Memorial Day? Fourth of July? When to Offer Holiday Pay to Your Caregiver

Caregivers working during a holiday are commonly offered holiday pay and if you don’t have a plan in place, this is a good time to decide how you'll compensate your home care aide during all holidays throughout the year.

In general, if your caregiver works on a major holiday, it is customary to pay time-and-a-half. Which holidays should you pay your private caregiver at a holiday rate? As the employer, that’s up to each family, but seven major holidays to consider are:

• New Year’s Day
• President's Day
• Memorial Day
• Fourth of July
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas Day

Other days to consider paying a holiday rate include Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, Juneteenth — and your caregiver’s birthday.

Not in a position to pay time-and-a-half? You don’t have to. But don’t be surprised if your caregiver asks for holidays off — and then you’ll need to find a replacement caregiver. Of course, LeanOnWe, The Trusted Way to Find a Caregiver On Your Own, can help you with that. Another option is to have family members fill in on holidays to avoid the holiday pay issue altogether or to give a cherished caregiver time off to be with his or her family. In most cases, if your caregiver takes the day off, there is no obligation to pay the caregiver for time not worked. In some areas, however, such as New York City and its boroughs as well as the state of New Jersey, household workers are entitled to paid sick leave annually and/or paid days off each year -- but those days do not have to be holidays.

Now is the time to create or implement your holiday pay plan and communicate it to your caregiver.

10 Key Topics to Discuss
With Your Caregiver

You'll learn:

• How to set expectations with your caregiver
• How to handle pay rates and extra pay
• How to set a work schedule

And more!

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