Policies and Procedures Manual

[Suzie_Homemaker]

Absolutely.

Joining a new daycare means taking in a lot of new information. It's unrealistic to expect a client t remember it all especially as time progresses. In my contract, I have a line that says that the handbook containing my policies is part of the contracted terms.

However, when a parent is looking for child care, they tend to look at several before deciding where they hope to go. We all set our own policies and I am sure, over time, it's easy to mix up which policies were explained by which provider and apply what day home or centre those policies belong to. Even if the policies are fresh in their mind when they sign up for care, a year down the line, they are unlikely to remember the sickness policy or the notice period and need their documents to refer to.

I send my paperwork to potential clients after I have vetted them through a phone interview but before we meet in person for them to see the daycare space. I make sure they have as much time as possible to read and understand these documents before they come and I make sure to ask if they had any questions with regards to them.

Clients need to know exactly what they are signing up for. They need to understand the expectation with regards to being on time, when their child is sick, paying on time, discipline policies, financial penalties if they pay their fees late or show up after closing hours for their child. And, in the event of there being an issue, you will need to be able to show a client that they are breaching a policy that they were fully aware of before deciding to join your care.

It's not often things go wrong with a client and carer relationship but when they do, you need to be able to show them firmly what your objection is. And it would be unreasonable to expect them to know that if they weren't given a copy or don't have a copy of their own to refer to when deciding if they should bring their sick child or pay late etc.

I also have a private FB group for current client's only and in that, my handbook is always available in case client's misplace theirs. It's vital to be able to refer them back to the agreed terms and conditions.