Coronavirus & Household Employees
March 11, 2020 1:02 PM Subscribe
In an effort to protect our family, employees, and community from coronavirus, I'm wondering if/when to stop having outside help come to our home. Is there any official recommendation on this?
We are a household with two healthy adults and a toddler, living in a major US city with dozens of cases and community spread.
Currently, we employee a part-time nanny and also have a housecleaner who comes every other week. We are practicing social distancing, washing hands, sanitizing, etc. but are starting to wonder at what point we stop having our nanny and housecleaner come into work, both for our safety and theirs. My spouse is particularly concerned about our housecleaner, as they work for many families and are in and out of many homes.
To be very clear, I am fully committed to continue paying wages (especially our nanny, as we are her primary employers), even if we ask them to stop coming in.
But I suppose I need a gut check on if/when this step needs to be taken. When schools close? When a certain threshold of cases occur? Or are we totally overreacting? I haven't found anything that addresses household employees in the official CDC literature, so I feel unsure of what the best course is here. If you have dealt with a similar situation personally, would also love to hear how you handled it.
We are a household with two healthy adults and a toddler, living in a major US city with dozens of cases and community spread.
Currently, we employee a part-time nanny and also have a housecleaner who comes every other week. We are practicing social distancing, washing hands, sanitizing, etc. but are starting to wonder at what point we stop having our nanny and housecleaner come into work, both for our safety and theirs. My spouse is particularly concerned about our housecleaner, as they work for many families and are in and out of many homes.
To be very clear, I am fully committed to continue paying wages (especially our nanny, as we are her primary employers), even if we ask them to stop coming in.
But I suppose I need a gut check on if/when this step needs to be taken. When schools close? When a certain threshold of cases occur? Or are we totally overreacting? I haven't found anything that addresses household employees in the official CDC literature, so I feel unsure of what the best course is here. If you have dealt with a similar situation personally, would also love to hear how you handled it.
Best answer: How do they get to your home? Private car, public transpo? If they're taking public transpo I would stop them coming ASAP. If they're in a private vehicle then I would probably let them come by one last time to work things out in person wrt continued pay, when you both feel it safe to return, keeping in regular communications if they find out about any past exposure, etc.
posted by poffin boffin at 1:10 PM on March 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by poffin boffin at 1:10 PM on March 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Our nanny only cares for our child, and has no children of her own. She's very diligent about hand-washing, etc. But I also recognize that she has a full life outside of this job and I have no way of knowing her personal risk of exposure.
Both she and the housecleaner drive their own vehicles.
posted by lakemarie at 1:12 PM on March 11, 2020
Both she and the housecleaner drive their own vehicles.
posted by lakemarie at 1:12 PM on March 11, 2020
Best answer: If you have a lady who comes to clean your house every two weeks, you need to read this.
If you have a nanny who ensures you can go to work, you need to read this.
If you have a lady who takes care of your grandma, you need to read this.
Jessica Morales Rocketto with the National Domestic Workers Alliance guidelines on how to be a fair domestic employer.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 2:02 PM on March 11, 2020 [5 favorites]
If you have a nanny who ensures you can go to work, you need to read this.
If you have a lady who takes care of your grandma, you need to read this.
Jessica Morales Rocketto with the National Domestic Workers Alliance guidelines on how to be a fair domestic employer.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 2:02 PM on March 11, 2020 [5 favorites]
My house cleaner works for an agency. They have emailed all customers about the measures they are taking and are requesting customers to take. Which are not allowing their cleaners to work when symptomatic, to require removal of street footwear on arrival and washing of hands immediately on arrival. They also requested that customers advise them if they themselves are experiencing symptoms and explained they would not send the cleaners to households with symptomatic people. My cleaner travels by public transport and always removes shoes on arrival anyway. And she made a bit of a production of washing her hands when she arrived last week. I am not always home when she comes but I still think she’d wash her hands because she’d get into trouble with the agency if she didn’t. She also uses only my cleaning equipment and supplies including single use gloves. So for the time being I see no reason to ask her to stay away. She is middle aged and lives alone, as do I.
posted by koahiatamadl at 2:10 PM on March 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by koahiatamadl at 2:10 PM on March 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
I am asking myself similar situations, but with the added factor that the workers who come into our home do so to take care of my 86-year old mother who has heart- and kidney-failure. There are three separate caregivers who come for 12-hour shifts. We also have a cleaning team every two weeks. When coronavirus first started to be news, way back in early February, I went to Home Depot and bought 30 N95 masks. Yeah, I know we're not supposed to hoard, but there's a little bit of prepper paranoia inside me, and I knew that I had to figure out a way to protect my mom. Every caregiver has his or her own mask, labelled, for their own use. They are only required to use them when they are within six feet of my mother. I don't know what I'm going to do when I run out, because 30 isn't going to last very long, even with reuse.
