We cover the aide's food WHILE they are on duty. She was taking food home on days off. I initially did not state the obvious policy when she first started BUT even after it was stated in an aide manual more recently she was taking food items home ...I am wondering if anyone has encountered this OR how you deal with the food for live in aides. Thanks!
Were you paying her FICA taxes? Did you issue her a W2? And yes, I am suggesting that you can't hide behind a manual if you didn't do things by the book as her employer.
Does your manual address the tax treatment of employer-provided meals and lodging?
Does your manual address doing laundry? Was she allowed to do her laundry or would you have considered that theft of detergent and fabric softener?
Perhaps if you had treated her with courtesy and talked with her instead of taking the word of a relief aide and bullying her with a manual you would have gotten better outcomes. Better luck next time.
It doesn’t much matter anyway if yours is a “right to work” state meaning an employer does reserve the right to terminate an employee for behavior they see as unfit. Wrongful terminations are very difficult to prove and cost lots of money for the employee to fight. Employers know this as well.
I am thinking that perhaps I would have gathered specific examples and presented the aide with those examples & given them the chance to prove or disprove, or improve this behavior. After two years at my home working as a CG, she at least earned an opportunity to defend herself.
What about the person who was/is being cared for? Is the patient affected by the change in aides?
I agree that caregivers in this setting are different from mechanics or plumbers. How was the relationship between the caregiver and the care receiver? Was it good? If so, that is priceless.
I think the relief aide had an ulterior motive to take over the job.
The reason I wonder is that theft of money is a really clear-cut, obvious offence. Taking food home with you when it has been provided for your use, at least in theory, is much less so. So why is the food the story if you were sure about the money?
You provide your aides with a manual. That's a good start. But you gave this aide the manual, which presumably covered a number of expectations and conditions; and you seem to have done this *instead* of talking to her about your concern over the food question specifically. When she didn't take the hint, you fired her.
Why could you not say: "we have noticed x y z, this is not okay, and I want to make it clear that the food we provide is for consumption during working hours on the premises only. Capiche?"
Lets say she is paid at least $10 and for a 40 hr week. Thats $400 a week, 1600 a month. If she was able to get HUD housing, they take 30% of your income so 530 a month. Then she pays for electric, TV and food.
Now she is a caregiver. She still makes $10 an hour with room and board and her utilities. Seems like she is given time off if there is a relief aide. So now she gets 1600 free and clear. That's over 20k a year she can spend on herself. So, why does she need to steal food. And food is not cheap.
After 2 yrs, maybe it could be handled differently. Maybe the relief aide was after the job.
I'm confused about something. You say it's a live in aide. So isn't your house her home? She's live in. What "home" is she taking this food to?
I'm Southern and we like to send people home with a few left overs so unless she was taking a ton of food home, I would have most likely ignored it, particularly if she was providing good care for a dementia patient. Before firing her, I would have discussed it at least twice with the final discussion including a warning that if the behavior was repeated again, it would lead to her dismissal.