Norah Boyle, 85, suffered a head injury as Sabrina Duncan and Benter Ouma put her to bed at The Green Nursing Home in Kings Norton. She died 23 days later.
The workers delayed calling 999 and pretended Mrs Boyle knocked her head on the head board.
They must do 160 hours' unpaid work and pay Â£500 court costs each.
The pair were not prosecuted for being responsible for the fall, but for being "grossly negligent in their response".
Mrs Boyle died in hospital after developing pneumonia.
In sentencing, judge Mark Wall said it was impossible to say whether reporting the incident any earlier would have made any difference to Mrs Boyle's eventual death.
Her daughter, Ellen Boyle, said: "I'm appalled that that's what they got for what happened to my mum.
"I'm appalled that my mother's life is only worth 12 months of a community order."
Speaking after the court hearing Det Sgt Victoria Lee said the pair had delayed calling an ambulance while they came up with a cover story.
"While [Duncan and Ouma] plotted, Mrs Boyle laid in bed with a serious head injury, her head bleeding onto the pillow," she said.
"Most of us have relatives who are frail, disabled or vulnerableâ€¦ we expect them to be cared for professionally and compassionately."
Duncan, 40, of Shartlands Close, Cotteridge, and Ouma, 31, of Summerfield Crescent, Edgbaston, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing at Birmingham Crown Court to neglect and ill-treatment.
Two care workers who admitted neglect after a pensioner fell from a hoist at a Birmingham care home have been sentenced to 12-month community orders.