Is that legal?

I work for an agency that goes into a clients home and takes care of them. Non-medical home care. I have been working for this client for about two weeks. She is a pain in the ass.

Her grandson was going on vacation and decided to bring his dog over to her house. OK number one the woman is in a wheelchair. Number two, how is she supposed to let it outside, bend over and pick up the food bowl to feed it? Her grandson was thinking, the caretaker is here, she will take care of everything.

Well, I called my boss to let her know about the situation. I told her I do not feel comfortable about taking care of the dog because it is not hers. What if something happens? That morning,I get to the clients house. She wants me to take the dog to the vet because there is something wrong with her. She has a big sore in the bottom of her foot and she keep licking it and her skin all over was red and irritated. I told the client that I did not feel comfortable taking the dog to the vet because it is not her dog nor mine. The grandson should take it because it is his dog. He was going to be home in two days.

The client got mad at me that I said no. She told me that she was going to call my boss. I told her I will call. I proceeded to get my phone and call her. Well, the client started yelling at me saying ,"This is my house and I will call her."Whatever. I talked to my boss and she also told me to take the dog! Now, I had just called her a few hours before to express my concern about the dog in the first place. Here we go!

The client talked to my boss and they agreed that I should take the dog. After the client hung up, she told me to take the dog to the vet or I could go home and she would find somebody else to come take my place. I was not very happy about it but I took the dog. I had no choice. Take the dog or your fired! That's not right. Is it?

It took thirty minutes to get her into the wheelchair, the dog on the leash and put them both into the car. Wheelchairs and dogs on leashes do not go together very well. We went, the dog had allergies, might have a tumor on the foot,bring him back in ten days after this medication.

I took her and the dog home finished my shift and never went back. My employer
thinks I am a b-----.My boss said if I had not taken the dog, the client would have been calling her all day complaining, and she did not feel like dealing with that.

Is there not a law somewhere that says employers cannot force you to do something that is not in your job description. How can I be forced to take care of something that does not belong to any of the people that i am taking care of? If they had dropped off their child instead of the dog, would they still have made me take them to the Dr.? Is that legal?

POST A COMMENTSouthernProgrammer(01/03/2008)
I don't know of the exact laws and guidelines of your job but I can bet that if the dog would have bitten your client OR she would have been injured going to the vet YOU would have been held responsible and your employer would have feigned innocence. Does your employer have a guideline book? I would point blank ask your boss that IF you are called to do something like that again, if the dog poops in your car or bites YOU or the person you are supposed to be taking care of, will your employer cover the costs?

anonymous(01/03/2008)
Question: Who paid the vet bill? And are you employed by a state subcontractor or a state run agency with Rules and Written Regulations? Most taxpayers are not happy when their hard earned money is spend for people not entitled to the services and the Grand-dog certainly is not.

My Grand-MIL was in a home care situation and her husband (not related to any of us) interfered with homecare workers and a visiting nurse to the point that the homecare worker and the nurse kept notes and recommendations such as barring him or relocating her to a nursing home. He wanted them to clean up after him and take care of him too. She died soon after he is still alive.

The caretakers did the human thing and took care of a very sweet woman and an impossible man. But I feel that she would have lived longer and responded to treatment if her husband had not caused all that stress.

breaker, breaker 19(01/03/2008)
Thank you for responding. At first I thought I was over reacting but now I feel better. Thank you.

the confessor(01/04/2008)
Your boss was totally in the wrong about coercing you into this situation. It is in fact part of her job (legally known as a "fiduciary responsibility") to handle complaints from clients.
You made a mistake by not going back without contacting the head of the agency or even state board governing in-home care.
If a vet had been called to examine the animal, would they have provided care and transportation to the elderly woman? Definitely not!


the confessor(01/04/2008)
Wanted to add that by allowing the client to bully you and place you and the agency in jeopardy, your boss showed her basic incompetency. The animal should have been placed in a kennel. Leaving the dog with someone who couldn't even walk it qualifies as neglect.

breaker, breaker 19(01/04/2008)
I agree. That was the point I was trying to get across to my boss. She said she did not want to deal with her calling all day and complaining about me not taking the dog. She said it would be easier for everyone if I just took the dog to "shut her up". Bulls@#%!! I was the one with her. I had to hear about it all day not her. Don't answer the phone. I know for a fact the company has caller ID.
On one occasion, the client, the same one we are talikng about, had her son at the house while I was there. Her son was installing a new dryer. My boss had called me and she wanted to know if I could work the next day for another client. She told me to get off the phone and come serve her son lunch because he was in a hurry and needed to leave soon. My boss heard her and said it is not my job to feed her son. I was there to help her not her son. Well, doesn't the dog thing also apply? Contradiction!!

breaker, breaker 19(01/04/2008)
Oh by the way. She is the owner of the company. I called the Board of Labor and they said they could not do anything about it. I don't know what else I can do other then look for another job and not be bullied around.

thelma(01/06/2008)
Since she's the owner, she probably didn't want to risk losing the client. It may have been different if it were a larger company. I suggest getting a written list of services that you provide and then refuse to deviate in any way from that. So when dogwalking, housecleaning, or fixing lunch for family members comes up, you have in writing that you aren't contracted to do that.

rodriguez(01/16/2008)
you should poison the dog

breaker, breaker 19(01/19/2008)
It's not the dogs fault his owner and "grandma" sucks.

breaker, breaker 19(01/19/2008)
Hey Rodriguez,I have noticed that the responses you give are very violent. Any reason for that?

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