Contracted vs Open Hours

[hoopinglady]

All my kids showed up early today. I do have open hours and thought I'd made peace with it but it sort of irritated me. It IS extra work after all and I suppose I should be compensated. OR is it "no big deal"?

I'm a bit torn. I know there are times that people need extra time on one end of the day or the other....but on the other hand if I changed my policies they would just have to make it work wouldn't they?

I'd also considered moving up my closing time with the signing of the new contract. Then I know even if people show up at all hours of the morning they are out of here by 430/5 no matter what. I'm now open 6-6 and have been for nearly 3 years. I guess it'd be easier if someone said, "do you mind if I drop off early?" instead of just stating it or showing up.

Advice? What do you do?

[JenNJ]

I have contracted hours. I open at 8am. Anything before 8am is an additional charge and must be cleared with me a minimum of 24 hours beforehand. I close when the last kid leaves. I have some nights I close by 5 and others I am open until 6:30. It all depends on who is here and what their contract states.

[CheekyChick]

I am open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and parents can use the entire day or part of the day. It's up to them because they are paying for the day, regardless of how many hours they use. It all works out in the end because some use the entire day, some arrive at 10:00 a.m., and some leave at 3:15 p.m.

I think if I were to do "contracted hours" I would have a nervous breakdown trying to keep track of who came at what time and trying to figure what each family pays. Ugh. Not worth the hassle.

As far as advice... I would open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 5:30 a.m. Your day is sooooo long as it is. I would tell the parents they are welcome to come and go at whatever time they'd like during those hours. It will take the resentment away when you offer it to them.

[Meyou]

I'm open 730 to 530 and I charge a flat fee per week. They have access to all 50 hours. I charge enough so that it doesn't bother me when kids are here open to close. I'm paid well for working the hours I do IMO.

[AnneCordelia]

I have contracted hours and it's awesome. Parents must call if they are early...and, to be honest, I use every last minute before my first arrival and probably wouldn't hear the door if they were early anyway because of the blowdryer, running a load to the washer and finishing up the dishes. I always turn on my porch light and sit in the livingroom with my coffee at 2 minutes to first arrival, ready for them!

I like knowing exactly when everyone gets picked up too.

[pfund2233]

I just changed all this come the 1st of the year. I used to have just open hours... 530am - 530pm. And well the 3yr old DCB that comes at 530am would be here 11+ hours when I KNOW mom was done with work at 230pm and dad at 3pm. ANNOYING! And no I wasn't getting compinsated for the time cause I'm $25 a day. Well, like I said it's all changing!

Jan 1st....
Contracted hours and can't be more than 9.5 hours a day. Still $25 but no more than 9.5hrs. If they "need" extra hours they fill out a "Request for Overtime" form (at least 3 days before the day for the overtime). And I'll deny or approve the overtime. All hours over 9.5hrs that are APPROVED overtime will be charged $3.00 an hr and if over 9.5hrs that day and overtime wasn't approved overtime will be charged at $1.00 per min.

I work 12hr days as it is and am burning out! (see my post that says "how do I say this?) And parent's get paid for their overtime... why shouldn't I?? :confused:

[Zoe]

I've never had a parent ask me what my open hours are. They just tell me what hours they need and if it works for me, then I'll take them on and we'll put the hours they need in the contract. They don't even realize there's a difference between contracted and open hours because they all use the time that is needed. And they all ask if they need to drop off earlier, and are ok if I say no (which has only happened once).

I like it this way. It isn't complicated keeping track of and gives me come consistency in my day.

[Unregistered]

All my kids showed up early today. I do have open hours and thought I'd made peace with it but it sort of irritated me. It IS extra work after all and I suppose I should be compensated. OR is it "no big deal"?

I'm a bit torn. I know there are times that people need extra time on one end of the day or the other....but on the other hand if I changed my policies they would just have to make it work wouldn't they?

I'd also considered moving up my closing time with the signing of the new contract. Then I know even if people show up at all hours of the morning they are out of here by 430/5 no matter what. I'm now open 6-6 and have been for nearly 3 years. I guess it'd be easier if someone said, "do you mind if I drop off early?" instead of just stating it or showing up.

Advice? What do you do?

