Notice for fee increase

Hi everyone!

I was wondering...I am changing my contract and that includes a fee increase. How many days would you suggest the notice be before the changes take effect? a week? a day? a month? non at all?
Thanks!
Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!

Hi everyone!

I was wondering...I am changing my contract and that includes a fee increase. How many days would you suggest the notice be before the changes take effect? a week? a day? a month? non at all?
Thanks!
Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!

i sent my parents an email late Octover/early November letting them know of my rate increase starting january. $2 per day.

Merry Christmas :)

It should be at least one week plus the amount of notice required to terminate as in a week for the parents to think about how the rate increase or whatever changes will effect them and then time for them to give notice if they intend to terminate instead of accept the changes. 1-2 months is the nicest thing to do so that parents have time to start budgeting for the change. Many families live paycheck to paycheck and an increase of $10 on the bill can make a difference.

I always send out a letter a couple of months ahead of contract renewal time outlining any changes that will be coming up and urging parents to talk to me about anything they may disagree with, but I have never had any parent question me to date.

sorry i posted this in two threads but i dont know how to delete this one :s

Thanks guys!
The other question I wanted to ask is I have never charged for stat holidays. So I was wondering is a fee increase of a dollar a day PLUS adding payment of stat holidays too much? Should I either pick one or the other? Thanks :D

Hi! Maybe you could preface the notice by saying something like,

"As this is my first year operating my day home, I am trying to work out some of the kinks. I will henceforth be charging for statuory holidays, and increasing my fees by $x per day, as is common daycare practice in our area."

Hi Alphaghetti! Thanks...the only problem is this is not my first year its my 7th ... and all my current kids have been with me from 2.5 to 3 years. So NOW what do i say lol?

If you have had the kids that long then the rise in the cost of living, food, fuel, utilities, etc. means you are justified in raising rates. At the same time if you have had the kids that long how much longer will they be with you in the sense of is it necessary to raise the rates now or can you wait till you replace them. That is what I do in the sense that my rates jump when a new family starts but I don't raise the rates of families in care. With mat leave and I don't take school age I replace kids every 2-3 years anyways so it works out to be the same.

Thanks Playfelt! That makes a lot of sense. I know I will have them all until this September. Maybe I can wait another 8 months, or maybe I'll just do it now. 8 months is a lot of money to lose but it's something I need to think about. Thanks for your input!

You know your families and where they stand financially more or less. What you could do is use the rise in prices and ask for $1 a day that would equal $5 more a week which shouldn't be too much of an issue. Then when you replace next Sept raise the rates for incoming families again to put you where you want to be.

For those with school age in the summer I would probably consider asking for your usual fee plus an extra $3 for lunch since if they went to a summer camp they have to take their own lunch so parents would be paying for the food anyways.