Does anyone have NON FEE DAYS???

Try explaining it like tuition for school. You are paying for the spot- whether or not your child is there.

I give NO "free" days. Basically, if I am here to work then YOU pay. Period. And you also pay me for all holidays even if I am closed.

I make this VERY clear both in my contract AND verbally in the interview. There is no way in HELL I would allow a parent to get away with deducting payment from a cheque.

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Originally Posted by Inspired by Reggio

I am another you pay for the SPACE you are occupying regardless of the use - our income is limited to the # of children we are legally allowed to have and being self employed is challenging enough to keep a 'steady' income - I choose to have fee payment policies in place that help keep my income as steady as possible as well as much notice as possible if it is going to 'dip' due to someone terminating care until I can secure a replacement client!

Seriously if people buy a 'gym membership' to the gym the gym is open 7 days a week and your membership contract indicates you are able to attend 7 days a week - if you only attend THREE days you do not go into the gym and say I want a credit for the 4 days I did not use this week, if you rent your apartment based on a months rent and go on vacation for two weeks and are not 'using' your apartment you do not go to the landlord and say 'I am only paying HALF my rent this month cause I was on vacation' ... why is it so hard for society to see childcare the SAME way you committed to the SPACE in the program regardless of its use your FEES were determined based on this same model .... if your provider has given your FIVE days off throughout the year 'unpaid' she factored that INTO your fees as well do not get greedy or you will find yourself with NO UNPAID DAYS like the rest of us who have decided it is just 'easier' than trying to be nickle and dimes by people who do not GET IT :rolleyes:

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BAM> that's it.... :p

THANKS to you ALL!!! It seems like a majority of you have the "Pay if I'm open, and No pay if I'm closed" philosophy. This would make it a lot easier on me as well.

I was thinking of keeping the no fee days just for full time kids sick days but now I'm going to cut it out completely. It's just not fair when I am expecting a certain pay every two weeks and sometimes it's less. NO WAY am I going to let that happen again.

I also used to have one week paid vacation but now I've changed it to two weeks vacation unpaid so I think the parents will appreciate that they won't have to pay when I am closed.

Thanks PLAYFELT for your explanation of your non fee days and I think I read a post from you about a year ago about your non fee days and I think that's why I was thinking to add it to my revised contract. But when I hear of so many of you ladies not deducting fees, then why can't I.

Also, who offers a discounted fee for when parents go on vacation with their kids?

No discounted fees for parents vacation time either. Again they are paying for the spot...up to them if they use.

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Originally Posted by zen39

No discounted fees for parents vacation time either. Again they are paying for the spot...up to them if they use.

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Exactly! I have a family heading to the tropics this Wednesday so will be away for 2 days this week and all next week too. You bet they are paying for these 2 weeks before they leave. They can afford to go to a hot sunny place so they can afford to pay for their daycare space too. It's simple.

As far as confrontation for sick children, don't worry about enforcing your contract because if you DO NOT then you are giving parents the message that you DON'T take your contract seriously so WHY SHOULD THEY? Oh ladies, please enforce your contract rules to the letter.

The only days that are non fee days are days that are my vacation days. I just added 5 paid personal days to my contract, I have already used 2 due to the stomach flu. My parents pay full fees for everything else unless they take vacation time outside of mine, in which case they would pay half fees.

Oh Honey, you've got to put a stop to unpaid days for sure! I charge a set fee per month, which clearly states that this fee is set regardless of child's actually attendance due to them having a family vacation, sick days, relatives visiting, etc. The way you can explain it is to bring up examples such as paying rent, or tuition. It stays the same and is expected regardless of whether someone decides to camp in a tent for a month, or goes on vacation. When people pay you, it should be for the space that you are securing for them and their child for the month, regardless of the attendance.
And for part time, I always establish a set amount of days which have to be paid for each month as well, regardless of attendance. So one little girl I have, her mom is a flight attendant with an unpredictable schedule but said she would most likely need 10-12 days per month, so I told her I would take her in but the set fee would be for the 10 days no matter what, if there were days that she was not here, etc. She would add to the pay of course if she ended up using 12 days. And I also had to think about late charges due to her job and additional fees if she was staying and eating dinner with us, etc.
If people have a problem with that, then I wouldn't consider them secure enough, or fair enough to me to be my clients. Its the whole babysitting notion that is the problem. Some people think that if their child is not here, why should they pay? But don't know that a dayhome/daycare is a much bigger committment and responsibility than that.

I have a client who told me this week that the grandmother is going to take the little girl for two weeks in July and she mentioned that her husband was upset about paying for these weeks. I have never, ever had issues with this family paying but I may have to use 'the speech' that I learned from the experienced ladies = Think of it like a gym membership - you go or not - you pay!