Full-Time Nanny Waits Until Morning To Answer Employers About Her Availability For The Day, Wonders Why They Are Mad

"They should have texted me during my regular working hours"

Filip

• Published in Interesting
• September 25, 2023

Being a babysitter is an extremely responsible job, maybe even one of the most exhausting. Though it appears that it's more a hobby than a job, it certainly is not.

Parents rely on babysitters for everything around their children and the home when they are absent. So, basically, babysitters allow parents to leave the house knowing that everything will be well cared for.

The OP shared her story and revealed that she is a 25-year-old, employed full-time as a babysitter by a certain family. However, she caught a severe cold over the weekend.

She informed the family on Sunday afternoon that she couldn't go to work on Monday due to illness. On Monday evening, around 8 p.m., the family sent her a text asking if she would be able to work on Tuesday.

But being unwell and exhausted, the OP chose not to respond, plus it was past her standard working hours (she works from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.). She answered them the next morning at 9 a.m., informing them she would not come as she was still sick.

The family expressed dissatisfaction, criticizing her delayed response. She reminded them that she was sick and told them she preferred not to respond to messages outside of her working hours, which further upset the family.

They said they understood the inconvenience of addressing work matters after business hours but needed to be informed about her availability for Tuesday to arrange alternative care. The OP understands their perspective but believes they should have contacted her during her usual working hours.

So, she asks for opinions on whether she is in the wrong in this situation.

Here is the OP's dilemma:

The OP caught a cold and informed the family that she would not be able to work the next day:

Tomorrow, they asked her if she'd work on Tuesday, but she ignored their message as it was sent outside of her working hours:

She answered them the next day, and they criticized her for not informing them earlier:

The OP should have informed them earlier

The parents might start looking for another babysitter

Another Redditor said they must be looking already

She was being disrespectful to the family

The business hours rule doesn’t even make sense in this scenario

It was the OP's responsibility to inform them during 'business hours'

She should have texted them earlier on Monday

That's the most likely scenario

The family needed to be informed

"YTA for not letting them know until Tuesday morning"

"The morning of is pretty last minute"

"This is not a conventional job where there is backup"

Redditors unanimously agreed that the OP was definitely in the wrong for not responding to the family's message right away. It was her responsibility to inform them anyway.

And if she cares about business hours so much, she should have let them know earlier on Monday. This way, she's being extremely disrespectful and rude towards the family.

Filip