Late fees

[Mommy]

Good day everyone. So I was wanting to change my late fees policy in my contract cause I find too many parents are taking advantage of it. As of right now I have in my contract that late fees start adding up as of fifteen minutes after five. Five dollars I sowed the another five every five extra minutes their late. If like to change it to as of five minutes late its five dollars and a dollar a minute after that. Is that too harsh ? What are your guys late fee policies ? Thanks in advance

[Artsand crafts]

Mine is $0.25 per minute for late pick up

[mommyof2princesses]

I close at 5:30pm so starting at 5:35pm it's $1/minute for being late

[apples and bananas]

My honest opinion is that it does sound a little harsh. If I'm a client that is always on time then sharpening the late fee may feel like you're looking for more money.

I would suggest that you deal with the person that's the issue on an individual basis. If there's one person that's taking advantage of it then I would suggest that you change their late fees.

If it's more then one person then I would suggest that you look at what you're doing. Are you enforcing it strong enough? Are you letting the clients know that late pick ups intrude on your family time. Have you told them that it's not acceptable and your closing time is your closing times.

I don't enforce a late fee because in my mind, enforcing a late fee allows a client to think that it's ok for them to be late, they just pay a fee for it. I simply don't allow lates as a rule.

The odd time a client will ask if I can keep johnny a few min later in case they get stuck in a meeting. Some days I can and I let them know it's fine, but I confirm a "by the latest " time and some days' I can't and I tell them that.

I guess it depends on your clients.

[Momof4]

.........I find too many parents are taking advantage of it. As of right now I have in my contract that late fees start adding up as of fifteen minutes after five. Five dollars I sowed the another five every five extra minutes their late. If like to change it to as of five minutes late its five dollars and a dollar a minute after that. Is that too harsh ? What are your guys late fee policies ? Thanks in advance

If people are taking advantage of you then yes, you have to put your foot down and be tough NOW!!! Don't let anybody do that to you.

I have to ask if your contracts are coming up for renewal or how you are going about making these changes because we can't just willy nilly make changes to our policies at any time. Our clients sign on the dotted line and expect us to keep our word. However, you can definitely expect your clients to keep their word and arrive when they promised as well. That's mutual respect.

I charge $5 late fee as soon as my clock strikes 5pm or a 9 hour day is exceeded. If your clients are being rude to you then I don't see anything wrong with your new policies, just be careful about how you go about it as I mentioned. Are you already giving them a 15 minute grace period? That's more than generous.

[ladyjbug]

My honest opinion is that it does sound a little harsh. If I'm a client that is always on time then sharpening the late fee may feel like you're looking for more money.

I disagree with the above. I think that if I am a client that is always on time, I wouldn't worry about you changing the policy. After all, you wouldn't be breaking the policy, why be concerned about the consequences for someone who does break the policy? I would think about a policy change "Oh, someone must be breaking her policy!" and pat myself on the back for it not being me. Oh, and maybe go and get my a provider a coffee because I appreciate her very, very, much. Well, that's wishful thinking, but doesn't hurt to put it out there! :)

My late fees are $1.00 a minute. There is no grace period. My contract says that I can enforce them at anytime so to be prepared. However, if there is a huge blizzard and if some people are stuck on the roads or an emergency comes up, I am not a heartless person. Some of these things are just part of where I live and I expect them on some level. All of my current clients would be considerate enough to phone and warn me on days like that. I think late fees are more of an "inconsideration fee". I would charge someone that didn't phone and then came waltzing up my drive 3 minutes late, rather than the parent that apologized profusely and sprinted up my drive 8 minutes. I would charge the 3 minute late one even though she was earlier than the other one, because she came with the expectation that I had nowhere to be and that my time was not as valuable as hers. The 8 minute one, maybe I wouldn't charge (depends on the reason) because the respect was there for my time and for me.

[Mommy]

It's one client in particular that does but a couple others have too without warning. But the main one will tell me oh ill be there before five. Then five comes and I text her to ask where she is then she asks when late fees kick in. I say 5:15 and she will show up at 5:13 and say oh I made it on time. I agree with just in forcing doors are closed at five but on the other hand if there's no consequence does that not also encourage them not to show up on time ? I think I like a dollar a minute. Thanks for the input everyone.

