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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Assistant Help Again - Sorry Long
gbcc 04:54 AM 03-22-2010
I am really stuck here and would appreciate some advice. I have one employee working for me. I have been trying to find a sub for months now and can't seem to find one. So, my employee called in 3 times last month. All but 1 of those times were within the hour she should have been reporting for work. Last wk she scheduled her son's parent teacher conference during work hours. She gets a break from 11am to 3:30pm so theres really no reason for it.

Tonight she called in for tomorrow. Tomorrow is a full day off from school. This means that I now have to call parents and tell certain ones that they need to find backup care because I will be over my legal limit. This will make parents very upset. Also, she did mention to me today that they were at a frineds home all day. You can go to a friends home but then suddenly feel too ill to go to work? I wouldn't be so upset if it wasn't a full day. I would manage for just a few hours before school. I should also mention that she is salary so I can't dock her for all this missed time.

So my question is, am I over reacting? I think I should look to replace her. I mean 4 times in 2 months is uncalled for right? (Not to mention all the other issues I have had in the past that I have complained about). I realize it's not her fault I can't find a sub but shouldn't she be more dependable? In the 4 years I have been doing daycare I have never called in sick once. I have worked while very ill. I have postponed taking medication becuase they would make me drousy. I do what I need to do to support my family.

Does anyone have a policy I can have her sign regarding time off/expectations? That way I can begin termination legally. I don't want her living off unemployment that I paid into when it's due to work ethics and not lack of hours I need her.
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nannyde 05:23 AM 03-22-2010
I have a staff assistant and have had one the majority of my day care career. I've learned a lot from the previous ones and have come to the conclusion that a few things just don't work.

I don't allow staff assistant's to bring their children. I used to allow them but they had to pay for a slot in the day care. Even with them paying it still didn't work out because of their child's behavior as they got older. It wasn't too bad when they were under two but over two just caused too many issues with them spending the day trying to keep their kid happy which costs me a bunch of money.

I do not and have NEVER paid a single day of sick pay. I don't do salary. I pay an hourly rate only. I don't get paid for sick days in my parent contracts so I don't offer them. I haven't missed a single day of work (cept vacation and holdiday) in 16 years. I have been fortunate that I don't get sick enough to miss work.

I give them 18 paid days off per year (two weeks of vacation and 8 holidays) that are only to be taken when the business is closed. I give them a dollar an hour raise ever year on their anniversary, a yearly bonus on the anniversary, and a bonus at Christmas.

Their job is to provide direct physical care to the kids and supervise play. They also do all of the cleaning in the home except the kitchen. They do laundry, shopping, errands, food program paperwork etc. also for the business. They do not have ANY contact with the day care parents or do any of the cooking and dishes. I do have them peel veggies for our stews but nothing else food related.

I hope this helps. It's very hard when you have a Staff that you have your numbers of kids based on. You are pretty hosed when they call in and have you the kids in the house that are there to pay their salary without them there to care for them. I made a decision a year and a half ago that I would only run the number of kids I could have by myself and then hire a Staff Assistant who would work split shifts (gone during nap). It took a while to find a newbie I could afford but I don't have the pressure of not being able to manage my numbers if she is gone. The trade off was the training of someone who had never taken care of kids. A year later, I'm glad I made the choice as she has worked out well. I hope she stays a while and DOESN'T have any kids.

Nan
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mac60 05:35 AM 03-22-2010
You should have in her contract that she can only miss a set amount of hours/days/per certain work period.....ie, so many hours in a 3 months period, so many days in a 3 month period, etc. Maybe 5 sick days per calandar year, or whatever is fair, after than they are NOT paid for, salary or not.

Do you have a simple contract that states her expectations? Her hours of employment, her job duties, her allotted time off such as personal days/hours or sick time? If not, you need to sit down and write up a simple contract and have her and you sign and date it. It needs to have the consequences of abusing the contract too. If she calls in sick over 2 days, doctors excuse must be given to you.

If you like her except for her not showing up for work issues, I would present her with a contract, she can like it or lump it and leave.

