediatricians, school teachers, parents ... all deal with sick kids all day long. Most adults have more immunities than kids. It's not a given that you'll get sick because a kid is sick ... |
People who's job it is to care for sick people/children get sick days and health insurance. If you offer those things, than it is a reasonable expectation. If you don't offer those things, get it together. |
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There are 2 different issues here.
The OP doesn't want to deal with sick kids who are more work. This has nothing to do with her fear of catching something. As other posters have pointed out she was exposed before she was sick and if she fears illness then she need to go live in a bubble and not accept jobs that require venturing outside her bubble. OP is just another example of a lazy, lazy nanny trying to play it off as something else. On sick days, most jobs do offer sick days. They don't offer unlimited sick days but usually offer 3-5. If you are not qualified or marketable enough to find a job that offers sick leave, you certainly are not going to get a paid day off every time the kids are sick! |
+1 This is exactly it. Being around children who are ACTIVELY sick is not a risk, it is too late at that point. OP-and nannies who "don't care for sick children"-just don't want to clean up puke and deal with extra whiny/needy kids. The notion that it is somehow for everyone's protection is complete B.S. |
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I would not hire a nanny who had a "sick days policy". One of the most significant reasons to have a nanny is for unexpected sick day coverage.
And a fever of 101? That's nothing. |
That's not entirely true. I'm a physician and I don't get sick days unless I'm dying. I wear a mask and wash my hands a lot but physicians (pediatricians included) can't call in sick everytime they catch something. What would happen to all of my sick patients if I had to cancel their appointments everytime I was sick? And yes, I "get" health insurance but I pay $800/month for that health insurance. |
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OP is another example of a spoiled girl who doesn't understand what being a nanny really is about. Part of working with children is dealing with the fact that they get sick. You are there to take care of the children, not just when you feel like taking care of them.
Yes, the children I take care of have gotten me sick in the past. That is part of life when working with children. Preschool and elementary school teachers are exposed to stuff everyday, but I don't hear them demanding that they aren't coming to work if one of their students got sick at school. And don't tell me sick kids don't go to school. It happens all the time. |
| I'm OP and I fined I should include that they were sick with H1N1 - no way in hell was I going any where near that especially since I had just had the weekend off and was feeling 100%. I'm not lazy, spoiled or any other names you want to call me.i have a sick care policy that is actually similar to a few that agencies use. The parents at the time also had jobs where they could skip out a whole day just to go shopping or catch a movie so I got pretty fed up with spending my days caring for their sick kids, getting sick myself and them literally not going to work. |
| MB here - if kids are puking, then I don't hand them off because that is just more than a non-parent should have to deal with. But fever - yeah, part of what I expect a nanny should be able to handle. |
+1 this |