Quote Originally Posted by 5 Little Monkeys View Post
Agree with Rachael. My day is long enough and I don't want to work overtime, especially unpaid!

My late fee is in increments because I didn't want to deal with charging $4 for 4 mins etc. Anything after close up to 15 mins is $10, than $20 for anything in the next 15 mins and a full days pay, $32, for anything after that. I've only had one parent that needed to pay, 3X!! Lol. For 5 minutes she paid $10 and was still late 2X after that! Some people will just pay and not care but for the most part, I have found having a late fee helps.
Mine used to say $5 for 5 mins but then those who were 4 mins late, didn't feel the fees applied. Or those who were 9 mins late, felt it was a $5 fee. It's incredible how some parents will try and find the loop hole. I changed the wording about 3 years ago when a friend was having parents show up at 4 mins past constantly and arguing that the contract was ambiguous and that no late fees were due.

I too have found a late fee helps. It focusses the parents on the fact business hours are just that and extended care will incur a fee and not a cheap one. As said, I've wavered it in the past when a 5 year long client phoned to say they had a puncture and were just fixing it or when there was a huge snow storm and the whole city came to a standstill due to white out conditions. Those, to me, are unavoidable and not routine. I've never had a parent view it as permission to be late, but I think that's mainly due to how steep the fees are. I don't have a cap on mine at all.

10 mins is $10, 30 mins is $30, an hour late will cost them $60, and so on. It does help.