Is my wifes employer right to chastise her for taking time of with our sick kids?

Question

My wife works in a day care nursery, she has just come home to tell me that she has been told off for taking time off when our kids have been sick.
We have 2 daughters and in the past 7 months my wife has had 5 days off because of either 1 of them being ill.
Her boss has told her to make alternative arrangements to have them looked after when ill.
I work away from home alot, her mother works and her grandparents are disabled.
Her boss has told her to leave the kids with one of our neighbours as an altenative arrangement.
I believe that her boss is wrong.
my wife is contracted to work 18 hours each week and always does more than this so in reality the time she has taken off due to our kids being ill is above and beyond what she is contracted to work anyway.
Surely her boss should have systems in place to cover for staff either being ill or having sick kids at home.
Her boss doesn't have any kids of her own

Answer 1

Thats ridiculous.

If her boss was a true manager, then a back up staff person should automatically be in place. If your wife had kids when she was hired, then her boss should realize this comes with the territory. Any responsible person would ask her to stay home if she has sick kids anyway for fear of spreading the illness to the other children at the nursery.

In the meantime, she should ask about sick leave policies from a manager other than her boss and find out where she stands, if the policy falls in her favor, she should file a complaint against her boss. If not, seek other employment and make sure that she is clear on the sick leave policies.

Good Luck

Answer 2

People have to stop and think that the employers have rights, too. It isn't up to them to cover an employee who is off several times, no matter what the reason.

When they hired the person, they hired them with the understanding they would do the job and if the employee isn't there, that leaves them stranded. And what if two or three employees are off at the same time? Then the employer is really in big trouble no matter what kind of job it is.

There should always be an understanding how much time a person can take off when they hire on to a job. Any employer can discipline an employee for what they consider abuse of sick leave, even if it's for legitimate reasons.

Best try to come up with someone who can watch the kids occasionally when things like this crop up or have your wife set up her own online business so she can stay home. She could always take schooling for medical transcriptionist or medical billing and do those at home. I'm sure the kids would appreciate it, too.

Answer 3

I'm assuming the day care center is considered a "small business" and therefore wouldn't be subject to the same federal hiring and firing guidelines as larger corporations. Additionally, does your wife's contract include paid time off for illness? If not, and since she works only part time, yeah, her boss probably could get away with it. It isn't right, and it isn't kind, but it's most likely legal.

But, if your wife wants to make the larger point that she works above and beyond her contract and so should be treated with more consideration, then she should refuse to work the extra time. She could show them just how valuable she is, and how much they miss her when she won't go above and beyond. If they try to say something she could explain her situation - that might demonstrate better than anything else how unreasonable that boss is. Certainly, they CAN'T fire her for refusing to do more than is stipulated in her contract - that she could sue for.

In the meantime, she might want to look for a job with an employer who is more considerate to their employees. There's no reason to be that awful...

Answer 4

I know it doesn't seem fair, but you have to think about this from a business perspective. It is great that she works extra, but that does not make up for the times when she is scheduled to be there and is not.

A business needs people to be there when they are scheduled to be there, when they are not, others have to do their work for them or in the case of liscensed daycare, they could run into a problem with lisencing by not having the proper ratio of adults to children being cared for.

Yes, her boss not only has the right to chastise her for taking time off with the kids, he could also rightfully terminate her. With your wife only being contracted to work 18 hours a week and missing 5 days in the past 7 months, I am surprised that they have not already done so as it would make for sense from a business perspective than to try to keep working around a person who works so few hours anyway; they have obviously tried to accomodate her but it is just getting to be too much of a burden to do so.

With your children having so many health issues, maybe your wife should wait to go back to work until the children are older, or start her own in-home babysitting service or have YOU take time off work to come home and share the burden of taking care of ill children.

The only thing the boss was not correct in stating was to suggest what alternative arrangements your wife should make with ill children; that is up to her.

I am a single parent and ran into the same situation with my son and told the same thing when I got a call from the school to take my son to the Emergency Room due to a bad asthma attack and was only gone for 2 hours (my ex was out of town an hour away took off work to watch our son when I called him). I did make alternate arrangements after that....I found another job that alternated with my ex's hours so that one of us would be available in the future should the need ever arise again.

Answer 5

Bottom line is that you are attacking two innocent children because of your hatred toward his ex. These little children need all the stability and love they can get since the mom is not maternal. I can't believe you would suggest he walk away from his son. What kind of emotional damage is going to be done to that boy. You want him to hate his dad, or may just hate you? You want to teach him that's what men do so it's okay for him to father a child and walk away from it because that's the role model you give him. You've all got kids from a variety of people, what possible difference could it make to include that little girl?! She's an innocent, she knew him as a dad figure for a few years, she is his son's half-sister, that makes one big extended family. The chaos and emotional damage you want to cause all because of anger toward that other woman is mind boggling. Those two little children did not ask to be born, but they are here and they deserve the best life anyone can possibly give them. How difficult to bring the little girl along, let her sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag, fix her a grilled cheese sandwich, let her feel part of a family and be with the daddy figure and be with her brother. It's absolutely shocking to me that you are encouraging him to dump these children and cause such hurt and psychological damage. You could be such a positive role model, show these kids total love and acceptance. It's about the kids, it's not the adults.

Answer 6

Employers hire people to work not to lay out sick.
If you cannot be at work obviously you are of no benefit to your employer.
An employer has the right to terminate your employment (not just chastise) for excessive absenteeism.
Part time employees, should most certainly be able to handle their schedule and not miss work especially if they are only scheduled 18hrs a week.


It isn't her boss that is in the wrong if your wife cannot meet the expectations of her employer perhaps she should find alternative employment.

ps. I am single working Mom and manage an office- i know what a pain employees missing work can be- I also know what it is like to make arrangements for a sick child

Answer 7

There's a bit of irony in that the company that is set up to care for children cannot understand when an employee has to care for her own children.

Here's the thing....... If the values of the company conflict with your personal values, and you cannot live with it, you need to leave. The company sets its own values and that's how it should be. You set your own values and that's how it should be. If they don't mesh, the company wins, you leave. That's how it should be.

Good luck. I applaud her for making a value-based decision about the kids. Just know that if there is ever a reason for the company to cut back, your wife will be among the first to be terminated.

Answer 8

IMO getting ticked off at a part-timer for taking 5 days out of 7 months off is really stupid. But, I'm sure the boss had her/his reasons....

I think taking care of your own kids is more important than taking care of someone else's. As long as she doesn't get fired for it I think you should just deal with it, or make her search for another job.

Answer 9

This is an issue that really make me angry! I belive employer should never show any kind of discrimination when it come to taking time off work for our children. This country has defianlyt lost sight of family values. I think employers need to start setting up sytems in place for situations like these. I do think that there would be less people on welfare if employers where more flexable!

Answer 10

Unfortunately, work in the US is not child or family-friendly. Make sure your life accounts for all of her hours, so she can prove sher had done her 18. Leaving kids with a neighbor is not a solution -- what neighbor? Aren't they all working, too? If she is working in child care, her boss should not want her eround other children when hers are sick, either.