‘Tis the season to be sick. I am not wishing that on you, but it’s bound to come – especially for those of you working with young children. I have already been sick this year and in fact still not completely recovered. How do you handle sick time? I believe this is an important factor in your professional relationship. The family you work for is completely dependent on you. The way that your sick time is handled could easily drive a wedge between you and your bosses or build another layer of trust and respect. This is one of those opportunities to show your professionalism.
High5 Friday: Planning ahead for Unfortunate Sick Days
5. Discuss in Advance
By far the most important thing to do for your sick time is to discuss it ahead of time. Let’s face it you will get sick. The last thing you want to do when you are feeling bad is deal with job negotiation. When you start a new position, ask your employers what their expectation is when you are sick. This is definitely one of those grey areas that will be handled differently by different people. Some parents may be OK for you to come in with a cold, others would not. Some parents say they want to see their Nanny symptom-free for 5 days! It is important that you come to agreement before you get to the moment. When working with young children, you may opt for a flu shot each fall/winter. In many cases the family will cover the cost. This year, many Nannies also received the H1N1 shot. It is always good to discuss these options ahead of time, and as early in the parent-nanny relationship as possible.
4. Get it in Writing
The best option is to put a “Sick Time” clause in your work agreement. Will you be paid for sick days? 1/2 pay or regular pay? How many days a year are you allotted? Will you be paid out at the end of the year if those are unused? Will it carry over? Families will go both ways on this point too. Some may choose to pay out days at the end of the year in hopes that you will not use them unless absolutely needed. On the other hand some families feel that if you are not working, why would you be paid. If you do not have a work agreement, think about having the talk and typing up a reply email that follows the conversation. You can print that out as a reference.
3. Give Notice
As soon as you know that you might possibly be sick, let the family know. This happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I started feeling bad in the evening, so I sent a quick text message saying I wasn’t feeling well. The next morning I was sure that I needed to stay home. As soon as you know, contact the family by phone. Method is also important. Where sending a quick text or email with a warning may be appropriate, always call and speak with the family directly (if possible) when calling in sick.
2. Offer to help
Is there anyway that you can help? Do you have any Nanny/baby-sitting friends that could fill in? At times, I have offered to come in until they have a find a replacement, or offered to call a grandparent to come take-over for me. If there is anything that you are able to do to make this situation easier for the family, it is in your best interest to do it.
1. Make up for lost time
When returning to work cover the slack that you may have left. Did you miss a laundry day? Get caught up. Were you supposed to have a special field trip? Re-plan it. Don’t leave the family in a bind or feeling let down. Always communicate any diagnosis that may affect the family. Keep a log of sick time accrued. Play catch up and make sure all your bases are covered.
Great post. I absolutely agree about the work agreement. It’s critical that sick days, as well as so many other things, be agreed upon ahead of time.
I also recommend that families develop a back-up care plan BEFORE it’s needed. Almost every city has a nanny agency that offers short term temp care and many employers work for companies that offer a day care for emergency care. Many nannies do the footwork on finding a workable back-up solution but it’s worth it when you can actually TAKE the sick days you’ve been promised.
And what does High5 Friday mean? I’m so out of the lingo loop!
High5 is basically like a top 5 list, playing on the kids term “gimme a high five” Each Friday, I post my top 5 thoughts on an issue, share the basic info. on a resource. If you type in “High5” in the search bar, you’ll see more of them.
Thanks for reading!!