Things to put in contract:

Hours of work.
Job duties.
Pay.
Time off guidelines. Number of days-number of hours alloted off per year or 6 months or 3 months, however you word it. After alloted days are taken, pay deductions are made at *** amount per hour/day.
Reviews.
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gbcc 05:53 AM 03-22-2010
I have been working on a contract. So, if I give 5 days per calendar year, on the 6th day I can write her up? Then 7th absence termination? I just want to be fair and legal.

How do I paste to this? I can attach a copy of what I have so far. The mistake I made is that she is a friend. I will never hire a friend or someone with kids again!
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mac60 06:02 AM 03-22-2010
Originally Posted by gbcc:
I have been working on a contract. So, if I give 5 days per calendar year, on the 6th day I can write her up? Then 7th absence termination? I just want to be fair and legal.

How do I paste to this? I can attach a copy of what I have so far. The mistake I made is that she is a friend. I will never hire a friend or someone with kids again!
I think you need to have in there something on doctors excuses. What are you going to do if she "really" gets sick and is out with pnemonia or something bad for 5 days. Like a doctors excuse = 1 occurance, not 5 days if off 5 days, does that make sense.
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gbcc 06:06 AM 03-22-2010
Originally Posted by mac60:
I think you need to have in there something on doctors excuses. What are you going to do if she "really" gets sick and is out with pnemonia or something bad for 5 days. Like a doctors excuse = 1 occurance, not 5 days if off 5 days, does that make sense.
Yes that makes sence and is a good point. Thank you. I will put in with a Dr.s note, contagious illnesses lasting longer than 1 day will count towards 1 absence.
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mac60 06:21 AM 03-22-2010
it is too bad that people choose to abuse their work priveledges. i know at my last job of 21 1/2 yrs, i rarely missed work. i used to get so mad that we were on a point system......those systems are for the abusers, not for people who are there every day and then when they truly do get sick and miss, are written up with points, etc. i totally understand why you are doing it. Maybe sit down and talk to her and start off with a clean slate. give her the opportunity to do things right, and then is sche screws up again.....boot her butt out.

is this the same person who brings her son to school? maybe have some guidelines for her son being there also in the contract.
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gbcc 06:03 AM 03-22-2010
I have been working on a contract. So, if I give 5 days per calendar year, on the 6th day I can write her up? Then 7th absence termination? I just want to be fair and legal. The reason she is salary is because thats the only way I can afford to pay her in the summer. I have her two kids all day and she wont pay for their spots. So I loose money and she works more hours and I can't afford that. Maybe if I can't terminate her I can hire someone else and reduce her hours. She always cries she can't afford rent, so maybe hourly would encourage her to come to work.

How do I paste to this? I can attach a copy of what I have so far. Maybe someone wouldn't mind taking a look for me and offering advice. The mistake I made is that she is a friend. I will never hire a friend or someone with kids again!
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Former Teacher 05:48 AM 03-22-2010
Originally Posted by gbcc:
I should also mention that she is salary so I can't dock her for all this missed time.
I am sorry for what you are going through. However we once had the Assistant Director before me, of all people, also be salary and she was ALWAYS calling in. At least once a week. She was sick. Husband was sick. Kid was sick. She had do this appointment or this came up. It was always one excuse after another. One time she called and said that the son was sick. It was also her husbands day off. The director said well can't the husband stay home and watch the kid? Oh no, she said, a sick boy needs his mother. She came the next day and the kid was rearing to go.

Anyway long story short. Director finally made her an hourly employee. She just explained to her that she didn't think it was fair should she (the employee) ever have to work OT that she not get paid for it, and things like that She never mentioned about her always missing days etc.

Well once she went to hourly, she never called in again unless she had a doctors note

Back to your employee, some people just don't have a work ethic. However I could be wrong but maybe she is TRYING to get fired. Maybe that's why she is causing all this trouble.

For example you mentioned that she had a break from 11:00-3:30. I know that's nap time etc and you don't need a full staff. However I remember those long breaks and I personally HATED them. You can never get anything done. So maybe she is trying to get fired just so like you said collect unemployment. However just from what you are telling me, I think you have a VERY strong case that she would be denied IMO

Just my 2 cents worth
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