Taking wife to Mayo Clinic. We will be away 3 days. Do I pay her caregiver the same as she would earn if we were there?

Decided to pay her as if we were here.

When I worked Elder Care, although I worked through an agency, if my client went on a little vacation--the family quietly paid me under the table. They knew that a vacation for mom was ALSO a great break for me. They didn't want to lose me, after looking for 3 months for a companion.

No, it probably wasn't 100% legal, but since my company paid neither OT nor vacation and I never got a raise---my client's family 'tipped me' out every month so that I was making a decent wage. (I was paying off my DH's enormous hospital bill from a liver transplant. Do you know how long it takes to pay $25K when you're making $9 an hour???) I l also had a second job and it paid considerably more. I STAYED with my client b/c I truly came to love her and knew I was making her life much more 'livable'.

Being generous never 'hurt' anybody.

It depends on lots of things, but Occam's Razor says that the simplest solution is the best and paying her for those three days would surely be simplest, no?

Definitely pay her. It's expensive but it's worth to keep her if you like her. Most working people get "paid vacations" once in a while. This will be one for her.

I had a similar situation years ago with my mother. She was diagnosd with West Nile fever. She was hospitalized and then in a nursing home for rehab from the end of September to the middle of January. My sister and I chose to keep our wonderful caregiver and paid her for the months my mother was away from home. She went to be with my mother every day until my mother was discharged. She took care of my mother until she passed away. If you have someone you trust and is a good caregiver, I would pay for the days you have to be gone.

Yes, it's good for her morale too! Does she do cleaning jobs at your house? If so, perhaps she could do some deep cleaning while you're away (like maybe take half days off and you'd come home to a sparkling environment).

we pay our caregiver as if she was on salary. She gets the same reliable weekly amount. Sometimes family visits have interrupted her normal schedule but that is on us. I want her to feel secure and she is so loyal-we return our loyalty to her. It is a blessing to have someone like that.

Yes. You pay her the same wages. It is no fault of hers that her job is going to be away for three days.
I had a policy when I was still taking private care cases. If a client went into the hospital it was full for two weeks. If in that time it wa determined that they had to go into rehab or a nursing home for a period of time I'd always make the offer to the family that if they wanted to keep me when their LO gets released I would accept half pay while they were away. Often I'd take other temporary work in the meantime.
Since you're only going for three days, full pay if your aide is good and you want to keep her.

If you have a caretaker that you really like and trust, I would definitely pay them while you are gone! I have already made that decision and told my caretakers the same! I can’t pay them vacation or sick time but if I take my father away for a few days I’m definitely going to pay them. Like someone else said it will boost their morale but I also think it shows that you are treating them like a professional! If you are their main source of income, they need to be able to rely on that money coming in!

I definitely would pay her. We paid our privately employed caregiver while my mom was in the hospital for a week. If you can if would certainly help her and help keep her for your wife.