Should Nannies have sick days?

Nannies and Caregivers Deserve Sick Days, Too
Posted by Jennifer Merritt of the Wall Street Journal

A few weeks back, one of the two women who run my son’s family day care ended up in the emergency room on a Friday afternoon. She’d been working for a week with a bad cold, maybe even the flu. The doctor pumped her with fluids and prescribed three days of rest. That Monday, day care was closed — she needed to take care of herself. We called on my son’s grandparents to pitch in; other parents took the day off or used back-up services.
The following Tuesday, I handed over my weekly check and the woman, who the kids (and parents) affectionately call Nana, told me it was for too much — I should have discounted the day she was unable to open. I refused, as did some other parents. Nana deserved a sick day just as much as any of us. While paid sick time wasn’t in the day care contract we all signed, we weren’t going to dock Nana’s pay because she was sick. Most of the parents get paid sick time from their employers, and besides, Nana probably got sick because of one of our little germ-carrying children.
It got me thinking about how people treat their caregivers. Sure, it makes sense, in theory, to say you’ll stick to the contract, say for a nanny who is promised five sick days or a certain number of vacation days. But I’ve always felt the relationship with your children’s caregiver is more than business and that sometimes, more slack is deserved (not to mention more humane).
I know not everyone agrees. A parent email group I belong to recently had a debate as to whether one mom should pay her nanny while she was on jury duty. The mother, who would have to pay for a back-up sitter, was indignant when the group said she should: Sure, they said, the nanny will get a small $40 or $45 daily stipend, but she’s earning more than double that for a day at work and it’s not her fault she got called. Another dad warned, “Don’t give your nanny any reason to look for work elsewhere or feel less connected to your family.”
I’ve long felt that nannies and family day care workers aren’t just employees or workers. They’re not family, either. They fall somewhere in between — after all, they’re helping raise your child. Readers, what are some of the “rules” you try to follow in the relationship with your caregiver? How do you view the relationship?