Don’t Get Stuck Without A Nanny Sick Policy! 😣

Hi everyone! Laura from Nanny Parent Connection back with this week’s video.

One of the most common reasons that nannies and families reach out to me is because of problems with their sick policy….or lack of a sick policy!

Why is a sick policy important when you are working with a nanny?

Check out my latest video where I discuss the importance and how to ensure your sick policy will not turn into a source of stress and frustration between your family and nanny.

Click the button below to watch and enjoy!

Click Here To Watch!

A transcript of the video can be found below: 

Hi everyone, Laura from Nanny Parent Connection here. 

One of the most common reasons that nannies and families reach out to me is because they have a problem surrounding their sick policy, or I should say, rather, their lack of a sick policy. 

Why is having a sick policy important? 

Well, someone eventually will inevitably get sick within the family and nanny circle. Now, before COVID, this wasn’t a huge deal, but COVID has complicated a lot of things, including nanny care and sick policies. 

Before COVID, many nannies were okay still continuing on with the workday and caring for the sick child if the child had a mild cough, a runny nose, or a slight fever. 

But if there was any vomiting or incessant or really hard coughing, that was usually a reason to cancel for the day. 

And now, of course, any one of these symptoms could be a symptom of COVID.

When you have a policy in place, you’re not trying to figure out what to do in real-time. 

You can simply refer to your sick policy to figure out how the situation should be handled. 

I guarantee this will take a lot of the stress and guesswork out of the picture for everyone, and it’s going to lead to fewer hurt feelings and feelings of being taken advantage of by all parties.

How do you create a sick policy? 

The first step is that the nanny and the family should have a conversation about what everybody’s comfortable with. 

Ideally, this conversation happens during the interview or during the on-boarding process or while finalizing the details of the contract. 

Remember, comfort levels might differ for somebody who has someone at higher risk for COVID in their inner circle versus someone who does not. 

I recommend sitting down and actually listing out what symptoms everyone is comfortable continuing on with nanny care for the day with and what symptoms people are not comfortable with.

You’ll also want to note down what symptoms may trigger someone taking a COVID test and including in the policy that a negative COVID test result needs to be produced before nanny care continues. 

It’s a really great idea to make sure that both the nanny and the family have access to COVID tests if those are needed. 

You’ll want to make sure to outline your sick policy in the nanny contract. 

Also, make notes specifically of how pay happens in the event of a canceled day. 

Typically, if a family cancels the day due to a sick family member or due to a sick child, then the nanny still gets paid. 

If the nanny calls out, typically, they would use their sick pay, maybe some paid time off, or even take an unpaid day in order to stay home and rest and recover.

One thing I want to point out here is that occasionally, a nanny will provide sick child care, and they will catch whatever the nanny kids have. So take this into consideration. 

If your nanny is out of sick time, it might be a nice thing to do to offer to extend paid days as a result of the nanny catching the “bug” from your kiddo. 

That’s a really nice way to take care of your nanny and make them feel very valued and cared for.

Also, what happens if someone has COVID? 

As of the making of this video in the summer of 2023, the official recommendation is still to isolate for five days if you test positive for COVID. 

According to the Washington State Department of Public Health, if a person who tested positive for COVID-19 receives two sequential negative COVID-19 antigen tests 24 to 48 hours apart when feeling better after at least five days of isolation, they are no longer considered to be contagious. 

And of course, nanny care should not happen if there is a positive COVID test result.

“My contract doesn’t have a sick policy. Now what?” 

It’s never too late to amend your contract and to add in that sick policy, and hopefully, you can have a conversation and figure out that sick policy together as a team before the sick policy is actually needed.

Remember, deciding in real-time what a sick policy is is never ideal.

Sick policies for nanny shares

Nanny shares, of course, add in another layer of complexity because there are just more people, more moving parts, and a higher likelihood that somebody is going to get sick. 

Everything I’ve already said about sick policies absolutely pertains to a nanny share. However, the families need to be in agreement about what happens when one child gets sick. Where does the nanny go? 

Typically, the nanny is going to stay with a healthy child, and the family with a sick child will need to make other arrangements. 

The most important thing is to set clear expectations from the get-go so that some misunderstandings or miscommunications about the sick policy don’t mess up your nanny-share relationship long-term.

All right, everyone, that’s it for today. I hope you found this video helpful. 

If you like this video, please click the like button, subscribe, or ring the bell so that you can be notified when more of these videos come out in the future. 

And don’t miss this video on how to be the best nanny employer.

Thanks, everyone. Bye!