What do you do in these circumstances?

Ok so with all these illnesses going around my daughter and son were sick last week on Monday, Tuesday and wednesday. They had sore tummies and a high fever and those were the only 2 symptoms. I kept the daycare open but called parents letting them know what my child had prior to them bringing their child over but that I would still be open and it was up to them wether they wanted to bring their child or not on those days. Out of all my families only one said she would prefer not to bring her son (understandable). I get an email tonight asking me to credit her those two days. I have never had this problem before and wanted to know what all of you do. Do you credit or not?? I havnt responded yet as I wanted to see what the norm was!

Nope, she needs to pay. You gave her the 'option' of keeping her child back, you didn't close. It was her choice. Though it was understandable that she didn't want her child exposed to illness, you still provided her with the option.

What does your policy book say ? ...... Mine says right in it that if I stay open and you choose not to come then you are still required to pay for the day(s).

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Originally Posted by cfred

Nope, she needs to pay. You gave her the 'option' of keeping her child back, you didn't close. It was her choice. Though it was understandable that she didn't want her child exposed to illness, you still provided her with the option.

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This exactly. You gave her the choice...she CHOSE to not bring her child. No refunds!

Yes, she pays.

Everyone has different policies for this kind of thing, but here's my issue. I would not allow any child to attend daycare if they had a fever, even if there were no other symptoms, so how could I expect parents to pay me when my kids are sick whether I gave them the option to send their child or not. If I still decided to open my daycare even though members of my family had a fever, and I gave parents the option to come or not, how could I expect them to pay for the day when all they were doing was keeping their child home to prevent the high risk of catching whatever virus or illness my family members had. Would you allow a parent to send their child with a high fever?

My policy of having someone 24 hours symptom free before returning to care can't be one sided IMO. It's hypocritical to say you can't send your child with a fever as it puts others at risk but you still have to pay, but then if its your family member who has sick you give them the option but either way they still have to pay. I personally think you should have closed. I Understand the financial hardship of continuously closing for sickness and also the aggravated parents always needing to take time off but now the healthy kids who came because their parents didn't mind, may start the whole cycle again. This is why it's so important to have very specific policies for this kind of thing so it's never a question in your mind on how to deal with it.

I think you should credit the parent as if they can't send a sick child to your house, then you can't accept a child into your home if your own kids are sick. The fact that you gave her the option to stay at home in my mind is irrelevant. It was great to give a heads up to the parents but the cause of her having to stay at home was not in any way her fault. My policy clearly states that a parent pays for all days off that they chose to take off and they don't pay for any that I am closed. You gave the option to her but the sickness policy can't be one sided and you really shouldn't have opened in the first place.

If I call the parents and give them the option of not coming because one of my children are sick, I don't charge them if they choose not to bring their child. I don't charge when I close either though, so this may make a difference.

I understand to a certain extent giving the parents the option. If they chose to send their children then you still get some money versus conmpletely closing and making nothing. But for those parents who keep their child at home in the kids best interest, I don't think it is okay to charge them. Ultimatly I still think if we expect parents to follow the rules of keeping sick kids away then we have to do the same thing by closing.

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Originally Posted by bright sparks

I personally think you should have closed. I Understand the financial hardship of continuously closing for sickness and also the aggravated parents always needing to take time off but now the healthy kids who came because their parents didn't mind, may start the whole cycle again. This is why it's so important to have very specific policies for this kind of thing so it's never a question in your mind on how to deal with it.

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I of course WANTED to close as my babies really needed me and it was a very stressful day as I had another child who started throwing up in my care that day as well, but if you saw a post i posted last month I couldnt close or I would loose a couple of children. I closed last month twice due to me being sick once (strept throat/high fever 5 days couldnt even get out of bed) and another time for my son same symptoms. So as you can see I was torn wether to close or not.... I find this part of the job the most challenging. This parent is a very sweet lady and always follows the rules so I will credit her those 2 days. Unfortunatly in my handbook I didnt mention anything about me staying open but having a sick child, its just states that if I have to close due to illness/emergency or holidays that I would not charge for those days.

Thanks for all your help everyone :)

I have always done my own kids illnesses as a give the parent a heads up and choice of coming or not. If they come they pay and if they don't they pay half fee because I was still open. It is up to the parent to assess the risk to their child. At the same time they are reminded if their child catches whatever they will be forced to stay home. Normally they send them because they feel they were already exposed to what my kids have and it is just a matter of time so better to try and get a day of work in while child seems ok still since they assume they will be off later in the week.

It is very hard when it is our own kids that are sick. We want to drop everything and devote our time to them. What we have to remember is that part of having a home based business is that our children sort of cease to be ours and become part of the collective community - you become mom to 7 not 2. Each has needs and all have to be met even if it is your own child that has to wait, go without once in awhile or whatever. You can still sit on the couch and cuddle any child that needs it while they others play on the floor or watch tv quietly. I can totally understand when parents get upset that we do not value their time, work committments etc as we said we would when we opened the daycare just because we dont' want to do daycare for a day and we want to just be a mom. Businesses that don't put their customers first don't last long in business. Now not saying that can totally apply to us in daycare because our families, our kids our home is such an integral part of it all but we have to try and come to some decisions on where the mom part stops and the daycare business person starts and how to make the two work together.

Any time I give the parent the option to bring the child or not they pay because I stay open, if I close, I credit them.

The reason I charge when the option is given is because I have a separate d/c space. I can isolate my children away from the daycare area where I can not isolate a daycare child. I only close if my children need constant attention (if they were throwing up a lot for example). If they just have a fever and are lethargic, then they can hang out in the family room and watch t.v. away from the dc.

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Originally Posted by fruitloop

The reason I charge when the option is given is because I have a separate d/c space. I can isolate my children away from the daycare area where I can not isolate a daycare child. I only close if my children need constant attention (if they were throwing up a lot for example). If they just have a fever and are lethargic, then they can hang out in the family room and watch t.v. away from the dc.

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That is exactly what I do. My daughters room is downstairs where the daycare is and I have a tv and dvd player in it for these exact circumstances. I always try to isolate my children from the others as much as I can and when they are sick with fever they welcome the quiet room :)

If my kids need me, I close. If they're under the weather, I keep them upstairs in their rooms to minimize exposure. Mind you, this is easy for me as my kids are 8, 10 and 13. :) If they were tiny, I would close if they were sick, every time, as awful as that might be, because a sick toddler/preschooler always needs their momma, IMO.

I would charge for the day, as you were open. I always charge unless I close. It's in my contract, and there is no confusion.

I charge when I am open. If I have to close for illness, no payment required.

If I was open and offering care and a client choose not to attend than they would pay.

However if someone in my house had symptoms for which I would 'exclude' any other daycare child than I would be closed or if the family member in question is old enough they would be 'isolated' in an area of the house that never 'interacts' with the rest of the group so there would be no need to give clients a 'heads up' because well the kid is not in the program anyway to be a 'risk'.

If I'm open they pay and you gave her the option and made it clear you were open and willing to work. She pays!

If my little one is sick I close-she is still little and needs mama when she is under the weather. I have a separate space as well. My handbook states that if I am open parents pay.

if i am open ,they are expected to pay. However, I have very strict policies for parents to keep children removed for full 48 hours after the sick are well, so I feel I must do the same, soo when my kids are ill, I close and don't charge of course!
personally, I wouldnt make her pay for that day because she (in her mind) didnt have a choice of whether or not to bring her child to day care, it wasnt fit, due to illness. Nobodies fault, but wouldn't make her pay for being IMO the only smart parent out of the bunch!