DCM Changes Schedule for the Week on Day of Payment!

Hi Ladies,

So I have a DCM who is part time...minimum of 3 days a week. She came to me a little over a month ago and stated that there may be some weeks where her son will need care for 4 days a week. No problem there. Anyways, they pay me me every 2 weeks, and for the most part it's for the min. amount. This last pay day however, it was to be for 8 days of care, but when they sent payment, it was only for the minimum amount. I texted her right away about it, and asked that she bring the difference in cash. Took a full day to hear back from and when she did reply, she apologized for the mix up and said hubby would bring cash the next day. She then let me know that she was checking her schedule and realized that she would not need care on the Friday, so instead of 8 days it was now 7 days...and instead of an extra $70 for me, it's now only an extra $35.

What I was wondering is, since she gave me her schedule for the month, should she still have to pay me, even if her schedule changes and no longer needs care on a specific day? Like I mentioned earlier, she is part time and pays me the minimum amount each week, but I was really counting on that extra money.

That is one of the things that should be in the contract when you agreed to the part time schedule. When days can change due to schedule changes at work it is up to you how flexible you want to be. If the change in days doesn't matter then that works fine and pay stays the same anyways. If extra days are scheduled and then cancelled that is when you refer back to your contract. Personally in this case it appears that you should only be budgeting for an income of the minimum 3 days and anything over that is a bonus and not something you should have planned to use - just something nice to get when it happened.

You will need to change your contract to include pay for any extra days scheduled. What you are going to find though is that the parent will only schedule three days and add the extra days at the last minute as needed to avoid unnecessary payments so it won't matter in the end if you change the contract and it will limit your ability to plan for when you will have extra kids.

I guess it comes down to whether you want to know in advance what days you will have extra kids. If you charge for what is booked beyond the three days the mom will move to last minute schedule changes. If you let it go if not used she will give you a longer heads up she may need that day.

Yes Playfelt is right, make sure it's in your contract. I just wanted to back you up. My part-time dcparents know that I want their schedule one month in advance and once my calendar is marked for the month payment is due for every one of those days. No matter if they have a sick day or miss a day for any reason those days are payable. I let them add a day if necessary or even change a day sometimes if it's a trusted family, but I'm super strict with new families so they learn they can't push me. Be strong FSD!

I did have the same situation and mom gave me schedule for the month. If she didnt show up on the days scheduled, she had to pay anyways... luckily I never had to ask, she paid without me telling her :\

Oh and if she fight for you on this says that because shes ''reserving'' her spot in advance you would then refuse other request from another family that could be the case, since she is part time and you need to make a living you could decide to be a ''on call'' for those who needs it (for example, I put an ad for ppl who need one day care because their daycare provider might close because she is sick or for a appointment). Worked well for me. And for the ''on-call'' parents there was no contract, they had to pay me in cash on the morning of !