Paid vacations/personal/sick days ect..

[snuggles]

Hi Everyone,

I've been redoing my contract and adding and changes some things. I was wondering if its fair to charge personal day to my contract and it been paid..I know some providers in my area do, just curious if any of yous do.
Since I started my home daycare, I always had 2 weeks paid vacation per year, I ve had no complaints, but parents never paid for any days off I take off, appointment or been sick.

Any input for anyone would be great:)
thanks!

[BlueRose]

I get 2 weeks paid vacation, 10 days paid sick days and 10 days paid personal days per calendar year. But I let clients know that just because I get them does not mean I will use them (personal /sick days), I just have two young children of my own and I am the one who has to take them to appointments and take care of them when they are sick. My husband can not take time off of work. I do my best to make sure my kids appointments are on the same days. I also let clients know that if I do not use them, I will not be transferring the to the next year.

[Momof4]

I take 3 weeks off per year of vacation unpaid, so the parents pay full fees for the other 49 weeks of the year, no matter if they have vacation, if there are stats, sick days or missed days for any reason. I have 3 paid personal days listed now but according to the other thread where LittleFeet found something that said we shouldn't have paid sick days I'm going to have to rethink that.

[gramma]

If I got 2 weeks paid vacation I wouldnt rock the boat.:)

[Crayola kiddies]

I have three weeks paid holidays and 5 paid personal days .... My sick days are unpaid.

[amotherfirst]

I have 2 weeks paid vacation, 5 paid sick days, and paid christmas closure between Dec 24 and Jan 1, and also 2 professional development days to cover the time I take to do courses, workshops etc. I list those like that in my daycare handbook but list them as paid personal days in my contract because I think if you word it paid personal days its allowed, but not if you say vacation days. Its all about wording it correctly.

[Fearlessbaby]

OMG!! THis is fantastic- I had no idea we could get paid holidays!!:) I'll have to revise my handbook ASAP!! (I like the 2 weeks paid holidays) But are the days set or do you give notice to the parents and if so , how much notice is fair? Also, if you take sick days, how much notice is proper?

[Inspired by Reggio]

OMG!! THis is fantastic- I had no idea we could get paid holidays!!:) I'll have to revise my handbook ASAP!! (I like the 2 weeks paid holidays) But are the days set or do you give notice to the parents and if so , how much notice is fair? Also, if you take sick days, how much notice is proper?

I would totally check with your local area if this is the NORM and than weighing the supply and demand in your area to see if you can be a pioneer in doing something outside that norm fee wise ... being new to childcare it is often challenging to get clients to take a chance to sign on in the first place IME if you put things in your contract that make your fees 'above the average' in your area you could be creating an additional challenge for you ... I charge more than the norm in my area too and starting out I had to lower my initially planned fees considerably to get people biting ~ I am still high end of the norm for my region but had to stick with a fee that the market could bare so to speak!

Also be VERY careful in how you WORD stat holiday, vacation and sick day policies in your contract because entitlement to stat holiday pay, vacation, and personal days are 'employed' criteria verses 'self employed' criteria for CRA ... if you do not word it carefully you can run into trouble with CRA trying to decide you were 'employed' by clients and therefore have no right to right off your expenses and so forth. I believe the CCPRN has some resources on wording to avoid trouble!

I personally choose to offer clients a choice between paying my normal weekly fee of $X.XX a week and than they do not pay me when I am closed for vacation or sick days OR they can choose option B which is 8% lower and pay a consistent weekly fee for their space which includes closure for 10 vacation days and 10 personal days ... this way it is clear I am SELF EMPLOYED because the initial option does not include paid vacation nor sick days ~ I am just offering clients a second 'consistent' payment option for my service by dividing the space they are occupying by 52 weeks instead of 48 of the initial plan depending on how clients want to budget!

[treeholm]

I take four weeks unpaid, but I announce the dates at the beginning of the year. So all my parents already know the dates I'm closed in August and for Christmas.

[Momof4]

I take four weeks unpaid, but I announce the dates at the beginning of the year. So all my parents already know the dates I'm closed in August and for Christmas.

This is exactly what I do. I choose my weeks of vacation for the entire year and advise my clients by letter the previous December so when they are booking their vacations for the next year they know when I will be closed.

[bright sparks]

I have no paid time off. It isn't the norm for my area so I can't stay competetive by charging for vacation/personal/sick days.

I also do not choose my vacation days at any point other than when I make arrangements. I was initially going to take March Break off this year, but didn't book anywhere to vacation too. I am down 2.5 spots since December so my financial needs are different and I will not be taking the week off now. Can you imagine if I had committed to the parents that I would be off and then not be able to afford the loss of income??? I give plenty of notice when we book a family vacation as it is rare that I can get what I am looking for at short notice. For example I am currently planning a trip in the summer ofr 1 week and a 2 week trip next March. I may take a week off here and there or if parents are going away I may take this time off to reduce my loss of income. I'm not going to commit 12 months in advance to my time off. It doesnt leave me with any flexibility to take time off if I am burnt out, or if we get a last minute visitor for example. I don't think I have given less than 2 weeks notice for a few days off.

I also don't have a set amount of time off per year that I take off. If a parent were to ask me I would say anything from 4-6 weeks but it varies. 2012 I took 2x 1 week blocks off and the time between Xmas and New Year. The year before a took a solid 3 weeks off to vacation around Europe, a week in October and then Xmas to New Year off. I like to have the flexibility. In fact I need the flexibility in order to give myself and my family the personal time we need.

When interviewing while discussing the vacation policy I find out if families have back up care or not and how much time they usually take off. Someone with no back up and limited flexibility for time off isn't a client I will accomodate because it will be to restrictive on my family.


I have 2 weeks paid vacation, 5 paid sick days, and paid christmas closure between Dec 24 and Jan 1, and also 2 professional development days to cover the time I take to do courses, workshops etc. I list those like that in my daycare handbook but list them as paid personal days in my contract because I think if you word it paid personal days its allowed, but not if you say vacation days. Its all about wording it correctly. Amotherfirst said she gets this, which is a super sweet deal in my opinion. In my area this would not fly AT ALL. But then for others my lack of 12 months notice for time off may be off putting although, it has NEVER once come up in the 6 1/2 years I have been doing daycare.

I would also strongly agree with what some others have said. It is important to word it correctly but not all about that. Number one really I think is seeing what the norm is in your area.

Remember when you take time off and the parent has to pay you, they also have to take time off and may or may not have paid vacation/sick/personal days or "FREE" back up care available so in some cases the paid day you take can cost a parent double. It doesnt mean we don't deserve time off and obviously if we were employed we would have some amount of paid vacation time, but we are not employed and need to see how we can fit properly into our local daycare provider market. Also, lots of people don't have paid sick or personal days and I try to see things from that persepective as I would hate to have a policy that would be the deciding factor for a parent not to bring their child to me.