Extra days off parents want, and don't want to pay you for them.

[Sharonw]

Hi, I have run into a situation where I have parents taking there child out of my care for a day and then not paying me for that day. What would you do? The problem is, in my original contract with them I did not indicate a situation like this. I guess I never thought I would run into a situation where the child would not be there. I only indicated that if I (me the daycare provider) had to take a day off for any reason any reason, no fees would be charged.Any suggestions.

[waterloo day mom]

I would let it go this time, and write up an addition to the contract and hand it out to all the parents so that the know what the policy is from now on. You shouldn't lose salary because they decided to take the day off last minute.

[Play and Learn]

Exactly what Waterloo day mom stated.

In bold and in caps in my manual it states: If Andrea's Play and Learn Home Daycare is open, I still receive payment. There's some more things in there, but that's the just of it.

[playfelt]

Sending out the memo to everyone is a good idea - less confrontational that way and makes sure the others know where things stand. Remind them that the fee they pay reserves a space for them in your daycare. It is not tied to how many of the days they actually end up using. This is called payment by enrolment. Collecting payment in advance helps with a situation like this too in the sense they have already paid on Monday for the week so if they decide to take off on Thursday they don't get a refund.

[Sharonw]

Your advice is much appreciated. I recently ran into a situation like this, and unfortunately the mom will not be enrolling her child in September again. Partially because I changed the rules, she like the "flexibility" and the "cushion", and partially because she was considering enrolling her child in a private school.

[KingstonMom]

Ha! Well if she thinks shes going to find another daycare that wont charge her for days off, shes got another thing coming!
Like PlayandLearn advised me, I put in my contract, "if the Daycare is open, and your child does not attend for whatever reason, payment is still expected".

[Sarah A]

I have also come across this issue over the past couple of months and I am revising my contract as we speak. My parent would advise me at the time where payment was due (Monday prior for the following two weeks) that her child wouldn't be here a day or two. I thought the first couple of times would be it but it seems like she continuously does this and I am not able to replace the income on such short notice.

I definately need to revise my contract and send it out to all parents so I stop getting burned like this.

[Sharonw]

Thank you for your experiences, it is nice to know I am not the only one who has run into this problem. I have a new mom coming tonight for an interview. I have made sure my contract includes these issues and other things I have came across that can cause problems if not addressed and made known right away.

[Tot-Time]

No you aren't the only one who has ran into this problem :) I have ran into this problem and many others.

It took me many years to develop the contract that I have now. It derived from many mistakes. mishaps, and experiences that happened throughout the years of daycare. I also did a lot of research for what are the 'average' policies for my area. What is normal changes from each location :)

[Judy Trickett]

Yes, some good advice given above. Simply add the line.........

Payment is required regardless of attendance.

[horsegirl]

I think this is a common problem with the parent/caregiver partnership. I like what Judy suggests, but also change your contract so that parents know what to expect. When I have had this problem I have used the following analogy with parents:
"Do you phone the bank and tell them that you are going on holidays and will not be paying your mortgage or car payment. No? Then why would you consider my services to be different?":huh:

My experience has shown that analogies help the parents to understand the situation even better.

Good Luck.