Anonymous wrote:OP here: It all boils down to respect for me as an employee. If I got sick days I have no problem dealing with large amounts of vomit and diarrhea. I wouldn't have been complaining nearly as much. I am human and I think I deserve to say geeze this sucks and I wish I got sick days like most normal people get with their jobs. I have no problem with coming in with just about any illness under the sun when I am being paid if I catch their bug.

I'm glad I read the entire thread before responding b/c I had an entirely different response in my head until I came to this post.

OP: It sounds like your real issue is the lack of sick days. That's understandable. It's also something that can be addressed...unlike expecting your doctor MB to cancel her patients to stay home with a sick child. Like some others I would be irritated if my doctor canceled on me for anything less than an emergency (due to the difficulty of getting the appointment in the first place at some offices).

If you have an anniversary coming up with them you could bring it up at annual review time. I think it's very reasonable to ask for some sick days to be added as a benefit. Even if you don't have an anniversary coming up I think you should schedule a time to talk about it. Explain that you are happy to take care of their kids when they are sick but are concerned about the possibility of catching their illness and needing to take unpaid time off to recuperate. Put the ball in their court by asking if they have any thoughts or ideas on how to address this concern. Explain that your concern isn't related to catching a cold or other minor illness, but rather related to being exposed to and catching a stomach virus b/c you don't want to be in a position of having to choose between coming to work when you are vomiting or losing out on a day's pay due to a stomach virus you caught while cleaning up vomit at their house. You're a f/t nanny, and I think it's reasonable to ask for some sick days based on your f/t employment status.

OP here: It all boils down to respect for me as an employee. If I got sick days I have no problem dealing with large amounts of vomit and diarrhea. I wouldn't have been complaining nearly as much. I am human and I think I deserve to say geeze this sucks and I wish I got sick days like most normal people get with their jobs. I have no problem with coming in with just about any illness under the sun when I am being paid if I catch their bug.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's a good question. I have been trying to find the right words before having a discussion with my bosses. Before I took my current position, I told them at the interview that if a child has a fever above 101, vomiting and/or diarrhea that I believe a parent should be home with their child. Months later at the job, which I love by the way- I don't know how to approach this with them. I know I need to say something. You have any suggestions?

Not sure if you actually said this verbatim, but you would achieve the same thing if you said simply -- I won't care for the kids when they have a fever over 101, etc. No need to offer your judgment of what makes a good parent. Whether or not a Nanny will care for my sick kids is one of my interview questions. It's not a deal breaker. I try to be home whenever I can when my kids are sick, but sometimes my husband and I are both on travel at the same time and we simply can't get home. If a Nanny made a statement like the one above, I'd assume she had a bit of an attitude (just like SOME (not all) of the Nanny posters on this board -- although reading this board has admittedly made my more cynical, so a statement like the one above would be a big red flag).

No, it was not said verbatim. You think a potential employer would hire someone who makes statements about good versus bad parenting? I have no attitude, sorry it came across that way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's a good question. I have been trying to find the right words before having a discussion with my bosses. Before I took my current position, I told them at the interview that if a child has a fever above 101, vomiting and/or diarrhea that I believe a parent should be home with their child. Months later at the job, which I love by the way- I don't know how to approach this with them. I know I need to say something. You have any suggestions?

Not sure if you actually said this verbatim, but you would achieve the same thing if you said simply -- I won't care for the kids when they have a fever over 101, etc. No need to offer your judgment of what makes a good parent. Whether or not a Nanny will care for my sick kids is one of my interview questions. It's not a deal breaker. I try to be home whenever I can when my kids are sick, but sometimes my husband and I are both on travel at the same time and we simply can't get home. If a Nanny made a statement like the one above, I'd assume she had a bit of an attitude (just like SOME (not all) of the Nanny posters on this board -- although reading this board has admittedly made my more cynical, so a statement like the one above would be a big red flag).

Do you offer paid sick days? This would greatly influence my answer to your interview question.

Anonymous wrote:That's a good question. I have been trying to find the right words before having a discussion with my bosses. Before I took my current position, I told them at the interview that if a child has a fever above 101, vomiting and/or diarrhea that I believe a parent should be home with their child. Months later at the job, which I love by the way- I don't know how to approach this with them. I know I need to say something. You have any suggestions?

Not sure if you actually said this verbatim, but you would achieve the same thing if you said simply -- I won't care for the kids when they have a fever over 101, etc. No need to offer your judgment of what makes a good parent. Whether or not a Nanny will care for my sick kids is one of my interview questions. It's not a deal breaker. I try to be home whenever I can when my kids are sick, but sometimes my husband and I are both on travel at the same time and we simply can't get home. If a Nanny made a statement like the one above, I'd assume she had a bit of an attitude (just like SOME (not all) of the Nanny posters on this board -- although reading this board has admittedly made my more cynical, so a statement like the one above would be a big red flag).

