Advance notice for holidays

Hi everyone!

I simply wanted to know how my fellow dayhome owners will respond to this question. I have a potential client asking questions about my contract. On my contract it says that " I will require a month notice if you want to go on a holiday" The reason I ask this to see if I can arrange my holidays at the same time as theirs so that it won't inconvenience them if I want to go on holiday different time then theirs. I'm not promising that I will go at the same time but to see if I can try. There is no penalty for not letting me know in month advance and so far none of my families questioned this clause.

The family asking me " why do you expect us to give you a month notice as we are paying for the spot not for the days" I understand where they are coming from.

I just wanted to see what you guys would respond to this!
Thanks!

I would use the rationale you mentioned.

I also explain to clients that knowing in advance of clients holidays allows me to know when I am going to be 'low' and than I plan my program accordingly as there are some field trips we can only do when I am low in numbers as well as planning for groceries and meals and so forth ~ for me it is not a 'requirement' with a certain time frame but worded that 'as much notice as possible of upcoming absences from the program is appreciated because of ABC'.

Also admittedly I need to know when they are going to be absent for a whole week or more so I can be assured to remind them if they are going to need post dated cheques over the course of their vacation to be left on hand .... cause in centre care we use to always have clients 'forget' and therefore their account was left with fees owing and administration wondering 'are they returning or bolting' and to start filling the spot and so forth and well while that is one thing to deal with in centre care cause it did not affect staffs direct income cause centres have large fees and buffers in the bank as a result .... it is not cool HERE where them forgetting to pay me directly affects my ability to pay my bills and so forth!

Well Cocoon, I do it the opposite way at my daycare. At the beginning of Dec. I'll be handing my clients a letter outlining the exact weeks I'm taking vacation in 2013. Then they can schedule their vacations the same weeks as mine or not, it's up to them. If they have any other time off during the year that's ok but I charge them full fees for all weeks except the weeks I'm close, nice and simple. How about taking charge of the situation by turning it around?

I do exactly as Mom of 4. When I first started, I tried to work with the families to come to some consensus, but I only had a couple of families. Now I have five and it is impossible to please everyone, so I have moved to just listing my holidays for the year and they work around it.

Yes agreed I plan my vacation based on what works for me ...but I still like as much notice as possible when if they are taking additional vacation :)

I give parents up to 2 weeks off a year unpaid so that they can go on vacation.

I ask them to give me 6 weeks notice for which days they are taking. I do this to budget ahead, plan the program and also decide if enough people are going to be away to warrant just shutting down the daycare for that time if a few parents are picking the same weeks in the summer, etc.

It has never been an issue but I guess I could see why a parent would wonder why you want to know when the fees won't vary in your particular scenario.

I would probably reword it to say that "I request that parents please advise me with 4 weeks notice of any planned vacations so that I can plan my program/menu accordingly."

I also give my parents my vacation time and they coordinate theirs with mine if they so wish .... If they are taking a separate vacation then mine I ask for twos weeks notice for planning .... But it's all paid so really if they don't give me notice then it really doesn't matter ....