Sick leave - how would you feel about this?

[Anonymous]

What your pediatrician said is a moot point because presumably, s/he has not examined your nanny. Does your nanny have a history of being responsible or is taking unexpected leave a pattern?

It is not clear to me what her condition actually is. Feeling "better" as in completely recovered or as in "not as bad"? I've had some colleagues with Covid recently who are married to their jobs, but ended up being hit hard by Covid (headache, congestion, fatigue) and had to take time off.

I would let her know that you need her to return as soon as she is well enough to do so. I get that it's stressful for you, but if she is feeling bad (and even mild Covid symptoms can still make some feel awful), then it is not her fault.

[Anonymous]

Have you heard of backup care?! Same thing happened with our nanny but it wasn’t two weeks. I am glad we had a few people to call on since we couldn’t miss work. It can be annoying but our Nannie’s are human and sickness happens.

[Anonymous]

Professional career nanny here who has been with my family for five years and never took off minus my discussed vacation except for when I had Covid. It hit me hard. I am a people pleaser and it gives me anxiety to take off because I don’t want to inconvenience anyone. But this was a wake up call for me. Take the time if you have it. Why else offer the days. God bless!

[Anonymous]

I personally believe that it is always the responsibility of the employers to have a back-up childcare plan in place.

[Anonymous]

I'm shocked you'd want her back so quickly with young kids. You are thinking of you and only you, not your kids or nanny. I agree with the nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our nanny got COVID last month(our son got sick at school and we didn’t know it was COVID until the very next day). We all got ill along with nanny but my DH. Nanny kept testing positive on day 7. So finally on day 10 she tested negative and came back to work on day 12. We paid her those 10 days that’s what sick leave is for. Illnesses happen.

You should pay her. You gave it to her.

[Anonymous]

Nanny employer here. If the question is, "how would I respond," I don't think there is really any response that makes sense other than something like "I hope you are feeling better soon. Please take the time you need to feel well, and let us know as soon as you are able to return." This is a tough situation and I totally understand the frustration of not having care. We've been there when our nanny had covid, and it was stressful (fortunately, our nanny was only gone for 5 days). This is one of the downfalls of having a nanny over daycare -- when the nanny is sick, you are responsible for back up care. If she has had a history of abusing time off, I think my response would be different, but in this situation if she has otherwise been reliable, I think you just grin and bear it.

[Anonymous]

Nanny employer here as well. We dealt with a nanny covid situation recently as well, so I totally empathize with how tough things are when your nanny is out unexpectedly. I don’t have anything to say that hasn’t already been said by others; I just wanted to tell you to hang in there. It’s hard and hopefully your nanny has been otherwise reliable and will throw you no more curve balls going forward.

[Anonymous]

Live-in nanny here.

I thought I was doing better, then took a sudden downturn, and I've heard the same from several people. 6 months later and I'm still struggling with shortness of breath and heart palpitations. FWIW, my employers gave me as much time as I wanted... I voluntarily did the distance learning with the child due to consistency, then went back to bed, but if I wasn't living in, I wouldn't have come in. I guess I have decent employers.

[Anonymous]

I'd be frustrated too OP.
I had covid and took the 5 days off I needed to. Yeah, I felt like garbage for a few more days but I also couldn't just keep cancelling patients. Sometimes we go to work because we are needed (even when we have the leave).

Yet another prime example of nannies wanting special treatment but also wanting to be considered "professionals". In the real world, sometimes you have to suck it up and go to work even when you don't feel like it because your absence affects other people.

[Anonymous]

Coming here to posts that my nanny family has exposed me to covid now 3 times, and I guess 3rd time is a charm and they finally gave it to me. My boss texted to ask if I would still come in since we all have Covid. When I didn’t reply she texted again to ask if I got her text, and I said I did, but I thought it was a joke. We aren’t robots. We are humans. Covid gets worse as time goes on, in many cases. This time I’m taking a full 10 days even if I’m not better, because I’m seriously tired of all the BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. Also, it would be helpful if only other employers responded to these threads. It’s not fair to OP or other posters for all nannies to pile onto one post and pretend to be employers.

You are literally on the nanny forum. Stay in your lane. I think it’s amazing that you’re talking about white-collar workers who been sitting on the couch for the past two years, give me a break.

[Anonymous]

Day 6 she’s likely still contagious. I would not want someone with covid watching my kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Different perspective. Professional white collar employees rarely just take off two weeks for work unless they are extremely ill. Certainly not for a mild illness, and certainly not without considering the impact their absence has on their team and colleagues. It’s odd that she is not taking it day by day. Like, who just says, I have a little cold, my symptoms aren’t bad, but I will need another full week to recover? If her symptoms are serious that’s another story but it sounds like she’s not telling you they are.

Professional white collar employees easily work from home while relaxing on the couch so don't need to take two weeks sick leave. Not an option for a sick nanny who doesn't want to possibly infect kids.

[Anonymous]

What your “children’s pediatrician” says is irrelevant. They are not the nanny’s doctor.

— oh, and I’m not a nanny