I set up a station at the front door with hand sanitizer and paper towels. There is also a basket of slippers there - you can get 12 pairs for 25 bucks on Amazon, and ask everyone to take off their shoes.
I only allow my mother to leave the house for dialysis, in our own car.
I am still going to work, but that will end next week. I've told my boss I cannot continue to put my mother at risk - I work downtown, in a medium size city, in a large office building, in a state and county that has already had well-publicized cases. In fact, one of my employees was on the SF to Mexico leg of the infamous Princess cruise. He has tested negative, so bullet dodged.
I'm not sure what else there is to do. Even with all of these precautions, I still wonder if I should be telling the caregivers to stay home. They are employed by an agency, and I'm not sure what actions they'll take with regard to their employees.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 2:51 PM on March 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
I set up a station at the front door with hand sanitizer and paper towels. There is also a basket of slippers there - you can get 12 pairs for 25 bucks on Amazon, and ask everyone to take off their shoes.
I only allow my mother to leave the house for dialysis, in our own car.
I am still going to work, but that will end next week. I've told my boss I cannot continue to put my mother at risk - I work downtown, in a medium size city, in a large office building, in a state and county that has already had well-publicized cases. In fact, one of my employees was on the SF to Mexico leg of the infamous Princess cruise. He has tested negative, so bullet dodged.
I'm not sure what else there is to do. Even with all of these precautions, I still wonder if I should be telling the caregivers to stay home. They are employed by an agency, and I'm not sure what actions they'll take with regard to their employees.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 2:51 PM on March 11, 2020 [3 favorites]
My spouse is particularly concerned about our housecleaner, as they work for many families and are in and out of many homes.
Your housecleaner certainly has higher risk of exposure via work that your nanny by dint of seeing more people. However, their work probably doesn't bring them into close contact with many of their customers.
I got a message from my cleaning service this evening asking people to cancel if they're at all sick and waiving the less-than-24-hour cancellation fee, saying also that cleaners would cancel if sick. This is a co-op service and it sounds like they took a vote and decided to use co-op funds to make sure people were paid for any missed jobs. It honestly hadn't occurred to me to worry about the cleaner getting me sick until your post and I'm someone whose job has everyone working from home and who has been avoiding public transport (which is my only non-walking means of transport).
posted by hoyland at 5:42 PM on March 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
Your housecleaner certainly has higher risk of exposure via work that your nanny by dint of seeing more people. However, their work probably doesn't bring them into close contact with many of their customers.
I got a message from my cleaning service this evening asking people to cancel if they're at all sick and waiving the less-than-24-hour cancellation fee, saying also that cleaners would cancel if sick. This is a co-op service and it sounds like they took a vote and decided to use co-op funds to make sure people were paid for any missed jobs. It honestly hadn't occurred to me to worry about the cleaner getting me sick until your post and I'm someone whose job has everyone working from home and who has been avoiding public transport (which is my only non-walking means of transport).
posted by hoyland at 5:42 PM on March 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
Where do you live? In any area with a high number of cases, I would be a lot more cautious.
ereshkigal45, I would consdier those paper disposable hospital gowns for visitors.
posted by theora55 at 7:40 PM on March 11, 2020
ereshkigal45, I would consdier those paper disposable hospital gowns for visitors.
posted by theora55 at 7:40 PM on March 11, 2020
If you're still interacting with the outside world (grocery shopping, going to work, etc.) then I wouldn't be any more concerned about the cleaner than about that. I'd make sure she knows that you'll pay her even if she doesn't come, if she isn't feeling well.
You and your child presumably have much closer physical contact with the nanny. I would have her stop coming once I decided to stop getting together with friends.
posted by metasarah at 10:17 AM on March 12, 2020
You and your child presumably have much closer physical contact with the nanny. I would have her stop coming once I decided to stop getting together with friends.
posted by metasarah at 10:17 AM on March 12, 2020
theora55, thanks for the suggestion. If I can find them, I'll buy them.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 2:23 PM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by ereshkigal45 at 2:23 PM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by corb at 1:06 PM on March 11, 2020 [3 favorites]