Client coming off mat leave wants to change hours

[Ermchatts]

I have a client coming off of mat leave in the next few weeks who I met with today. She is looking for a brand new job and wants to know if I will open half am hour early for her to drop off her 2 kids. I told her that I was unable to do that, and she was very surprised. Saying that it's only a half hour, and asking if I was prepared to lose her family if her schedule didn't work out. I stuck to my guns though, but I am a little concerned about how pushy she was about it. What would you have done? And what should I do.if she brings it up again?

[Lee-Bee]

Those are the ones you need to be firmest with.

Would she be happy to work and extra 30min a day (for same pay). I mean it would only be 30min of her time. Which might I point out is 2.5hrs a week. 10hrs a month. 120hrs a year. Extra. Unpaid. But you know, it is ONLY 30 min a day!

Sigh.

[BlueRose]

I would have said no. I don't open early for anyone. I would also immediately start looking for a replacement. Once I found one/two I would give her her two weeks notice. I would not wait for her to give her notice.

[Busy ECE mommy]

Absolutely not!!! Did she just assume you’d say yes?
It would be one thing to do it once because she has an early appointment/meeting etc( with extra fees) but to do it permanently is a no-go in my books.
It’s a slippery slope... why should one family be allowed special treatment over the others? The expectation will be that you will bend your rules again and again.
I charge $1 minute per child for early or late fees per child, so if you don’t have something in the contract about early drop off or late pickup, I’d get it in there now, and make the fees steep!

[Suzie_Homemaker]

It depends on what suits you.

I officially open at 7.30am. Over the years, I've had the odd request for earlier. For my situation, I don't have young children home anymore, so it's not a big deal to me to open at 7am. That said, if I already opened at 7am, there's no way I'd consider 6.30am for anyone.

I approach this two ways :-

Depending on the pick up times for the group I currently have, I have opened at 7am with the requirement that they pick up 30 mins earlier too. This works if the client wanting the early drop off happens to be the last pick up. I can achieve very little between 7am and 7.30am but finishing 30 mins earlier is a big help.

I also have agreed to do the 7am drop off based on babysitting rates, so an extra $10 a day. No one works for free so I wouldn't even consider it if they aren't picking up early, without an extra charge. However, I state really clearly in the contract that any half day closing, is not based on their extended hours but on the core business hours, that if I find myself in a situation where they are not often here then the option will be removed (use it or lose it), and of course, the additional fee. I do state clearly in the contract that drop off cannot be any earlier than 7am. The door will not be opened before then.

IMO, this really just depends on how long your hours are already, if the early start impacts on your family getting ready for the morning, and just how early the drop off will be.

[Suzie_Homemaker]

Saying that it's only a half hour, and asking if I was prepared to lose her family if her schedule didn't work out.

It's not only half an hour.
If they are full time client's, 30 mins a day equates to 2.5 hours extra a week.
Assuming you take 10 days vacation, that means you work 50 weeks a year.
2.5 hours a week x 50 weeks a year = 101 extra hours.

That's about 10 full days.

If you explain it that way - 10 full days x 2 children = 20 days of care she's getting extra. Then Im sure she would understand why an extra fee would be required *if* you were willing to do it.

[Rose1]

I have not noticed that you stated anything about the extra cost for early drop offs and neither what are your regular opening hours.

You need to consider what you would loose and gain here.
Most of the times it is not very easy to find nice clients and specially the once with nice kids to provide care to,so if you think parents are respectful and the kids are easy going and nice to have in your day care,I would probably reconsdier all that before I decide to let them go.
Also,for the early drop off,if it is earlier than your regular hours or usually would be more than 9 hours or so,I would make them to pay for that time extra,you also need to get up earlier than usually and they should value your time too.You need to set the rules straight right away to make sure things don’t get confused or complicated later.
I know it is hard sometimes,and we want to be nice,but if we are not straight forward right away,things do get complicated later:(