Charging for sick days...

Not too sure what to do. I have a new child starting on monday, and the mom called me to let me know that she is sick and probably won't be coming Monday, this is her start date, and in my contract the parent pays "per position" not on attandence. She hasn't started yet, do I charge her for Monday or do I just let it go because she hasn't yet started?

In this case do I have her sign a new contract with a new start date or let the whole thing slide this once?

Please help! any suggestions are greatly appreciated! :D

Since the child hasn't started yet I would probably let it slide this week but remind the parent what the contract says and that after this week the full contract will be in effect. It may also be partly the parent being leery about child starting care. At the same time do you really want a sick child for their first day of care. Worth losing the income over rather than parent bringing because they have to pay. Maybe let her know that you expect a minimum payment for 3 days for the week regardless of how many days the child is out.

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Originally Posted by playfelt

Since the child hasn't started yet I would probably let it slide this week but remind the parent what the contract says and that after this week the full contract will be in effect. It may also be partly the parent being leery about child starting care. At the same time do you really want a sick child for their first day of care. Worth losing the income over rather than parent bringing because they have to pay. Maybe let her know that you expect a minimum payment for 3 days for the week regardless of how many days the child is out.

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This is what I would do.

Agreed with above posters. Let it slide, but remind her what's in the contract. You don't want to lose a child this early on!

Good advice!

Update: Thank you so much to all of you for the great advice. I have decided to let it go, it's true that I don't want to lose a child, she is great and lovely to have. They are good clients (parents) to have and I hope it works out, and don't want to put them out. :D

Thank you guys!

I run daycare a bit differently than most and would have charged for the child's missed day. My 2 yr old was very sick when she first started daycare and missed pretty much her first month of daycare and I charged the parent the full amount for the first month. If I had offered to not start until my 2yr old was better, I would have lost a lot of income and that is not something I can always afford :)

I think too you have to decide what to do as each situation arises based upon the illness of the child, your financial needs, and the family :)