Pulling kids from daycare to go to camp?

[Smomsy]

Hi Ladies, First time posting and have run my DC for 20 yrs. I have a family that I feel is constantly tweeking my policies. This is the latest example. I give 2 weeks holidays and then the week I take. Plus parents do not pay me if I am not working when I book off additional time, which is the odd long weekend with plenty of notice. They have pulled oldest child to go to camp and didn't pay me and I believe they plan to do that for 1/2 the summer too. I do not have anything to cover me for that in my handbook and feel that anytime I am open and lose income, that is deemed a "holiday" on their part. Can anyone suggest how I handle this? They will try to get 3 weeks in addition to this. I am stumped on how to handle this. I will definitly be adding this to any new parents. My belief is it is their spot and I can't just fill it. If you want to do the camp thing that is fine but you either pay me or it will go against your holidays. Help! As many of you know we have to pick our battles. This is just one of them that I will discuss here about this family but there are other issues where I feel they are trying to control my policies. Thanks.

[Judy Trickett]

You just tell them. You tell them that payment is required regardless of attendance or you will fill their spot with another child. And, in the meantime, rework your contract to include a clause that payment is required regardless of attendance. This is VERY important!

When does your contract expire?

If you want a copy of my contract I would be happy to provider it. Simply PM me with your email address.

[Smomsy]

That would be great and thanks. I will pm you with my email address. Don't have an expiry date but that is a brilliant idea. It allows me to make changes to fix little loop holes. I have said that they pay me whether child is there or not and its in contract but only covers sick days.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I charge full rate for days here and for children's sick days. I charge $10 less for STAT days that I am closed and if they take their child out for whatever reason(this has to be told too me before payment is due) and I charge $0 for my holidays and sick days. This is non-negotiable. I mark down their payment owed on the monthly newsletter and than will text them the week payment is due as a reminder. I tell them how much they owe me not the other way around. If they don't tell me that their child will be out for any amount of time than they pay full fee.

I agree with Judy. You will just have to tell them this will count against their holidays and that is that.

[bright sparks]

Maybe I misunderstood but this seems pretty straight forwardto me.....you give two weeks vacation without pay to your families, correct? Well it's as simple as that. Once they have gone over the two weeks then they need to pay for any additional time off UNLESS you are closed. If she does not pay you beyond the two weeks then I'm assuming she doesn't pay you in advance because if she left you with post dated cheques she would be unable to do this. This is why it is so important to be paid in advance of care given, not with them paying you in arrears or there is a high chance of being screwed and you leave it wide open for issues like this to come up. Did you take a two week deposit or similar upon enrolment? This would cover any discrepancies when she short changes you by not paying after the two weeks, and then you don't accept their kids into care until they are up to date with their payments to you. I have a strict policy that a child will not be allowed into daycare if payment is not up to date and in addition there is a late payment fee charged daily until they make their account with me current. This is a huge deterrent which prevents this from being an issue ever.

I would give them this information in writing in the parents hand and have a frank conversation acknowledging how there seems to be some misunderstanding of the policy on paid and unpaid days. Clarify it and discuss it verbally and then have it all in the letter too. I hazard a guess that if you don't bring it up with her to her face, that she will continue to try and pull one over on you because she is getting away with it. You need to confront this problem ASAP and take back control of your business immediately.

[mimi]

Time to be firm. Tell them that they pay for a spot in your daycare. Let them know that you will be applying the child's absence to their holiday time or they can pay for the week today. This is your income!
One of my clients tried this a couple of years ago. They put their child in half day camp and brought him for half day afterwards. They thought that they just had to pay for my half day fee. Nope, full day and they paid. Would this work in center care? No.

[Smomsy]

Thanks Ladies. They pay me every 2 weeks (1 week used/1week in advance) but when she wrote the cheque for this last 2 weeks she deducted from it. I will be in a different financial position come summer so I may replace them. I feel like I have been bending backwards for the last year. I feel like they are treating me like they are my boss. I am my own boss. I can't say anything to them until the summer starts because they may pull the kids. The dynamics are bugging me. I have done this long enough to know when there has to be a change...its the timing right now as its been a tight winter.

[mickyc]

I think it is pretty straight forward as well. You give a family 2 weeks off without payment so it is simple. They either pay you full rate or use this time as their 2 weeks unpaid holidays.

I don't have an expiration date in my contracts but it does state that I reserve the right to change my contract at any time and will provide 1 months notice of any major changes. I usually hand out new contracts every December with a start date of January 1st. There are always issues that pop up over the year that I feel need to be included.

Yes I also hope you are getting paid in advance!