My doctors office has called me the week before my appt and told me the doctor was not going to be in that day after all, and that I would need to reschedule my appt. Obviously this was not a last minute emergency and I had a week notice, but I would rather have had it be an emergency the last minute for them to cancel on me. I still would've had to reschedule either way. I still had to take the day off work and then since my MB found someone else to fill in for me, still had to keep that day off unpaid since I am PT with no built-in sick/PTO days. I then had to take ANOTHER day off unpaid for my new appt. Life happens, get used to it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:19:49 My MB only works 3 days a week and has the ability to do half days the other 2 days. I am there for 3 really long days and a few hours the other 2 days. I still get 40 hours a week and sometimes a bit more if they do date night. The rare times she has ever missed work she decided to do a half day within a week of their appointment and re-scheduled them for that time. She would never cancel and leave them hanging for months. I feel that because she has the ability to easily work a half day she could have done so for this occasion.

so what about those patients who took pto or vacation time, paid a diet, drive am hour, paid for parking etc. they just need to sick it up because you don't do vomit even though your job is to take care of kids? I get that you were tired. You could have said no. You could have said yes with the caveat that if you get sick you're expecting sick days and/or hotel refund. You didn't. Deal with it and stop whining.

(new poster here)

Are you seriously suggesting that I, as a nanny, am responsible to my employer's PATIENTS? No. Just no.

This forum needs to get itself together. Either nannies are lowly, unskilled staff who ought to go out and learn something "harder" if they want to be paid more/fairly (depending on who you ask) or they are critical cogs in our society who keep businesses running and ensure doctors' patients keep their appointments. The way you put it makes it sound like a pretty important job, doesn't it? In which case, I think we ought to expect to be treated as such.

TIA.

Anonymous wrote:19:49 My MB only works 3 days a week and has the ability to do half days the other 2 days. I am there for 3 really long days and a few hours the other 2 days. I still get 40 hours a week and sometimes a bit more if they do date night. The rare times she has ever missed work she decided to do a half day within a week of their appointment and re-scheduled them for that time. She would never cancel and leave them hanging for months. I feel that because she has the ability to easily work a half day she could have done so for this occasion.

so what about those patients who took pto or vacation time, paid a diet, drive am hour, paid for parking etc. they just need to sick it up because you don't do vomit even though your job is to take care of kids? I get that you were tired. You could have said no. You could have said yes with the caveat that if you get sick you're expecting sick days and/or hotel refund. You didn't. Deal with it and stop whining.

I don't do vomiting kids, I just don't.

19:49 My MB only works 3 days a week and has the ability to do half days the other 2 days. I am there for 3 really long days and a few hours the other 2 days. I still get 40 hours a week and sometimes a bit more if they do date night. The rare times she has ever missed work she decided to do a half day within a week of their appointment and re-scheduled them for that time. She would never cancel and leave them hanging for months. I feel that because she has the ability to easily work a half day she could have done so for this occasion.

19:49 My MB only works 3 days a week and has the ability to do half days the other 2 days. I am there for 3 really long days and a few hours the other 2 days. I still get 40 hours a week and sometimes a bit more if they do date night. The rare times she has ever missed work she decided to do a half day within a week of their appointment and re-scheduled them for that time. She would never cancel and leave them hanging for months. I feel that because she has the ability to easily work a half day she could have done so for this occasion.

OP, I agree you should have paid sick days. I also agree that in the vast majority of cases that parents should be the ones home with puking kids (other issues, i think are easier to manage but puking is definitely parent work). Also super sucks about your planned day off.

But to answer this..."To the poster that said you would be pissed if your dermatologist canceled are you not willing to be understanding that some people have young children and emergencies happen. ".....I would understand if they are able to fit me in at a time that is workable for me within the next week or two. But as a PP mentioned, it is often horrific to get on doctors' schedules - you have to do it months out and if you're rescheduling it's either for a time slot that is unlikely to work well for you or else much later. If my doc is cancelling then what I expect is that they find a way to work it out to minimize th einconvenience to me but that is hard when most offices are scheduled so tightly.

OP you are absolutely right. It would take a lot more than $12/hour for me to clean up someone else's kid's vomit/diarrhea. ESPECIALLY if they weren't going to pay me if I catch it.

To the poster that said you would be pissed if your dermatologist canceled are you not willing to be understanding that some people have young children and emergencies happen. It's called life! Honestly sometimes quite literally shit happens. I think for a bug this big the mom should have called in. A nanny shouldn't have to be scrubbing massive piles of vomit and diarrhea for $12/hr. and don't give me that mess about oh well she's my nanny so it's her job. I am the OP btw. For a practice as big as this dermatolgy practice is they should have no problem fitting in a patient if it's an emergency appointment that the dr. would have had to cancel and everyone else could easily be re-scheduled. I know it's an inconvenience to have to re-schedule but again shit happens and that's life.

OP here: I guess I should clarify why I am upset. I DO NOT get paid sick days even when I come in and take care of her sick children. I cannot afford to miss any days of work because I can't take that kind of hit to my paycheck. I make $12/hr and cannot have a single day off and still be able to pay things for the month comfortably. I have come into work every time the kids were sick and usually get sick right along with them. I understand not wanting to cancel on her patients but to not offer me sick days to watch her little one's sucks big time. I will be having a discussion about this with them. Also I have worked a ton the last few days and was supposed to be OFF today all but for an hour this afternoon. I was beyond exhausted and I don't know about the rest of you but when I'm working around a sick child and exhausted I am more likely to get sick.