What are my legal rights as the employer or a part time household employee in New Jersey?

Question

Specifically, can I limit the number of sick days and personal days she takes (with pay?!!!) It all worked well for years, but now she is taking off a lot of "sick time", though I am pretty sure the antibiotics the doctor gave her are working. Since she is geeting very close to retirement, she is playing with us now. What are my rights, and what is reasonable? If she comes back on Monday, she will have taken 9 sick days and 2 personal days this year already.

Answer 1

As an employer on 1 person, you are not required to follow the Federal Family Medical Leave Act.

You are not required to give your household employee any sick days. However, if you promised her sick days (e.g., via a contract or other written/verbal agreement), you should follow-through.

I had a nanny that took many sick days. I'm sure she was very sick. But once she used up the sick days we promised her, her pay was docked when she didn't come. In the hospital or not. Eventually, she quit simply because the arrangement was no longer working for her. Luckily, I was in a situation where, when she was out, we had coverage.

In my opinion, 11 days out in a 37 (including weekend) day period is excessive.

However, you cannot fire her because she is sick. You can fire her because she is unable to do her work.

Now, this is about the law. What you want to do out of the kindness of your heart is up to you.

Answer 2

She is employed "at-will", meaning as long as you want her there. You could, for example, let her go at any time without justification if you wished.

I would say that if she is gone for three days straight, tell her you would like to see a doctor's note. This is a normal, and not unreasonable, request - many employers require this.

If it's becoming a problem, I'd tell her you're letting her go. Give her some notice (a month? Two weeks? Your choice). Give her a severance package of some sort (perhaps an extra week of pay, or something), and replace her with someone more reliable.

Answer 3

As a part time employer of one person, you do not need to pay her for her time off. That seems like the best solution. Or give her a certain amount of days off (if you like - it isn't required by law), starting at a specified date in the future and any time off over that will be unpaid. Abesnt any employment contract, you are also free to fire her at any time and find someone else.