Early closures

[Busy ECE mommy]

I have closed early on several occasions to accomodate doctor's appt's for myself or my own children before, and refunded the parents the money for the closed hours.
Has anyone ever closed early to leave on a weekend vacation?
I'd like to close 1 hr early so we can arrive at our destination in daylight. Do you think this is fair(with 3 weeks notice) and do I have to tell the parents the reason why I'm closing early? It really will only impact 1 of my families, as the rest are done work early in the day, or work from home.

[5 Little Monkeys]

If I close at noon and don't provide lunch, I charge half day rate. If I close anytime after 1pm and have served lunch, full rate is applied.

I have closed early before to start a weekend vacation. I don't remember if I told them or not but I don't think you need to tell them. If it's only one family that it affects, most probably won't even care, let alone ask why.

3 weeks is enough notice IMO. Have a good trip!!

[mattsmom]

We camp a lot in the summer and when we go farther than usual, I will end my day early. My families are warned every year that there will be early closings on some Fridays, so it's not a surprise to them. I usually have the kids picked up around 2 in the afternoon, so it is full rate paid.

I give the at least a week and a half notice and they are fine with it, so for you to give 3 weeks notice, it's good enough.

[Rachael]

I don't tend to close early ever. If I have an appointment during business hours or if I wanted to leave on Friday for a vacations, even if just a weekend break (like that will ever happen), then I still wouldn't close early.

I try and behave like I would if I was an employee in terms of business hours. If I needed time during the week off, I'd have to book it and take it as leave. So, that's what I do here too.

I have a hospital appointment on 29th Jan and so all my parents know that I am closed that day and it will come out of my annual personal days.

[AmandaKDT]

I have an early closure policy too. If I close less than 3 hours earlier than normal parents pay the usual fees and give a minimum 1 week notice. I have closed early for doctor appt, but I don't know if I would close early just because I wanted to start my vacation early. If I did, I would probably make it an official half day and close at noon and charge the parents accordingly. Then I would apply it against my official personal holiday days.

[Rachael]

Just curious - those who close early without refund, do you limit how often you do this?

Maybe it's my area or maybe it's me, but if I had a contract for day care, for say $35.00 for care from 7.30am until 4.30pm, I think it would get old fast if I was expected for keep coming for say noon, being shortchanged 4 and a half hours of care, and not getting a refund either.

I'm sitting here wondering how if I had an employer, that would likely work.

Likely, if I was required to pick up my child at noon, then I'd need a whole day off work because using a half day leave, if my employer allowed that, would mean I would have to work until noon to get half a day in.

So I'd have to take a full day leave, pay full day care rates even if I kept my child home or pay full day care rates even if I came an noon. If the carer did that 10 times, them my annual leave has just been used for early closures, leaving me no leave for when my carer is actually on her annual leave.

So you must have it in your contracts with a max amount of times it would occur? Otherwise, in theory you'd be able to close early every Friday if you wanted?

Just curious how that works.

[5 Little Monkeys]

For myself, one of the perks of opening up my own business was the fact that I would get to be in charge of my days and time off. I am the employer, not the employee, so I tend to think like that when I made and adjust my contract and policies. I don't have anything that says how much time I will take off in a year. I purposely left it open so that it gives me wiggle room if I need/want it. It hasn't happened yet but if I felt the need to take a mental health day than I could and I could still give 2-3 weeks notice of it.

During interviews, I stress to the parents how important it is for them to have back up if I am sick or take vacation. I have only ever had 3 families who had almost 0 back up help and not even they complained!! The back up care is on them though, it's not my issue. That sounds harsh but it's just the way it is.

I have almost always had parents who have had fantastic jobs. They have no problem leaving work an hour early the very odd time (many just take their lunch at the end of the day). Many, many grandparents and aunts and uncles help out too and I have met many of them because they are the ones who from time to time pick up early. IME, it is easier for a parent (or family member) to pick up an hour earlier than at noon but I close at different times depending on my schedule for that day/appointment.

The key of course, is to not abuse this power and take every Friday off or end early just because. Very quickly word would get out and your business reputation would fail. Most parents realize that we are just like them, we need time off as well and it's not fair to expect us to be open early and close late. The nice thing about our job is that we don't have a higher up to approve our time off but we do have clients that we have to be reliable for. Finding that balance is what will give you a great business without feeling like you are going to burn out!

[mattsmom]

I agree with 5 little monkeys...we are fortunate enough to be self employed and not an employee.
We can decide when we take time off and when we close early. As long as you are honest and don't do it too often, then I feel that I'm well within my right.
I make sure that when families start, that they have reliable backup in case it's needed.
I also do not take vacation all together during the year, so I make it clear to my families that I will be taking a certain amount of Fridays off early during the summer and I give a decent amount of notice. They are fine with that.

[AmandaKDT]

For me having an early closure policy became a must have, I added it as an amendment to my policy handbook this last spring. There are just some things that I can't do outside of daycare hours, so I make appointments very occasional for as close to my closing time as possible and give as much notice to parents as possible.

I don't take advantage of it and I don't have any limit on the number of early closures in a year.

It also isn't closing at noon and asking parents to pay a full day. If it is less than 3 hours before the usual closing time they pay full rates (since they would have been here over 4 hours already anyway) and if it more than 3 hours they only pay a half day rate. If they chose to keep their child home that day then they pay what I charge everyone else for that early closure day.

I also go over this with parents and make it clear that I may close early occasionally. If they can't manage that then my daycare isn't for them. So far I have yet to have a family that questioned this policy.