I recently switched my contract and now offer my parents a discounted rate on time their child is away. I charge full rate for stats but if a family takes holidays I charge $5 less providing I get 1 months notice. No notice, no discount. It has helped a lot! I was finding that parents were not keeping their kids home or taking holidays because they had to pay me (oh the horror to have to pay while your child is away lol). This has given them an incentive to keep their children home more and to give me notice. I do not give any parents unpaid holiday time though. They are paying for the spot!

[Lee-Bee]

As the others have said you need to be clear and firm and need to rewrite your contract.

If you need a more gentle way to bring it up in hopes of not having them leave before you want them to then I would write up a notice when they have used up their 2 weeks. A simple letter just reminding them that as per the contract they signed they have used 2 weeks of vacation and any additional time off with be paid.

This will inform them now that what they used was their vacation time and will let them decide if they want to do summer camps at their own expense.

The contract should be very, very clear and should note in writing any and all possibilities so they can't make a loop hole. So instead of just saying vacation I listed examples (a day with grandma, a day with mom, a day off for an appointment, on and on).

[bright sparks]

If you need a more gentle way to bring it up in hopes of not having them leave before you want them to then I would write up a notice when they have used up their 2 weeks. A simple letter just reminding them that as per the contract they signed they have used 2 weeks of vacation and any additional time off with be paid.

This will inform them now that what they used was their vacation time and will let them decide if they want to do summer camps at their own expense.

This is a fantastic idea!

I can appreciate what it's like to have a difficult family and not be able to afford to get rid of them. Unfortunately that's a risk you run with this family since the rule hasn't been enforced so far and mum likes to be able to get away with calling the shots in this relationship. If you put your foot down by playing by the rules you set for your business, yes she may leave, but the only other option is to advertise and replace the child ASAP and in the meantime find a way to not let this get to you as if you aren't going to put your foot down firmly and put a stop to this, then nothing is going to change and the only person it effects is you.

[Secondtimearound]

I just read my contract , and I only give 1/4 off , the month they take holidays . I am new , started in September . I just had a family leave for three weeks vacation , I deducted only one week . I have in my contract I take two weeks vacation and six sick days paid every year . No one said anything to me , is this way too much ??
I charge pre pay monthly , regardless of attendance .

[5 Little Monkeys]

I just read my contract , and I only give 1/4 off , the month they take holidays . I am new , started in September . I just had a family leave for three weeks vacation , I deducted only one week . I have in my contract I take two weeks vacation and six sick days paid every year . No one said anything to me , is this way too much ??
I charge pre pay monthly , regardless of attendance .

You are your own boss now so you can basically make up whatever rules you want. As long as you find families willing to abide by your contract than all is good :) I personally checked around as to what other dcp's were charging in my area and went a bit higher. Here, it is not typical to have holidays or sick time paid for so I didn't put that into my contract.

[Smomsy]

Thanks to all for your advice. After all these years one would think I had everything covered but parents today are far different than even 10 yrs ago!

To above poster. I like how you did it but do you put a cap on how many weeks holidays they can take? Prepaid for the month is so smart.

This summer I am going to draw up updated "policies". I do have 2 new families (coming up to a year) and they pay me unless I am on holidays or sick. No more non-payment if they are away as it adds up to a couple thousand dollars with all the families taking 2 weeks each, then mine. Its hard to change it with an older client so I have to really think about how to handle it...or replace them.

[Lee-Bee]

I just read my contract , and I only give 1/4 off , the month they take holidays . I am new , started in September . I just had a family leave for three weeks vacation , I deducted only one week . I have in my contract I take two weeks vacation and six sick days paid every year . No one said anything to me , is this way too much ??
I charge pre pay monthly , regardless of attendance .

If they agreed then all is good. Don't second guess now. I just started and I have 4 weeks paid vacation. I didn't charge for my sick days because I would be less stressed if I am not being paid when I call to close last minute. They prepay 2 weeks ahead. So when I do use a sick day I cut them a cheque. Seemed the easiest way. I didn't want to start moving unpaid days to the next pay period. They give post-dated cheques well in advance. Stats are paid. I also clearly noted if I close a few hours early for an appointment the day is paid, no discount. Didn't want to start counting unpaid minutes etc.

No one questioned my 4 weeks vacation. They don't get a discount if they take their own vacation but I do give 4weeks notice (or more) of my holidays so they can book the same.

It's all based on demand. If they want what you offer they will make it work.

[mickyc]

Hey if you can get paid vacation time then good for you!! In our area I don't think too many providers get paid vacation. I certainly wouldn't change it if all of your families have agreed to it.