This podcast episode (Secret Sauce of Outsourcing, ep. 292) explores how employers handle situations when their Online Filipino Specialists (OFS) get sick. It stitches together multiple employer anecdotes and practical approaches — emphasizing human-centered support (paid leave, sick-day policies, flexible time off), operational safeguards (cross-training, backups, autopay, bill.com), and concrete examples of long-term support leading to increased loyalty.
Chapters
Welcome to the Secret Sauce of Outsourcing podcast that's dedicated to making you better at working with your OFS team online. Filipino Specialists. This is episode 292, how your peers handle when their OFS gets sick. So recently I had a podcast about how I handle when an OFS gets sick and I also had a newsletter about it and I got a lot of responses about this. Actually like more than most of my newsletters or podcasts. And it was really cool to see how other employers are taking care of and care for their OFS when they get sick or just in general. Also on how they make their businesses run smoothly even with someone getting sick. So like in my business I don't have a lot of time sensitive tasks where if someone gets sick and they're gone for a while, well, you know, it's okay. Like that work can just be pushed off. So Jane said the same thing to me and I'm going to read a bunch of these responses because there's just really, really good stuff here. So Jane says even though the job is virtual, we are fully aware that the person is not virtual. The worker is a real, live, breathing person who occasionally will have we care for the OFS and are concerned for their welfare. I made plans at the start of this position with my ofs. He has backup help in case something happens to him. Someone who can gain access to my account, send an email and let me know what is going on and someone who can work on my account. How would I handle a long term illness? I'd continue to pay him for about three months longer if I could. The work is on a website, so it's not time sensitive. Then he can figure out how to catch up. But I wouldn't worry about it and I would not necessarily keep a record of how many hours he's put in. I've worked on websites and SEO and I know it consumes many hours, so him making up the work would be easy. Now that we have a worker, depending on an income, we want to take care of him and would like the OFS to focus on getting healthy. Again. Really, really good approach to working with ofs. Thank you so much Jane. And then I'm going to add to what she said. This is another really good reason to hire someone to do things that you know how to do. It's easy to have a backup if you're giving someone something you know how to do. You can also take care of things if they're gone long term if you absolutely need to. Or it's reasonable to hire someone else and put them in place if someone's gone long term. Now here's what Eli Shama said about it. I give my OFS sick days. They are allowed to request to take up to three sick days in a month. After the third day they are required to see a doctor and bring a note from the doctor verifying they are either fit for work or need more time off. I also provide time off for death in the family. My lead just lost his grandfather two days ago. He's been off ever since notifying me. I told him to take whatever time he needs and let me know if he needs anything. I jump in and help with the work if need be. Everything they're doing are things I used to do before I had a team. So I just jump in and help keep things running smoothly. Really well done Elishama. Thank you. So now if you have business critical tasks or time sensitive tasks, Rhonda and Jared both recommend cross training your ofs. Here's what here's what they said Cross training. Same as other business critical situations. In a pinch I can run payroll, make critical payments, etc. All of our payroll taxes are paid by gusto. We have everything possible on autopay, whether through credit card or deduction from the accounts. Some payments have to be sent. We use bill.com for those. Clarice is pregnant and we expect her to be out for as long as she'd like, so her fiance is learning how to do her job while she's out and he'll do less of his regular job, which is video review and tech training for the time she's out. I'm assuming that Clarice's fiance also works for them. She continues I'll support them both as needed. So far, not at all. It's been tricky explaining clearly. I'm interested in the work getting done, not in the hours you work. And if you are sick and need support, just let me know so I can help. We're all on the same team here. Thank you so much Rhonda. Such a good approach. Here's what Jared thanks for sharing your insights. When we have mission critical urgent items, we always make sure that someone else on the team is a backup to someone else. Two years ago next week we lost our fearless leader in the Philippines who had passed away suddenly in an accident. We spent the next several weeks having to retrain someone to take over some of the responsibilities that he had. Ever since then we have always made sure that whatever your role is on the team, someone else knows how to do it and come back you up if you are sick or on vacation. I hope that helps. Thank you Jared. I love the cross training and actually I'm going to add to that. So I recently had someone talk to me about taking a mandatory vacation or forcing your people to take a mandatory vacation where they are not answering emails and not doing work while they're on vacation. He said have people take a two week vacation. It'll really, really emphasize parts of your business that are lacking backup and the really critical pieces. You'll also probably drop things that are happening that aren't critical and don't need to be done. Really, really great advice. So the next one came from Rob and I think Rob's OFS reads my newsletter and so she responded to him after she had read the newsletter that from what he had said. So here's both Rob's approach to this and his OFS response about it. So Rob says my first hire. Actually third, I don't count the first two because they were so awful. MJ is an amazing fit for my business. She has since helped me to hire the next two. Early on, five months after hiring her, she got carpal tunnel and had to take time off to heal. I told her about some really great software that all she had to do was talk and IT types. She didn't like the way any of them work. I kept telling her that it takes time for the software to get to you to get used to her. She refused to use it. She and her doctor didn't know how long she had to rest her wrist. I knew that if she didn't have a paying job she and her family would suffer. So I paid her until she was ready to come back. She was mystified. Why would I continue paying her even without any of the work getting done? She offered to help me hire her replacement then then train that replacement. That is exactly why I was willing to pay her to get well. I refused to let her do any work except studying and reading. It took almost five months for her to heal. Ouch. I was right. It was the right thing to do. It was what convinced her that I wasn't looking for a reason to fire her. She went from a right fit for the company to an amazing fit. And Then here's Rob's OFS's response. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your patience and understanding with me during my carpal tunnel syndrome recovery. Your trust in me and your decision to keep me keep me on even when I was not fully healed was a huge source of comfort during a difficult time. Your kindness and unmatched generosity to give me the opportunity to heal without worrying about my job security. What I appreciate the most. You showed your faith in me and my abilities during that tough period and that's why I am now more devoted and loyal to you and to our business. This experience allowed me to understand the importance of support. I promise to always keep this in mind and to extend my support, understanding and faith to other people and situations. With everything that's been going on, I know it's a lot. I'm just excited to keep giving my best and showing you my commitment to the business. From MJ and Rob when he sent me this actually said I'm super excited that she said business. She said, that's why I am more devoted and loyal to you and to our business. Our business. Because he was loyal to her. So do you have some other ways that you handle ofs sickness? Do you have other things that you do or other ideas? I would love to hear it. Send me an email. Johnnlinejobs phone.
