Vacation pay in London Ontario

To London caregivers,

Do you charge for the vacation/sick days that you take? How many days do you take per year? I'm new to London. In Toronto, it was the norm to be paid for vacation/sick days. I had a parent tell me during an interview that they were surprised that I charge for vacation days as that is not the norm in London. I changed my policy to unpaid. Then had another parent tell me that they just thought they would be paying for vacation. So now I'm confused of what the norm is here.

Also what is your rate? I'm wondering if there is a relationship between the amount you charge and whether you charge for vacation days or not. I.e. if your rate is high, then you don't charge for vacation days and vice versa.

Thanks.

I'm not in London, but in my area there isn't a norm. Every provider seems to have slightly different price and policies depending on their program. The established dayhomes that are in demand tend to do paid vacation/sick time as a perk. I've been open 2 years, and charge on the higher end because of extras in my programming, but I only take stats/holidays as paid (14 paid holidays in my contract).

I wouldn't call a payed vacation, because you're self-employed there is something against it, I kind of just explain in my contract that when the families are in holidays (vacations usually two weeks etc) my daycare remains open therefore they still have to pay it. But, also I tell parents that anyone can suggest their two weeks off dates, and see if all my families agree with the same dates and we all go off the same time. It works wonderfully because parents aren't under the pressure to get an alternative care and I still get payed. Also I have five sickness days and all the stats holidays covered.

Perhaps, the parents you're dealing with, know more about the regulation for self employed people.

I would ensure you check with other providers (as you are obviously trying to do). I would not take the words of one parent for what is the norm. Especially if this family is just starting to look into care for their first child. Many families enter their search thinking they pay the caregiver for the hours worked and if they keep the child home they don't have to pay etc. They would not be a good source of information for making major contract changes.

I personally think home caregivers deserve paid time off. While I think we also deserve paid sick days (especially when it is their children getting us sick) I prefer to have sick days unpaid as it makes me a bit less stressed with a last minute closure.

What ever you decide, never waiver in an interview. You work from home in order to work on your own terms. Your families NEED to agree to the contracted terms as set out. If you show any sign of being uncertain about them you lose credibility in being able to stand by them later on.