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How do you deal with changing schedules. On my contract parents state what hours they will be needing care (drop off and pick up times). My dayhome is open from 7am to 5 pm. (I allow each family up to 9 hrs per day) Now is it considered extended care if they have 8 hrs marked on the contract but stay for 9? Or is it only extended care if they pass the 9 hrs a day?? I charge for extended care by the hour so not sure if days that exceed the contract times are considered chargable... Any ideas???
Everybody has a different opinion but I don't make people stick to a definite time on their schedule. I have a family where the Mom works different hours all the time so they use from 6-8 hours depending on her schedule. She was scheduling all over the place but I had to make a rule in my contract that they arrive before 9am and not pick up until 3pm. The little girl was falling behind in learning compared to the others in her age group when she missed out on all my morning lessons and we were having to rush back from the park, hence the morning rule. The afternoon rule was to protect her nap because she only got 1/2 a nap when her Mom picked her up earlier. So that's one situation that taught me a lesson.
All my other daycare families are mostly on regular daily times, but as long as they tell me if there are any differences in advance and stay within the 9 hour time limit I'm happy with it. I need to be able to mark my calendar for the child whose Mom works until 4:30 once every 2 weeks because he is usually picked up by 4, in case I have somewhere to be that evening.
I had a family in care who only needed 3 days per week until last year. My suggestion is to ask all your families to always give you their next month's schedule before the end of the previous month so you can mark your calendar.
I charge by the space....I am open 7:15-5:00 ....parents can drop off before 9 and must pick up before 5. It keeps it simple . I don't charge late fees either ... Late too many times without reasonable excuse and you get terminated.
I also charge by the "space" as opposed to the exact hours used. My hours are 7:30am to 5:30pm. For future families, I will be asking them to choose a 9 hour window, but I am not sure how that will pan out, truthfully.
I won't agree to early drop-off, as I need to get my kids ready for the day/school. I also don't do care after 5:30pm, because we are usually rushing off to some sort of extracurricular activity. However, if a parent is late, I give one warning and then charge a late fee based on each 15 min (or portion thereof) that the parent is late. If I found I was consistently charging that late fee, I would be terminating. I simply cannot provide care past closing.
If I understand your contract correctly; then personally I would say that "extended care" would apply to anything outside of the agreed upon 9 hour timeframe. If you find that a family is consistently staying longer than 8 hours (which was originally stated) but is within 9 hours, I would probably just ask if they would like to adjust their timeslot.
I charge by the space too, but find that I have one family who takes advantage of me constantly. I am open 6-6 but don't charge extra for those who use the 12 hours as opposed to those who use 9 which I am thinking I should. I have one family who is supposed to pick their child up at 3:30. She arrives just after 6am and they are done work at 3 and work in town. The last few weeks they have been showing up around 4:30-5:00 with no text or call to say they would be late. Yesterday, I ended up missing a Dr.'s appt that I had scheduled for 4:45 and the last child was expected to go home at 4. When I mentioned to the Mom, she has the nerve to say, maybe you shouldn't schedule things until after 6pm. Umm...maybe she should stick to our agreed upon drop off and pick up times!!! Anyways, the whole point on my rant is that I am going to be changing that section of my contract so that my late fees will begin once you are late from your 'scheduled' pick up time within reason of course as things happen. Just because I'm open until 6 doesnt mean parents get to go home and nap or out for dinner while leaving their child in care. My opinion is care is for working hours and travel to and from work...if they want to go out for dinner etc they should pay an evening babysitter....
Yup - everyone is going to have different views on this based on their values!
When I was new I was open 11 hours a day trying to accomodate as many people as 'possible' to be full. I had a '9 hour recommendation' because in my opinion that is a LONG time for a babe to be in the care of someone other than a parent and only ONE fee. I only charged a 'late fee' if the parent arrived after I CLOSED .... I found that more and more clients left their kids longer and longer initially they were 8 hours and than it was past the 9 hours and closer to 10 in many cases ... and I was burning out having a full house for 10 hours a day when it was obviously not NEEDED but had just gotten 'easier' for clients!
So I changed things .... now my program hours are only 9 hours ... 7:30 - 4:30 and my full day fees are based on those hours - if you need additional care before or after that you pay extended hour fee as per each individual contract and you book it in advance ....suddenly everyone is able to arrange to have their child here less than 9 hours again because they do not want to commit to pay an 'additional' fee for care they do not really NEED but was just EASY ... so they invest in a second car seat so one parent drops off and another picks up and so forth and suddenly babes are at HOME where they belong after nine hours in care and everyone is happy ;)
Exactly Reggio!!! Its exhausting at the end of the 12 hour days for me, I can't imagine how the little one feels being 'left' here for that long a day just because the parents want 'free' time after work and before work. I'm sure if the Mom I posted about had to pay for those extra hours she would very rarely be late. It frustrates and surprises me the amount of people who choose to leave their children in daycare way longer than necessary...I would think they would want to spend as much time as possible with their child...Quote:
Originally Posted by Inspired by Reggio
Uummmm maybe you shouldn't schedule things till after 6pm????..... Are you kidding me????? A note would be on the door that effective (date) a $xx late fee will be charged for pick ups after scheduled/contracted time. Payment must be made at pickup. And she would get her own personal note .... Of termination!
I thought it was rude too lol. I normally don't schedule anything before 6 as 9 times out of 10 I have little ones here until 6 but because everyone was supposed to go home early I did. I sent a letter out to everyone a few weeks ago saying that pick up times need to be within a 15 minute window of our agreed upon time unless a call/text is made to tell me otherwise. usually I have the kids ready in their coats and boots and everything ready for pick up ( I hate the long drawn out pick ups where parents spend 15 minutes getting their kids ready lol) so yesterday this poor kid sat in his gear for over an hour because if I take it off he screams bloody murder!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Crayola kiddies
I require the parents to fill in their hours on the contract that they sign. If it's erratic, I have them understand that I provide a maximum of 9 hours of care per day per family for their XX amount of dollars per week. Anything before and after that have to fit into my daycare hours (7-5) AND carry an additional charge. I absolutely refuse to work more than ten hours a day. I am already exhausted by dinner time, and it's not fair to my own kids.
Yeah, and michellesmunchkins, to the mom who had the balls to tell you when to schedule your extra curriculars, I'd send an email or give her a typed letter stating that from now on, AS PER YOUR SIGNED CONTRACT, you expect her to pick up and drop off during the agreed upon hours.