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Working Moms
malt
member
pay nanny on snow day?
malt
member
in Working Moms
Today my nanny called in sayning she couldn't make it due to snow. I work in a hospital that never closes. If I don't come I lose a vacation day. I made it to work today without a problem, but the rest of the world is home. DH is on vacation this week so we didn't NEED her but I did not tell her that. She was expected to work today.
Do we pay her for her missed day?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: pay nanny on snow day?
so I totally get that some areas were not safe to drive, but our neighborhood was completely fine, despite getting 18 inches. I do understand her decision not to come, since the TV said it was not safe, etc. That being said, do I PAY her for not coming? I get docked if I don't come, even if the roads are not passable. I think it is reasonable for her to use a vacation day, since that is what I would have to do.
also depends on the roads in her neighborhood. I know our HOA has the roads plowed, the neighborhood next to us, does not. still, it's a mess out there. NYC buses aren't moving. there are trains that were stuck with people in them. People stuck in snow drifts on the side of the road. just going by the news, I don't blame her for not wanting to get out.
I'm a nurse ... I know, I don't get paid if I don't show on snow days, but my employer will also have someone (will pay the FDNY) to come get me if I cannot get out and they don't have coverage. this am was NASTY (we had over 2' of snow, my neighbor's camry was completely buried in snow) and technically the blizzard warning was through today... I really thought it would snow more this am. I would talk to her and offer to pay her from her PTO ... but this may be something to discuss and include in the next year's contract. talk to her... maybe she's not expecting to get paid either?
Were you planning on having her come all week with your DH being on vacation?
I'm not in New York, but I am in MA, and we had very bad snow. The governor called a State of Emergency. It was not safe for anyone to be driving. I work in a nursing home, so I do understand about needing to be there.
I would pay her. In the future I would offer to pick her up and drive her home if the roads are that bad. We do that at our work whenever someone complains about the roads we get someone to pick them up.
Were you planning on having her come all week with your DH being on vacation?
yes, she just started 1 month ago so she does not have any accrued vacation yet. my husband was looking forward to getting things done around the house and relaxing.
I would pay her. In the future I would offer to pick her up and drive her home if the roads are that bad. We do that at our work whenever someone complains about the roads we get someone to pick them up.
Haha you are nicer than me. Nobody picks me up and brings me to work so no way I am doing that
She lives 30-35 minutes away, close to where I work.
This, exactly. Additionally, when my company closes due to snow days I still get paid. I have never worked for a company that made me use PTO or docked my pay for bad weather.
this can't be true. i work for the federal govt and i get docked on snow days
i would pay her and then set up a plan for the future - should have had one in place already but since you didn't- i thikn she should be paid.
with daycare - if it closes, you still pay for a full month... that's just how it works.
A friend of mine recently quit her job an ICU nurse to be a SAHM and lives in our neighborhood. So now my back up plan in the event the nanny cannot make it is that she can watch DS in the event of emergency (certainly won't abuse this unless it's a real emergency). Perhaps you could look into whether you have any family/friends who could be your emergency backup. I certainly don't think it's fair to punish the nanny for inclement weather, and likely won't result in her sticking around very long.
This (it seems that 9 times out of 10 I totally agree with Goldie, but anyway...). Since she's only been your nanny for a month and you don't have anything in place for situations like this, use this opportunity to have a conversation about vacation/pto and explain to her again that you always have to go to work. It's not worth pissing her off over a day or half a day's pay, especially since she's still new and if things are going well.
We had a blizzard here in Feb and the world more or less stopped. FWIW, I had to use PTO once I ran out of things to do @ home for work.
Most hourly workers don't get paid for hours or shifts not worked. It doesn't matter if the office was closed due to snow. If you want to make nice, I guess you could pay her but I wouldn't feel particularly guilty about it.
why did you ask? sounds like you're just trying to justify your decision to not pay her. you seem hell bent on not accepting peoples' opinions.
don't pay her if you don't want to. but prep for questions and draw up a plan. Do you have a contract with this person? you need to have a game plan for sick time/emergency days/snow days. like I said before, she may not be expecting pay for the day. talk to her about it.
This!
Okay well if she has a 30-35 minute drive, then you have no idea what the road conditions were in her neighborhood. All I know is, the roads were dangerous throughout the NE Sunday and Monday! Seriously you seem very unkind!
Interesting, because my sister lives in Westchester (Mamaroneck) and she said the roads weren't even plowed by her yesterday morning...maybe your area was fine, but surrounding areas weren't?
