Q: My nanny has not called or shown up to work for the past three days. I cannot allow this to go on and need to find someone new. Legally speaking, will I be firing her or did she quit?

A: Generally, if you instruct an employee to stop working for you for any reason, you have terminated that person’s employment. However, employers can create policies in their employment agreements, typically referred to as “job abandonment policies,” which provide that if an employee fails to show up for work without calling for a certain number of days, he or she will be considered to have voluntarily resigned. If you have such a policy in place, you can let your nanny know that, pursuant to that policy, you consider her to have abandoned her job and thereby resigned her employment.

The reason that this matters is that if your employee voluntarily leaves, your reserve account with the EDD will not be charged for unemployment benefits. Alternatively, if you terminate an employee, you will be liable for unemployment benefits which will likely increase the amount you are required to contribute to the EDD. In addition, your final wage payment obligations are slightly different if an employee quits without notice as opposed to if you end their employment.

If you would like advice on how to properly draft a job abandonment policy, please do not hesitate to contact Mom, Esq., https://lawofficelpw.com/.

Note: The information above should not be considered legal advice. Employers should retain independent counsel for legal advice pertaining to their particular situation.