Spin - Do you charge for YOUR vacation days?

[daycaremum]

I would love to charge for my vacation time (although I close for 7 weeks a year), and sick days and days for appointments and Stats, etc.... It's not done in my area, so it would effect my ability to get clients.
For those of you who do charge, you need to be careful with your wording in your contracts. I will include the link, but here is an excerpt from The Childcare Providers Resource Network out of the Ottawa area.

How many holidays can I take?
Caregivers are self-employed and therefore are not entitled to "paid sick time", or "paid vacation". To accommodate for this some caregivers charge more per day and bank the extra money for when they are sick or on holidays. Others use statements similar to the one below:

"Weekly fee for care is _____, totaling an annual amount of ______. Payment is expected for the agreed upon hours/days whether the child is in attendance or not. Payment will not vary due to statutory holidays, child’s illness or appointments or parent vacations. Fee will be negotiated if caregiver takes excess of ____days off annually."

Another term for this is being "paid by enrolment". The language is very important in case of an audit by Revenue Canada. If you are audited and your contract mentions "paid vacation" and "paid sick time", Revenue Canada can request the parents pay CPP and UI Benefits. Remember also, Revenue Canada can go back 6 years.

http://www.ccprn.com/en/information-...or-caregivers/

[Crayola kiddies]

I get paid for all 52 weeks per year ..... I am closed for three weeks holidays, all stat days (I think its 11) , 5 personal days, and I have 1 bereavement day also however thankfully I have never used that.

[nschildcare]

I used to. 10 paid days per year plus 5 sick days.

But then we moved and it is not the norm in my area at all. I know of one provider who does.

Thanks for the above info, that is good to know.

I do charge higher rates throughout the year in the hopes of being able to tuck some away.

I often think that I should get paid sick days as I usually get sick from the dcks.... might encourage parents to keep their sick kids home.

[nschildcare]

I get paid for all 52 weeks per year ..... I am closed for three weeks holidays, all stat days (I think its 11) , 5 personal days, and I have 1 bereavement day also however thankfully I have never used that.

Nice. I wish my area would support this.

[Blackcat3168]

I get paid for all 52 weeks per year ..... I am closed for three weeks holidays, all stat days (I think its 11) , 5 personal days, and I have 1 bereavement day also however thankfully I have never used that.

Same here. Except I am only closed for 2 weeks a year. I have no idea what is and isn't the norm in my area as I do what works for me, not necessarily what everyone else is doing.

I get that parents want most daycares to be similar but I try to stand out and not be like everyone else so I set my rules and policies according to what works for my family.
Interested clients can choose to sign on if my policies work or look elsewhere.

There is a right fit for everyone.

I do occasionally have families ask me to discount days or weeks in which I am closed or they were absent but I usually just refer them back to my handbook and let them know rates are based on enrollment not attendance and that payment is non-negotiable.

[Dreamalittledream]

I don't feel right about charging for days that I make myself unavailable. If I'm open and they choose not to send their child- that's another story. I don't believe that daycares in my area tend to charge either.

Totally agree

[bright sparks]

Same here. Except I am only closed for 2 weeks a year. I have no idea what is and isn't the norm in my area as I do what works for me, not necessarily what everyone else is doing.

I get that parents want most daycares to be similar but I try to stand out and not be like everyone else so I set my rules and policies according to what works for my family.
Interested clients can choose to sign on if my policies work or look elsewhere.

There is a right fit for everyone.

I think you are lucky but this approach could backfire. It isn't as simple as saying if a family isn't happy with that policy they can go elsewhere if there are more providers than demand and lots of competition. Some providers rely on this income and it's not always a case of additional income so they don't have the luxury of doing this. It may be tough to fill those spots to begin with and when the parents have the pick of the crop they are obviously going to go with another caregiver who doesn't charge them for days they are not available. In an area where it is not the norm to charge for vacation days to do so potentially sets the provider up for putting themselves in a tough spot.

