Reply to Nanny wants to use sick leave as vacation days

Forum Index » Employer Issues

Reply to "Nanny wants to use sick leave as vacation days"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]22:01 the reason why it is totally reasonable to treat them separately is for exactly the reasons listed above - if it is all just PTO and nanny uses it up as vacation then what happens when she is actually sick. Moreover as any MBs have said - and in line with how our own employers treat this time - we want our nanny to take a certain amount of time off to rest each year. That equates to the vacation days granted. If all Nannies treated sick days as simply extra vacation then MBs would rightfully offer fewer sick days. I simply do not understand why it is a hard concept - most MBs get short trm disability too at their jobs if they are not fed workers. So is the argument that we should all be inventing some reason to take that leave every single year so it is not "wasted"?  It is there if needed with the hope that it is not necessarily done on a regular basis  [/quote]

All that is well and good. You said it was not self serving. It is. Its in your interest to have her not use those days, be it for doctors appointments, mental health days, mourning, etc. In my opinion, these are all appropriate uses of sick time, and as someone who hasn't been sick enough to miss work in years, this is what I use my sick time for. And yes I do use it. Not all of it, but if I'm burnt out and wake up one morning and just really need a day, haven't had one in months, and haven't scheduled vacation, I will not hesitate to call in. They're my days to use, and my MB understands that. [/quote]

If I have a nanny who is using her sick days basically as vacation days (that is, when she needs a break to relax) and is calling in the morning of, then I am scrambling to find back-up care or calling out last-minute myself.  It would really be nice if my nanny would recognize that she's getting burnt out or needs a day off that she could schedule it with me at least a few days in advance so that I too can plan.  If you're really not sick and you just don't feel like working, that's fine, we've all been there, but you're really screwing your bosses by calling in last minute when you don't really need to.  Even if you just said you really need a day off and can you take off tomorrow, that would be better than last-minute.[/quote]

You don't know anything about my particular situation. All 4 of my bosses have flexible schedules and can work from home if/when they like. They have been known to rearrange their schedules to come out with us for the day if I have something really fun planned for the kids and they don't want to miss it. They let me know if its a busy time at work, or they have an important meeting, but yeah maybe twice a year I wake up after a bad night mentally and physically exhausted and will call out because I need the day. I haven't been sick since college, and I have no qualms over using my sick time for which I negotiated. I have a degree. If I wanted the type of workplace that's super anal about every day I take off, I'd be in an office some where. [/quote]

Great, then you acknowledge that everyone's situation is different and that nannies and MBs need to make compensation packages that are "self-serving" in some regards.  Your bosses have flexible schedules and can work from home if and when they like.  Most of us with nannies can't.  You use your sick days to call out last-minute for mental health because you never get sick, other people may need sick days because they actually do get sick.

One of the differences between sick time and vacation time is that it's generally assumed that vacation time is somewhat planned whereas sick time is taken somewhat last-minute.  So as a working MB, I need to consider how many last-minute call-in days I can handle.  Of course, if people are sick, they're sick.  I'm not arguing that.  But if I had a nanny that called out last-minute five times a year because she needed a mental health day, that wouldn't work for my needs.  I cannot plan to call out of work five times a year with the excuse that my nanny was sick.  That doesn't make me a bad employer or self-serving in the negative sense.  My nanny has vacation time and sick time.  She also has lots of extra days off (and has actually only worked four-day weeks although she's paid for five for the summer because I'm furloughed).  But I need her to be reasonably committed to her work schedule so that I can be too.  
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics