Upholding Contracts - Anyone taken legal measures to enforce contract terms???

[motherhubbard]

I am wondering if any of you out there have had to take legal measures to uphold the terms of your contracts?
I have gone out of my way to develop a solid contract that includes a 30 day notice period for termination of childcare services and I am absolutely fed up with Parents not giving or paying for the adequate notice period because they "just dont want to"
The contract is in place for a reason I have sent them copies of their signed contracts but am getting a "who cares" type response.

Its time I stand up for myself and follow through on enforcement right?

Any expriences anyone has had on steps to take enforcement action would be helpful. Do I use a collection agency take them to court??

I love running a dayhome and I do have some great parents, and I know I am a fantastic provider but sometimes parents like these make it so difficult to want to continue on :(

[playfelt]

Unless you have a lawyer in the family the cost of trying to recoup the money is usally not worth it. Are we entitled to it yes? But paying several hundred dollars to recoup $200 means at most you break even but not even that by the time you factor in lost wages to take them to small claims court.

I started doing a 2 week end of care deposit at the beginning of care even though my contract has a month notice. At most I am out only 2 weeks worth of severence which is better than nothing.

Our anger comes not from the immediate loss of income but more from the lost income while we advertise to find a replacement which you can see why the parents don't care because it doesn't effect them.

Blame is also on the new care arrangements. How many of us looking to fill a spot willingly wait without pay for a month while a family gives a previous caregiver notice? What daycare centre that finally has an opening willingly holds that spot for a month till the family is legally ready to move without giving it to the next person in line. Parents don't want to pay twice and I quite get the hardship related to that and I also get why they feel they should have to when the system is set up against them. As stated, that doesn't mean we aren't entitled to the money just that the parents don't see it our way and yes legal options are out there but unless it is a lot of money and your contract is iron clad it is very tough to do.

[Inspired by Reggio]

I require a security deposit at the start of care that is = to the amount of notice I expect to terminate the contract at the end of care .... two weeks written notice to apply said security deposit to service failure to provide proper notice results in forfeiting of the deposit .... this way I NEVER work for free and never go without at least the minimum notice period for a space.

Communication and a respectful relationship with clients is key in this business ~ in the past five years I have always had MONTHS worth of notice because clients have left either due to moving, for maternity leave or natural graduation out of the program the only time I got the minimum notice was a client whose spouse got laid off unexpectedly without notice and even than they ended up getting new work within 3 days of impulsively giving the notice and asked me if they could continue on after all and since I had not filled the spot I cancelled my interviews and they stayed on until their child started school full time.

However I am a picky provider ~ I only sign on clients who are looking for a long term childcare solution cause I HATE turnover if I take on a short term client I like to know that going in and only if it serves a benefit for me ~ aka taking on a older child whose heading to school in a year to get them ready type thing. I would rather go without income at MY choosing trying to find the perfect client than enroll a client and think I can budget for that income but than it is a client who ends up not being a match and leaving my program after short term and I am without the income unexpectedly again :(

[mimi]

The only issue I have had is when my drama mama (previously written about) who was fired suddenly didn't show and owed me two weeks. I sent her 3 registered demand letters for the outstanding balance, penalty and interest cost which of course she ignored. I was fuming angry but that is as far as I would take it as I didn't want to go to small claims court. I have since learned my lesson about getting up front deposits

[Toregone]

When I come back from my maternity leave I will be starting a security deposit with all new clients equal to 2 weeks of care, very similar to what others have done. I have never been in a position to need to take legal action but personally I wouldn't hesitate if the circumstances warranted it. If I were to take someone to small claims court for breach of contract I would include in the suit my legal fees as well as lost wages. It is perfectly reasonable to include these things and it often is included in small claims suits.

If this is about a situation you currently have ongoing sometimes even just letting the other party know you are making moves to being legal action will be enough to make them pay up what they owe. I'm not talking empty threats, but giving a heads up prior to actually starting legal action. Fingers crossed you might just save yourself the hassle.

[daycarewhisperer]

I require a one month calander notice and I only receive written notice on a Friday. I also accrue 1.5 days of vacation/holiday pay per month. So when a family decides to move on they must provide notice in writing on a Friday, pay for one FULL month, and pay any unused holiday/vacation I have accrued and not taken. This usually results in the family owing about 7-8 hundred dollars to fullfill their contract. Since I developed this notice system it has required parents to PLAN ahead and have funds in reserve to pay off the holiday and vacation time. I don't have clients leaving without having a large sum of money coming in from the day of notification. They can't come in on a Monday and tell me they are leaving me in two weeks leaving me with one Friday check as their balance. They have to start the clock on a Friday and pay 20-23 days of care plus a week plus in accrued time.

This eliminates SO many issues. Parents don't make spur of the moment decisions because they are locked into time they must pay and be nice. They can leave in a huff but they will still owe. I also have time to fill the slot and have money to go into the vacation/holdiay pay fund for the months of service I provided before I took my breaks. This stops them from leaving before I take a week off or before Xmas break where I have eight paid days (xmas eve, xmas, new year, and a week of paid vacation).

When I first started providing care I had parents leave mid november to get out of the two days off in Novemeber and the ten days off in December. Once I required a month notice AND payment of accrued vacation time that stopped completely. I've never had a family leave over the paid time off since. They have to pay whether they leave or not so they aren't enticed to switch child care to avoid the two weeks paid off.

With having the parents pay one week in advance, they would give notice and I would only be owed one week of pay on a two week notice. Very often they didn't feel like the one week was a big deal so I wouldn't get that. Now I have a BIG deal when they give notice so the "little deal that doesn't really matter" isn't an issue.

I don't have parents sign this contract until they have been with me at least three months. Before that they can leave with no notice and a full refund of any unused days. Once they sign the contract they have had my care for enough time to make a decision and honor the contract. I've had one family leave at contract signing time because they were not willing to offer the months notice. I insisted they sign or go because I wanted them to quit negotiating with me about stuff like nap (for an infant!!) and "educational program" for an infant. They didn't like my answers (he will nap with the kids the whole nap every day and we don't provide a curriculum for your eight month old". :rolleyes:

[Big Hearts]

If you do small clams court you can also ask for the legal feels back but you need to pay 150 up front, and then ask the courts for it back. good luck.

[motherhubbard]

Thanks all :)

I do have a detailed contract (pretty rock solid...its the enforcement issue Ive never had to address) as I have been doing this for years now and have learned over time that its really there to help not only me as a provider but for the families that bring their little ones to me.

I generally have a great group of parents, but this last few months has been a test of my love for this job :( I have had a "drama mama" issue myself, this I have been lucky enough to avoid up until now, who knows the contract she signed in and out but simply responded to me "what can you do about it really if I dont pay"
A parent who gave notice but then decided to stop payment on their final cheque (that one I just dont understand how you bring yourself to do that) and really Im just frustrated with the thought of them thinking this acceptable.

What is the point of having this contract if there is limited to non-existent recourse for parents who simply choose not to oblige the terms of the agreements they sign.

I'm not sure if I can use a collections firm or am I limited a small claims court suit?

I'm really torn, part of me is "live and learn" and will be much less tolerant of any "parent issues" and warning signs no matter how much I adore their little one, the other part of me thinks that if these parents are not shown that contracts are enforceable and binding that they will just continue to do this to more and more providers.

There should be some sort of service that allows dayhome providers to report parents (at minimum) for non-payment. I am lucky, even though these parents combined cost me $1,300.00 in lost income, I wasn't in a position where I was absolutely counting on my income. Dayhome providers work so hard for what works out to a few dollars per hour per child, I would hate to think of their next provider in the same situation who is counting on every bit of that income.

Ive debated a security deposit but didn't think that a parent would be willing or even able to put upfront additional fees. But have debated the possibility of holding back all receipts until either tax time once per year or once the care space is terminated and final fees and cheques have been paid and cleared. Does anyone know if that is an option? If they are terminated for non-payment or they give inadequate notice can I hold back receipts until the outstanding balance is cleared up?

[playfelt]

My parents don't get their annual tax receipt till all fees are paid up since of course I can't make it out till I have the right amount to put on the lines. However I do give a receipt for each payment so they would only be able to claim what they had already paid. If you only do monthly or annual fees then by all means no receipt till they have paid for what the receipt would cover.

[mimi]

motherhubbard, excellent idea holding back receipts, but I wonder, is it really legal or would you only be allowed to withhold the non payment portion of receipts. Does anyone know? :confused:

[Inspired by Reggio]

Hmmm ~ legally we are required to provide a tax receipt according to CRA but it does not indicate it has to be done weekly, bi weekly or monthly ~ I only give receipts annually unless they are paying by cash and than they get a temporary receipt that says right on it 'temporary receipt ~ not to be used for tax purposes' ;)

IMO you are not saying you are not 'willing' to provide it just that you cannot issue a final year end receipt until their balance is paid up ~ to me that seems like a FAIR demand because otherwise the receipt would not be 'accurate'.

I am not sure if it is 'legal' practice cause I have never had this issue in home childcare so not had the need to properly research it first hand ~ however I do know that several of the centres I worked at over the years had a similar policy in place ~ end of year tax receipts could only be issued for accounts in 'good standing' .... however the reality being for most clients if their account was not in good standing they had already 'bolted' from the program never to be seen again so were not around to 'collect' the receipt anyway ;)

[sunnydays]

I don't think you can legally withhold a reciept for money already paid. Also, they can still claim childcare without the reciepts, especially if they have their cheques returned to them by the bank. I think small claims court is your only option. It takes time, but it sounds like you would have no problem winning. Good luck!

[jazmic]

IMO you are not saying you are not 'willing' to provide it just that you cannot issue a final year end receipt until their balance is paid up ~ to me that seems like a FAIR demand because otherwise the receipt would not be 'accurate'.

I would go this route.

[Inspired by Reggio]

Another tip I learned from centre care practices is that while you legally have to issue it ~ there is no rule on you having to track down a person to make sure they GET IT .... my policy is that all my tax receipts are issued in end of January / early February after the tax year has been completed ~ but in the interest of ensuring they get to the right person they cannot or will not be mailed ~ they have to be picked up in person and SIGNED for acceptance in duplicate a copy for their records and a copy for mine .... so if a client has left on bad terms or not paid up the chances of them wanting to suck up having to show their face in the program again is SLIM so you can do up the receipt for them and stick it in their file so you met your legal obligation ~ receipt is there should anyone question it ~ if they do not show up to claim it that is their problem ;)

Either way you obviously still have to claim the 'income' as on the receipt aka what they actually PAID ~ if they do try to claim it without a receipt your ass is covered ;)

Having them sign in duplicate also prevents 'fraud' of a client trying to claim they paid MORE by altering the receipt after they've left your premise cause you have a copy with their signature with the TRUE amount on it ... my receipts are 'watermarked' as well to reduce the ability to duplicate them ... worked in centre care too long seeing sneaky people trying to screw the system!

[MomAwayFromMom]

Although I have never had to deal with this particular issue, so far anyway, I do make sure to tell all of my client families that I will use a local collection agency to recoup unpaid fees upon such an event. By using a collection agency, you will not get the whole amount owed, because they have thier fee (this agency that I spoke with it's 30%) but some is better than none AND it sends the message that you are serious.

HTH,