Hired caregiver wants to paid for her time while she was treated to a dinner out. Any advice?

If she was with you then she could not be taking care of someone else. If it was during her regular hours, yes she should be paid. We have a caregiver come in every Saturday, part of her job is to drive them out for a very nice lunch. And yes she is bought lunch.

Sounds fine to me. Are you begrudging her meal or the pay?

Yep. If I take an employee out, while she is on the clock, she gets paid.

It depends on the circumstance. If you agreed to meet her and have a girls' night out (bad idea), no, you shouldn't pay. If she was going to help with your mother or because it was during her normal hours, yes, you should pay.

It always amazes me when employers consider it a "treat" to take an employee to lunch. Give me a gift certificate to eat with a friend ... that is a treat.

I am very glad you decided to pay for her time as well as her lunch.

I understand how distressing it can be to pay and pay and pay. Having a loved one with a chronic illness is very expensive, there is no getting around that! I feel for ya. But it is not the caregiver's fault and she deserves her pay.

Picking up the tab for lunch when an employee is on the clock is the right thing to do. Asking her to pay for her meal would be tacky.

Thank you everyone. Yes, she was assisting Mom after her PT appt. I'm just tired of paying, paying, paying. I'm a sole caregiver. Thanks again, she will be paid for it.

I so appreciate all the posters attitudes... as a paid caregiver.... I would be told I was not 'needed' during that time..... lunch and pay..... wow, I would begin to think I was appreciated..... thanks to all of you who treat your caregiver right... hugs to all of you..

While it might seem to be "pay and pay and pay", you're also establishing good will with your caregiver. If she had a choice between continuing with you and another client, the lunches and kind treatment would be something she surely would remember.

Besides, it's nice for employer and employee to just spend some relaxing time chilling out, getting to know each other, and building the foundation for a better working relationship.

Well, I ended up letting her go. She chose the work the hours that she wanted to work and then expected me to pay her. One hour PT appointments turned into 4 hrs a day charged. 5 PT appointments turned into $410. At least I won't have to worry about it again, as she will not be working at our house again.