If you have a job working for a large corporation, you may be offered a paid paternity, maternity, sick or medical leave plan. But, what if you work for a smaller company, or you are employed by a private household? Similarly if you employ a nanny to work in your household, how do you know exactly what maternity leave to pay your staff and how to do make suitable arrangements for her? Here we break down the facts for you.

What Does Employment Law Require?

Domestic employment law states that household employers must offer paid sick leave to their employees. Here at MHM, we recommend that full-time employees are offered 6 paid personal or sick days per year.

As GTM informs us, “household employers in Chicago must provide paid sick leave to their employees. Workers can accrue and use up to 5 paid sick days (or 40 hours) per year, earned at a minimum rate of one hour for every 40 hours worked. Accrual begins on the first day of employment. Up to 20 hours of unused sick time may roll over to the next year.”

However, it is important to note that paid sick leave policy does not address maternity or paternity leave. 

Is My Nanny Eligible for FMLA? Who Is Eligible for FMLA Leave in Illinois?

Believe it or not, there are no specific maternity or parental leave programs in Illinois. Whilst several states including California, New York and Washington, provide paid parental leave, Illinois is not one of them. The paid leave for states who mandate it is funded by employee-paid payroll taxes, and some are also partially funded by employer-paid payroll taxes. If you want to find out which other states make the list, be sure to read this article from HomeWork Solutions.

Whilst Illinois is not currently in the list of states who provide a paid parental leave, employers are still required to abide by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that was passed in 1993 to ensure that staff get an appropriate leave of absence from work where required. FMLA provides certain employees with “up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year” to help them balance their work and family responsibilities. At its heart, FMLA is designed to protect the interests of employers whilst promoting equal employment opportunities between men and women.

So who is eligible for FMLA?

Firstly, it’s important to know that not every company and employee is covered by FMLA. However if you work in one of the following institutions and meet the required criteria, your employer is required to provide you with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in certain situations:

→ all public agencies

→ all public and private elementary and secondary schools

→ companies with 50 or more employees

If you work in the any of the above and also work for your employer for about 24 hours a week for at least the last 12 months, then you would be eligible to receive FMLA in the following situations:

✓ for the birth and care of a newborn baby

✓ for the placement of a foster or adoption child in your care

✓ to care for an immediate family member (spouse, child or parent) with serious health condition

✓ to take medical leave when you are unable to work because of a serious health condition

You can find all of this information and more on the Department for Labor website or you can read more about FMLA eligibility here.

As you may have realised, this means that a lot of household staff aren’t covered by FMLA because generally they don’t operate in a a company with 50 or more employees. As Illinois doesn’t require you to pay paid parental leave either, this can lead to an uncertain situation should one of your household staff tell you that they are pregnant. However, at MHM we support our employers with how to retain high-quality staff and so here are our top tips of what to do if your nanny tells you that they are pregnant.

What to Do if Your Nanny Gets Pregnant.

If your nanny or any member of your household staff tells you that they are pregnant, it can be a daunting time for you as an employer. However, in the first instance, we always suggest that you support her and be as happy as possible for her. As Christa Nader, founder of the New York-based domestic staffing agency Kith & Kin, and a former nanny herself, wrote in the NY Times, “When the news breaks, be happy for her and really empathize! You can freak out later at night when you’re alone!” After the initial news has settled in, its time to make a plan.

1) Talk About Establishing a Plan Early On.

If you don’t have a job description, it’s never too late to create one. You can read our tips on what duties your nanny or household manager can help with on the MHM blog here. Make a list of all the duties and plan for how you might have to make adjustments and accommodations. Laurie Berke-Weiss, a New York employment lawyer, recommends that by doing this, it creates a helpful baseline from which to asses what kind of accommodations your nanny might need before giving birth, but also for once she’s back on the job. By actively and openly communicating with your nanny from the start, you are showing her that you have her best interests in mind too.

Communication works both ways. If you are a nanny and discover that you’re pregnant, tell your employer as soon as you are comfortable to do so. Christa Nader advises that “nannies tell their employers before they start showing, really as soon as they are comfortable.” She says, “that’s both to establish an openness of communication, and because even early in pregnancy a commute can be challenging, and she may be nauseated or need to sit down as soon as she gets in the door.”

2) What Accommodations Will Need to Be Made for the Physical Demands of the Job?

How does your nanny get to work each day? Is she required to lift heavy objects or take on physically challenging work? Is she able to take care of herself so that she can take care of your child too? If you have cleaning staff, are there any adjustments to cleaning products that you need to make? Refer to the list of duties/job description that you created and make sure that expectations are managed on both sides so that you can come to an agreement everyone is happy with. It may even require you to adapt your home environment or child’s activity schedule so that your pregnant employee can work safely.

3) How Long Will the Employee Be Away?

In this article on maternity leave for household employees, Laura Schroeder, credentialed nanny and INA co-president, says she has seen anything from two weeks to four months maternity leave offered by household employers. It often depends on how quickly your nanny wants and is able to return to work, but also whether she can bring her baby to work with her or not. Make sure that you find a backup plan for the leave period and inform her that you will be looking for a temporary replacement. You may find that your employee can recommend a fill-in, but make sure that you don’t put the burden on your nanny to find her replacement or temporary cover. My Household Managed is a premier household staffing agency that specializes in finding qualified nannies & household staff.

Don’t forget! As an employer, you are obligated to offer the job back to your original nanny if she is ready to come back after eight weeks.

4) Will the Employee Be Paid for Their Time Off?

Whether you pay your nanny maternity leave, or give her unpaid family leave is ultimately up to you as their employer. This may influence the length of time that they take off, but it may also influence whether they return to work at all.

Rather than leaving it to wait until your nanny or house manager tells you that they’re pregnant, you could decide to put your own leave policy in place in anticipation of required family and medical leave.

Whilst it is specific to New York, benefits have now been rolled out across the state to ensure that all domestic staff who are hired directly by a private homeowner and who work 20 or more hours a week for a private homeowner are eligible to receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave.. Staff are automatically eligible to take Paid Family Leave once they have been in employment for 26 consecutive weeks and at two-thirds pay, it is considered to be one of the most generous schemes in the United States. Why not have a read of the New York policy and create your own paid leave policy?

Creating a fair paid leave policy alongside a clear job description and good salary package is one of the key ways to retain high-quality staff in your household. You can also read about how to make sure you’re offering the right amount of yearly bonus and raise on our blog here.

Do you have any questions about maternity leave for your nanny? Are you looking for a replacement whilst your nanny is on maternity leave? Get in touch with My Household Managed today and we will look forward to assisting you with all of your household staff needs.

You’ve got enough on your plate in your day-to-day life — let us make your life easier by handling your unique household staffing needs.

If you are a family looking for staff for your family office or for any other home service, submit an application with My Household Managed.

If you are looking to work within a family office, apply at My Household Managed.

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