Vacation days

[Skysue]

What do you ladies give your clients for vaction?

I give one week plus an aditional week at 1/2 fees. I have a prarent who is taking 9 days all over the place and is angry I'm not giving those days as free? this client is part-time 4 days a week, she is expecting me to discount all 9 days. she is saying the economy is tough and I'm not being fare.

WTH(heck) how am I supose to pay my bills then? It seems like this business is getting less and less respect.

[zen39]

My own vacation time is unpaid. If parents want to take vacation time separate from my own, they pay me full price. I tell them, if I'm open they pay. If I'm closed they don't pay (except for stat. days). I would never give them half price or free for any days they want to take when I am open.

[sunnydays]

I don't give anything free...not my vacation and not theirs...they pay for the space all year. The only time they will get days unpaid is if I decide to take more than 2 weeks off..then I will not make them pay for the extra week I take off. Nobody has complained. The economy is tough for you too...don't be bullied into losing income.

[Crayola kiddies]

i take 3 weeks all paid and if they take thier holidays at a different time then mine they pay for that also .....everyday is paid except for my sick days

[Momof4]

Ditto to the above. I take a week in the spring, a week in the summer and a week in the fall and when I'm closed for my vacations the families don't pay. Otherwise, 49 weeks per year, full fees are due. If they take any other vacation besides my 3 weeks they pay.

[playfelt]

My vacation days are prorated according to the number of days they are in care and equivalent to two weeks in the summer (July-August) and one week (Sept - June). I don't care if they take them altogether or every friday off all summer. A full time child gets 10 days + 5 days while a 3 day a week child gets 6 days summer plus 3 days school year. Most of my group is young so days are often taken for doctor's appointments but can be used for child sick days, grandma in town etc.

I don't have it written into my contract exactly what my holidays are but do have 5 paid days. The joys of being self employed is that I can take as many days I want just won't get paid for them all. What normally happens over the summer is that I end up with a couple weeks with no kids or just one or two and sometimes those parents decide to keep them home giving me a break.

[fruitloop]

I take 3 weeks unpaid and if the family takes holidays a different time from me, they still pay full fees. I have 1 exception for this and it is for extended holidays of an absence longer than 3 weeks...basically for teachers. They pay half fees over the summer to keep their spot for September. With the half fees I allow them to bring the child a certain # of days/month. I give them a list of available days and they choose from there.

[mom-in-alberta]

I don't give anything free...not my vacation and not theirs...they pay for the space all year. The only time they will get days unpaid is if I decide to take more than 2 weeks off..then I will not make them pay for the extra week I take off. Nobody has complained. The economy is tough for you too...don't be bullied into losing income.

The same! I have 2 working weeks of holidays for myself (10 days), plus stats and 4 personal days. If parents are off, they pay. If someone was going to be off for more than 3 weeks, I may work out a negotiated rate, at MY discretion. I also explain to parents that their fee pays for a SPOT in the daycare, not a set hourly or daily fee.

[jec]

I make my vacation schedule at the beginning of the year~ giving all stats/civic holidays that I get paid for so there are no misunderstandings later in the year I take around 2 1/2 weeks and my daycare families don't pay for any days I take off. My daycare families can then make arrangements to get my vacation covered by friends and family. They can take an extra 2 weeks of their own choice without payment as long as they give me 2 weeks written notice in advance. Any thing over that full fee is required to hold a spot.

[Momof4]

In my first year I allowed unpaid vacation days for the families and I stopped it quickly because it was too hard for me to budget and when I made that change so that any missed, sick or stat days were paid. Every week all year long except for my vacation weeks full payment is due and it's just simpler.

I just came back from a week in Florida and can't recommend vacations enough to all of you. Budgeting is important of course since I take the weeks off without pay but once every 3 months a week off brings me back refreshed and ready to work hard again. With the 2 new babies I've been transitioning since last fall I was feeling the pain of frustration and now I'm re-energized.

I always choose my weeks for the next year and put it in a letter to parents before the year end so they can book their vacations for the next year on my closed weeks. All stats or closed days are listed in my contract. I have never had any problems.