If you’re a household employer with a fully staffed home or you oversee a thriving family office team, it’s important to have sick day protocols outlined clearly in the event someone gets sick.
Winter is prime time for viruses and other sicknesses to appear, and unlike large corporate offices, home and family office teams often work in close quarters. One sick employee could spread illness to other employees or to others who live in the home.
Since the pandemic, there have been a lot of different shifts in expectations around illness. Here are some tips on how to establish a streamlined, well-communicated sick day policy, so operations in your home or family office can continue smoothly.
Establishing a Sick Day Policy
When onboarding a new employee for your home or family office, be sure your sick day policy is included in your written work agreement. Here are some key components to include:
Clear Protocol on Reporting an Absence
Outline who your employees should notify if they’re sick. In addition, clearly communicate how and when they should notify this person – in writing, text message, phone call?
Many households or family offices will require 24 hours’ notice so they can find coverage, but this isn’t always realistic, so have a backup clause/plan in the event your employee can’t provide a full 24 hours’ notice.
Discuss Pay for Sick Days
Be transparent with your pay structure and clarify how you plan to cover wages for sick days. For example, if you plan to provide 10 sick days a year at full wages, include that in your work agreement. If you’d rather include sick days in PTO days, be sure that is clearly explained, too.
Define What Symptoms Require Staying Home
List the type of symptoms that require staying home sick – for example, flu or COVID positive, fever, vomiting, or other potentially contagious symptoms. This is especially important if your employee is involved in food preparation, childcare or has close personal contact with the elderly.
In this same section of your work agreement, discuss when and how employees can safely return to their work, such as being symptom free for 24 hours, or providing a doctor’s note.
Have a Coverage Plan in Place
Unexpected illness can be stressful – not just for the employee – but for the home or family office they are a part of. So, be sure you have a backup plan in place for continuity. Identify who could help as backup staff or be on-call, or if the employee anticipates being out for an extended amount of time, utilize agency support to find temporary staff.
For administrative roles, some family offices may want to consider providing a remote or flexible working environment option in place for staff who feel well enough to work but cannot meet the symptom guidelines outlined in your work agreement. Having coverage in place, if possible, will prevent disruption as much as possible and minimize tension.
The Importance of Investing in the Health and Wellbeing of Your Team
In tandem with a clearly defined sick day policy, it’s important to consider the type of health care benefits you may want to provide to your staff or family office team. Quality health care coverage is a crucial piece of a robust benefits package and helps to attract and retain the best in the industry.
Not only that, but it’s also become an industry standard when employing domestic staff or growing your family office. It shows that you value each employee and want to prioritize their health and wellbeing, which translates to healthier, happier long-term employees.
There are a variety of ways to go about investing in the health of your staff. You can choose to offer a fully-paid health care plan or provide generous monthly stipends to cover health care premiums that your employee picks. Some employers may go above and beyond this and provide paid mental health days or paid counseling services.
Employers that demonstrate that their employees’ physical and mental health is important often build deeper trust with their employees.
Expand Your Home or Family Office Team
At Household Staffing, we recognize that your home or family office is busy and requires the expertise and care of experienced professionals. We work closely with each candidate to craft a detailed job description and compensation package that ensures you get to meet and work with the best of the best in the domestic staffing and family office industry.
We understand the importance of building long, happy working relationships with your staff – and that happens from the very beginning of the hiring process.
For more than 30 years, our team has specialized in helping families and family offices build teams that are trustworthy, compatible for your lifestyle, and give you the peace of mind you need. Contact us today or complete our New Hire Form to begin a personalized search.
