Victoria writes: "Is it fair to ask my employer to still pay me when they go out of town on my scheduled workdays?"
A: Yes! This is absolutely a fair request—if you've got a contract. Without a contract, they are not required to pay you for hours you don't work. If your family travels frequently, they might cringe at paying you your full salary every time they want to take an expensive family trip, which honestly, is understandable. A solid middle-ground-agreement could be that you get paid up to two or three weeks a year for vacation time they take during your scheduled hours. If you're considered full time, it's pretty standard to be paid when the family travels. However, part time negotiations can be trickier since most part time families don't expect to be throwing in extra benefits beyond the hourly wage. Get creative! Maybe they can pay half your salary when they're gone, or maybe they haven't considered taking you with them! If it's important to them that you stick around, my bet is they will be willing to negotiate.