In any event, I definitely pay my nanny for snow days (like yesterday). We had somewhere between 18 and 22 inches in my part of NJ and our nanny lives 25 minutes away...it would have been EXTREMELY unsafe to drive in that. My office was closed and I still got paid, so why shouldn't she?
I understand in your case there are no snow days, but since your DH was home anyway (and I assume he may have had a snow closing had he not been off), I think you are being completely unreasonable in expecting someone to put their life in danger when they weren't actually needed.
I agree about paying her on snow days, but as for the rest, I am pretty sure you are wrong. First of all, if she decided to put her own life at risk in order not to lose a day's pay, thats her own choice. If, on the other hand, she was told that if she didnt show on a snow day, then she would be fired, her hand is being forced as to putting her life at risk, which may change the liability factor. As for family winning a civil case, there is absolutely NO way of knowing what a judge/jury/mediator would decide in a case like this, so stating that her family "would" win a civil case is simply ridiculous.
I assume you aren't an attorney (nor am I, however I went to law school and work in the legal field) and as a result, you are in no position to be giving legal advice, so I would refrain from doing so.
I appreciate the feedback about how I am coming off. I am not hell bent on not paying her. In fact, everyone's feedback here is helpful. We do want to keep her happy and safe! I plan on paying her for this time, and then discussing what we will do in the future and sticking to it. What I would prefer is that it would count towards her paid time off. If she didn't want to use a vacation day, she could go unpaid one day, or could make a day up to us on a weekend or something.
Ultimately, I am angry about my own workplace's snow policy (like i said, I MUST use a vacation day if I am out on a snow day or I don't get paid). All my collegues that were snowed in lost a day. We work for the Federal Government and that's just how it goes. So I think it's fair to apply the same policy for my nanny. And my husband's office was actually open too, in NYC, so he would have been expected in as well. Thus, we REALLY need her to make an effort to be here. I have no vacation left due to my maternity leave, so if I missed work, I would have lost money, and then it seems unfair to pay her (or for her not to use vacation) for not coming in.
Here's a completely different perspective (I'm a school teacher):
First, I think whether someone gets paid should be partly dependent on who calls off work. For example, if my office (or school in this case) decides that the roads are unsafe and closes for the day then I think they should still pay me, because I had no say in the matter. I grew up in the northeast and can drive in snow, but I live in the south where everything closes with just an inch of snow that doesn't stick. So, I don't think it's fair for a business to decide to close and the employees lose pay (or vacation days) without a choice in the matter. On the other hand, if the employee is deciding for themselves that they don't plan to come in (because of weather or other factors) they should use a vacation day. If I wake up in the morning and decide not to go to school because the roads in my neighborhood are icy but school isn't closed then they'll have to hire a sub for me and therefore I need to use a vacation/sick day. So, in this case it makes sense since she chose to stay home that she wouldn't get paid. But I also think that you should make reasonable allowances in the future and "close" your business if conditions are treacherous.
Second, what about doing what schools do and building in "snow days" to your contract. In the schools there are between 2 and 5 snow days built into the year where we don't have to make up the days later. Could you tell her that she can take 2 snow days and then all future snow days are unpaid. That way she can use her judgement and not come when it's truly not safe where she lives but she is also limited so she doesn't abuse the privilege.
Every company I've worked for had an "inclement weather policy." I have made my policy with my nanny the same as my work's policy, that way if I have to work, she's expected to come in, but if not, then she doesn't have to come in.
My work policy is that we are open as long as the federal government is open (in the DC area), and they rarely close. Once or twice our CEO has made the call separately for other reasons, and in that case I would give the nanny off too.
That said, if she did not feel comfortable driving for a legitimate reason (neighborhood isn't plowed or whatever) but I still had to work, I would give her the option to use PTO but not give her a hard time about it.
of course you pay her. Do you get paid for a snow day? If so then yes, she should be paid too.
My rule of thumb with that stuff is that whatever I have off and paid (vacation/sick/snow) days, she gets paid too. She has the most important job in the world....keep her happy.
No, I only get paid on snow days if I use a vacation day.
No, I only get paid on snow days if I use a vacation day. See above thread.
No, I only get paid on snow days if I use a vacation day. See above thread.
You're her employer, it's up to you. I sympathize greatly with employees who have to risk driving when the weather is really crappy and tend to think their employers are jerks (I sympathize with you, for example), so I'd tend to sympathize with her and find her employer to be a bit of a jerk for not having a snow day policy.
Since there wasn't one, I'd pay her, then establish something reasonable (e.g., paid day off if your DH's office closes and he is home, fixed number of paid snow days, follow the school schedule, whatever).