[BlueRose]

My late fee is $1.00 per minute starting at 5pm and goes until I close the door behind them. The late fee also apples if they are here before 5pm and are just taking their time and are still here after 5pm. My clients are told to be early if they need to talk to me. Exceptions are if the child needs a diaper change/use the bathroom when they are still here, as the parents have no control over that. I also hold the right to not charge the fee depending on why they are late/still here after close. I also have a stormy weather policy, that states:
Stormy Weather
With the on coming of winter, we will be facing story weather. I would ask if the weather is bad that you do the following:

- when possible please leave work early to insure you can pick up your child on time
- arrange to have someone else to pick up your child before or at closing time
- please call to let me know that you are on your way
- drive at a safe speed. I rather you be late then dead or hurt


I will be waving all late fees for my private clients when the weather is dangerously bad, such as a white out. My husband is a local truck driver and will let me know what the road conditions are.

[playfelt]

The problem is that people are considering your grace period to be something that they can just use with no penalty and no that is not fair to you. I would be inclined to simply state it that way to people with the idea that the "grace period" was put in the contract to allow for the occassional time that there was extra traffic or a snow storm or an accident that slowed traffic on the way home and therefore a parent was later than their contracted time. Lately this policy has been abused and if pick ups continue to be more than 5-10 minutes late then I will be forced to change the policy or increase the penalty for late arrivals.

What that does is put the parents on their best behaviour of not abusing the grace period. Then if you are forced to change it they will have no one to blame but themselves. For sure change the policy for any new clients and change the grace period to 5 minutes but then use your discretion ie if there is a snowstorm, etc. in whether you give more time or charge from the 5 minute mark.

[Momof4]

Oh I agree that there shouldn't be any grace period and should have said that in my first post instead of saying you were being generous. I was being too subtle. NO grace period at my daycare. One minute over and they are subject to overtime fees. It depends on the family and the reason and the amount of notice I'm given and whether it's a one time thing. I don't charge when it's understandable but if it happened every day or even once a week, I would charge.

[Mommy]

Yes I like having no grace period and keeping it at my discretion. With this women I think it's cause she does running around or is at home cause when I mention late fees kicking in she's here within minutes. Some people. I don't get much time with just my kids after daycare and before they go to bed so it irritates me someone is taking that away.

[Momof4]

I don't see any reason why she can't pick up her child and spend the extra 15 minutes running around doing errands WITH her child so that you can be done work on time. You have a right to be irritated. Now go put your foot down and let us know how it goes!!!

[Crayola kiddies]

My contract says I can make a change to the contract with a two week notice to allow the change to come in to effect. So if it were me I would do a letter to post on the door stating that effective xxxx the late fee will change as follows:
There will be no more grace period and after 5pm you will be charged $1/ min for the first 10 mins and then $5/min after that. Repetitive lateness will result in termination.

[KellyP]

Jeez, I am the meanie of the group.

My late policy simply says "Don't do it".

It is grounds for immediate termination.

Now obviously if something big were going on and a parent absolutely couldn't make it on time, they would have to call me and let me know in ADVANCE (and not just show up late) and then I will handle each situation individually based on my relationship with the family and the situation.

My policy must be working because I haven't had one single late pick up.

[Mommy]

I like posting a letter saying that things are changing. Is it too informal to send out an email ? I like saying repetitive late pick ups will result in termination. Thanks for the ideas. Kelly do the parents ever find your contract too harsh ? I'm just wondering what reaction you got

[Crayola kiddies]

I like posting a letter saying that things are changing. Is it too informal to send out an email ? I like saying repetitive late pick ups will result in termination. Thanks for the ideas. Kelly do the parents ever find your contract too harsh ? I'm just wondering what reaction you got

I would post it on your door or your bulletin board or something like that and have each parent initial it and that way they cant say they didn't get it and also the offending parent wont think they are the only ones to get it.