Hmm - there are so many nuances to contracts from our end for sure - which is why some people end up with 20 page contracts trying to cover all those 'what if' scenarios of things that can go wrong so to speak

My contract and parent handbook covers three various 'terminations' in the following manners:
  • A minimum of 10 business days written notice are required to terminate the contract. When proper notice is given the security deposit may be applied to the last 10 days of care - failure of a client to provide proper written notice of termination will result in forfeiting of security deposit. (this generally applies for those who get laid off, transferred, unexpected move, are having a baby or what not)
  • Contracts are reviewed annually and the provider will provide 60 days written notice to CHANGE the terms of a current contract ( this is me raising fees, changing my hours of operation, including a new policy / procedure for handling something in the program which in essences is terminating the current contract in favor of a new one - I give clients LOTS of notice of this as a result)

    If the client is choosing NOT to renew the new contract at the end of that 60 day period they must provide 30 days written notice or they forfeit their security deposit in lieu of proper notice. ( in all honesty I have never had a client not 'renew' a contract with me - most return the signed one that day)
  • Clients signing this contract are aware that the contract may be terminated by the provider 'without notice' if any violation of the contract occurs, if there is a repeated failure to follow program procedures of the parent handbook on behalf of the client or if the client or clients child become a liability to the program due to aggressive / violent / abusive / disruptive behaviour. (this covers all the 'nasty' reasons why you might need to let someone go - fees bouncing, rude or disrespectful parents in regards to drop off and pick up behaviour or the child is a NIGHTMARE behavior wise)

I know that many providers also have a '30 day probation period' for new clients during which either party can terminate without notice and without prejudice or penalty of security deposit - I personally do not have that in writing in my contract because I do not want to open myself up to those clients who HOP childcare providers by signing up for a short period of 2-3 weeks when needed and leave without notice just because they only needed short term care and knew the provider would not sign on if they were up front about that - because most providers want 'long term' arrangements as do I.

As a result I want the client to HAVE to give at least two weeks notice or forfeit their security deposit to protect my income from people like THAT .... I feel confident to do this because in 20 years I have never had a client 'unhappy' with my service and want to leave over conflict so IMO there is no need for THEM to have an out policy in that 30 day period because of anything I would or would not do to cause issue in their care ... if something DID occur that I was somehow truly at fault with that the client felt they needed to pull their child without notice - I would likely just refund the deposit to be 'done' with them cause I cannot work with someone who does not trust me to have their child's best interest at heart - but I do not want that in WRITING so the final decision is mine based on individual circumstances!

And on the flip side of a probation policy in a contract - I feel that if I needed to terminate because the child was just too much or whatever but I was not confident that it fell under 'grounds / violation of the contract' to do it without notice I can still terminate and refund the security deposit in lieu of providing two weeks of CARE ... the option then is MINE to forgo that income and again I do not want that in WRITING because I want to be able to weigh any individual scenarios and choose based on that verses a 'policy'.

In reality I have never had to terminate a client ***knocks on wood*** so until I 'close up shop' the only time contracts get terminated at this point is when I renew annually and terminate the old in favor of the new or if clients are naturally graduating out of the program due to change of direction in their lives ... and they all give me at least two weeks notice if not months notice of that happening.