[Rachael]

I have no issue with the view that being self-employed, we determine our conditions.

As said, it's the early finish/half day closure with no refund that puzzles me. Surely if you are contracted to provide care between certain hours for a certain fee, when you reduce the hours, you reduce the fee? That the bit that I think would get old fast.

Maybe it's more common in other provinces. Shrug

[5 Little Monkeys]

I agree, it would get old if it happened often. The parent would have 2 choices IMO....talk to the provider and ask if this is going to be a common occurrence or find a new daycare.

IME, parents have never had an issue with my days off or closing early because it doesn't happen very often and when it does, they have lots of notice. They all know I take 2 weeks in the summer and than another 1-2 weeks throughout the year (usually 3 weeks per year when all added up). None of them have questioned the fee because like Amanda said, they are there for more than half a day. It's a small fee to pay to show appreciation for your provider as well. Parents who want to nickel and dime their dcp and be charged for hours used rather than a spot would not choose my dc anyways.

We set our own standards. If parents don't like it or they have no back up for when we are closed, centre dc's would be a better choice. It's things like this that I think more need to think about before having children. (There are times that situations change tho and it can't be helped!)

[bright sparks]

I agree, it would get old if it happened often. The parent would have 2 choices IMO....talk to the provider and ask if this is going to be a common occurrence or find a new daycare.

IME, parents have never had an issue with my days off or closing early because it doesn't happen very often and when it does, they have lots of notice. They all know I take 2 weeks in the summer and than another 1-2 weeks throughout the year (usually 3 weeks per year when all added up). None of them have questioned the fee because like Amanda said, they are there for more than half a day. It's a small fee to pay to show appreciation for your provider as well. Parents who want to nickel and dime their dcp and be charged for hours used rather than a spot would not choose my dc anyways.

We set our own standards. If parents don't like it or they have no back up for when we are closed, centre dc's would be a better choice. It's things like this that I think more need to think about before having children. (There are times that situations change tho and it can't be helped!)

I think it`s give and take too. I have a dcmom who commutes to TO from Niagara Region and she gives herself 2 hours to get home when it should only take an hour so she has lots of room for delays. There have been a few times that she has been late due to accidents, weather or public transit delays on the days she opted to take the GO. Within 2 weeks of returning to work from Mat leave she confronted her situation by asking me how things would be long term if she was late due to these reasons and should she look for alternative care. She was the one who brought it up, before she had even been late as she realized how tight it could be due to variables she had no control of. I really valued and respected her being upfront so I said as long as that was the reason for lateness and she kept me well informed along the way then I didn`t think it was cause for concern. There have been a good amount of times that she wasn`t going to make it on time and she has been able to use her back up daycare to collect on time as often as they have been available. I think in the last 16 months that I have cared for her son, there have only been 2 or 3 times when she has said she doesn't have back up available and would be 10 or 15 minutes late. That`s fine, its life and I`m human, and she doesn't abuse my kindness and regularly collects early on the days she can just breeze through traffic easily. Basically what I`m getting at is that while I have policies I adhere to for the most part 100% of the time, there are circumstances where families are upfront from the start with me and I may or may not give them the benefit of the doubt and allow them this bit of breathing room. In return, should I need to close early that is their way of cutting me a break without nickel and diming me when I also don`t charge them for those very rare occasions that mum comes past 5. If I am closing at a half day mark then I would refund 50% of the days fees because it makes sense as my expenses for the day were not the same aside from only offering half the care, but finishing an hour or two early isn`t something I offer refunding. It`s called give and take as long as neither party starts to take advantage of the others understanding and good nature. I have to close in a couple weeks for a meeting which is fighting for a cause which will directly effect them and will have to close at 2 to be able to get there in time. I`m not going to be offering a refund for that either. I do find it very rare that I am off during my work week as I now don't work Fridays so schedule everything for those days but I do have the occasional specialist appointment where I don`t have the luxury of choice when it comes to appointment times, for the most part I take an unpaid day off for those. Also I think as an employee if you work for any half decent human being, most aren`t going to deny anyone an early finish for an appointment or family emergency. You are going to lose pay of course so yes I know paying for the full day of daycare when you've lost wages sucks but it doesn`t apply to every employee. Also, I don`t have any paid days off aside from STAT days. I can not justify charging a parent for a day that I am not available yet they still have to go to work and potentially pay twice for back up care, or lose income while paying for a service that isn`t available to them. Good for those who are in an area where it is the norm to have paid vacation days and or paid personal days, but in my region it isn`t and it would turn off potential families as a result, so me closing early less than a handful of days a year is still a cheaper option than them paying for the day that I take off.

[5 Little Monkeys]

I am the same way bright. I am closed at 445 but my last 2 parents don't get here until 450/455 some days. I don't charge for this as I know they both work until 430. They are almost always out of the door by 447 though so it's not a big deal to me lol.

I also don't get paid days off but I don't view working over 1/2-3/4's of the day as "off".....I guess it would all depend on what you consider time off?

Also, I've had a few parents who worked on salary, not wage, so that made a difference to I'm sure! Some didn't have set hours either.

[mattsmom]

Totally agree, it's a give and take situation for most of us. I have had instances that I've taken kids longer than scheduled (at the last minute, at no extra charge), and other ways that I have gone above and beyond for dcp's. I don't take any paid days off either, so when I have to take off an hour or two early then I expect them to pay the full day rate, since I have had them way past lunch time.

[mickyc]

I sometimes close early. In my contract it says if I close at noon I charge $15 for the half day. If I close at 3 or later it is full rate. I usually close early around 5 times a year