Did you ever do something you know was the right thing, like saying no, but still felt bad?
A week after we hired our nanny she told us her husband of 15 years was having an affair. In the days that followed we learned that he left her and their four children, ages 5 to 12, to move in with his mistress. A few weeks later she said that her husband did not pay three months worth of rent, and that she wanted to borrow from us, payable through 50 percent salary deduction for the next six months, or she and her children will be evicted.
Although we sympathized with her predicament I had to say no with a very heavy heart. First of all, in principle it is her husband's responsibility to take care of his family, especially their four children. Second, this is the worst time to go into debt: if he has indeed left her, then she will need her salary intact to take care of her children. Besides, in my experience it is not a good idea to have an employee owe you so much money. Because she had only been working for us for less than two months she is basically on probation. We were still not sure if we wanted to keep her on long-term basis because she was seldom on time, although this may have to do with her marital problems. We did give her 30 percent of her salary as Christmas bonus although we initially stated in her contract she won't get a bonus until she's been with us for a year.
The good news is her family and in-laws interceded and her husband returned. This is good because in March she took two weeks off because two of her children got sick. This would have been financially disastrous for her family if she was the sole breadwinner. She did ask for an Easter bonus and I reminded her of our contract. When she returned to work we made sure she had many opportunities to earn overtime pay.
But I can't help wondering what family emergency will happen next.