It's like pricing yourself out of the market when you charge more than the areas average going rate. Unless you are offering something above and beyond and can justify the extra then you have eliminated a percentage of your possible clientele to begin with. The same with paid vacation, if you are closed for business how can you possibly justify charging someone for a service that is neither available to them or being provided by the person they are paying. If they are paying for childcare services, then shouldn't they be able to use the services instead of having to pay double to get service elsewhere? They either have to pay someone else to care for their child costing them additional money, or take time off so money they receive from their vacation pay as an EMPLOYEE, they are just giving straight to the provider and they are left out of pocket. Yet when the parent takes time off to go on vacation you want them to still pay you...seems like a double standard to me.

Yes I would love to be paid for vacation days but that is a labour law set out by the government that employers must pay their employees the minimum legal amount per year, it is not an employer "doing what's best for them" it is them following employment laws. As self employed people we can do what we want when setting up our business policies, but like someone else said in this thread, and others on the many other threads regarding this, what other self employed business owners get paid vacation time off? My daycare is paid by enrollment but only for days that daycare is open for business or Stat/Civic Holidays or named paid days off as stated in the contract.

Obviously if you can get away with charging vacation days then good for you regardless of whether it is the norm or not, but in my opinion those providers are lucky because I don't feel like we are somehow entitled to it.

[Crayola kiddies]

bright sparks .....all of my parents take holidays at the same time as me ....they ask me in feb what im taking and they book those days so they are not paying double. most of my families are government and have way more then 3 weeks a year any way.....I have never even been questioned ...it is totally the norm in my area...I guess I should be very grateful

[bright sparks]

bright sparks .....all of my parents take holidays at the same time as me ....they ask me in feb what im taking and they book those days so they are not paying double. most of my families are government and have way more then 3 weeks a year any way.....I have never even been questioned ...it is totally the norm in my area...I guess I should be very grateful

That is great don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not saying people shouldn't take the time off paid if that works for them. I suppose announcing to parents in Feb makes a big difference too. I don't do that. I have never and will never tie myself to set weeks and days so far in advance unless I have made travel arrangements well in advance. It is one thing to book time off that far ahead if you are going camping or staying home and have the ability to go whenever you please but travelling means I sometimes have to wait for the deals or simply don't know what my plans are for the summer in the winter as it depends greatly on my kids competitions, games and recitals. Summer camps have only just been announced in the beginning of April to know when my daughter will be away and when my son will be enrolled in summer break activities too. As I'm typing this I am shaking my head at myself though because I am notoriously an obsessive planner lol I know I will be off next summer for 2 weeks because we have a trip to the UK arranged for a wedding but otherwise I don't know when I will be off. If I feel a burn out coming on then I want the ability to take time off without having the parents begrudge me the time because I made a commitment/ promise to certain dates already. I don't have sick days/bereavement days/ personal days etc I simply call everything a vacation day and what I do on that day is really irrelevant as it is unpaid if I am off for any reason. Last year I took March Break off to be at home with my kids, two weeks in August to go away, 2 weeks in October for surgery and bed rest and then 2 weeks over Xmas and New Year. This year I have not had any time of bar a few days so far...maybe 3 I think and really its just because of finances. I hope to take some time in the summer but its again a money thing as I am down on my numbers and have a kid leaving in August. I always take a good 15 to 20 days off over Xmas and New Year. Where some people stipulate x amount of weeks paid vacation a year I take all my time off unpaid but do not limit myself so I suppose that could be as equally off putting for some parents with little vacation time of their own and no back up. Each to their own.

[Crayola kiddies]

I have in my policy book that I have to give a minimum of 4 weeks notice so no spur of the moment vacays for me and my families mostly work in offices so they have to book their vacation time by feb in order to get the weeks they want .... I had one family asking me over Xmas holidays when I was taking my summer holidays .... Yikes !!!!