I sometimes get torn, but I go on contracted hours. I am open from 7am-5pm You need to just tell your parents that your open from, blank to blank but they are to go on the contracted hours you set up, anything before or after that, there is a fee. Don't open your doors until opening time. I get annoyed when my parents don't call when they are running late. It makes it hard for me to plan. Change your policies to fit your needs and then enforce them. I find the hardest part of this job is having to deal with parents-they know the rules but they like to push to see what they can get away with. A newsletter is a nice way to enforce your policies with gentle reminders, or a general note to everyone from time to time. Best bet is to keep your door closed until opening. I am lenient if they show up early or late, but I have great parents for the most part. They come with cash in hand if they are late- unless I really had somewhere to go cash works for me. Don't let resentments build up, make your rules clear and don't feel bad for doing that. Bend when you want to bend. You learn early on who will take advantage and who will not.

[frgsonmysox]

schedule hours?

I'm stilling in the planning stages of my daycare, and am currently working on my parent handbook. I was planning on having daycare hours 24 hours a day because we live in a military community and I know that military can run odd hours. However, I am not planning to provide care for my kids for 24 hours. I was going to have scheduled hours for my parents, that they can change with a 2 week notice, so each parent would have their own schedule. I was planning a 9 hour window per parent, is that too short? I see a lot of people do 10-11 hours.

[MarinaVanessa]

I do what you do and am open from 6am to 6pm. I do this because I don't want to waste my time interviewing clients that need child care before 6am or after 6pm, I'm just not willing to provide regular care earlier or later than that and having set operational hours helps deter that.

I do however have every family sign a contract and both that and the handbook specifically say that each families hours of care will be discussed and a set schedule will be made, we also discuss this during interviews. If they drop off early then it's $5 for every 15 minutes extra, if they pick up later then it's also extra etc. We talk about work schedules and factor in a fair amount of travel time etc. My FT and PT rates are based on a certain amount of hours so when I say that I charge $160 for FT I mean that it's $160 for 50 hours a week, any additional hours are $5 an hour extra. I set specific restrictions for everything. If they need me 53 hors a week then their rate is $175 a week for FT etc.

Also what really helps me is that I have a Schlage LiNK keyless entry system which I pay a monthly fee for. All of my FT and PT clients get their own code to the keypad that only works on the days that they are here and only during their scheduled times. For example, if a family is scheduled for Monday through Friday 8am-6pm and they arrive at 7:59am or 6:01pm they are early/late and their code will not work and they will have to knock. If it's more than 5 minutes either way (early/late) then they have to pay the extra fee (unless they talk to me in advance and I agree to it, then I may not bother charging them).

I know that not everyone can get the keyless entry system (it's about $300 for the hardware and $9 a month for the subscription that lets you schedule the codes) but what if you were to lock your door until your next parent was scheduled for pick up/drop off?

[Blackcat31]

Honestly, I have done it all ways. I used to be open 12 hours and charged by the day and of course everyone eventually ended up here all day every day....even if they didn't start out that way, they figured they were paying for the day so they used it all up. If you go that route, then do it like Meyou said and charge a high enough fee that it is worth it.

I also tried the contracted hours and that worked out ok but when parent's work schedules change or someone's situation changed, I found myself doing so much extra calculating and rate adjusting that I felt like an accountant. If you do it that way, I think it needs to work for ALL families and you have to have a plan in place for adjustments and changes.

I now charge a weekly rate (based on an 8 hour day and double the rate for each additional hour over 8 a family needs) so my rate increases based on pick up time. It works fantastic and I feel more than compensated for my "overtime". If parents complain about the higher charge...THEY are the ones who can change it by picking up earlier so it basically leaves me sitting out of the money dance. (Basically, it is Nannyde's rate structure.)

For me personally, I think this works best because I offer the parents a rate sheet and basically they get to pick their own rate from the sliding fee scale. Once they pick a rate and time though they have to stick with it (I require advance notice if they need to change) and if they are late picking up, I charge a $1 per minute.

So far, this is the best method for me. I feel compensated for having to work more than 8 hours and I feel the families who don't work as long or as much aren't feeling like they are getting the short end of the stick when before other families used the whole day and still paid the same rate as they did. KWIM?

[wdmmom]

I do contracted hours. Parents are charged according to the total number of hours per day and the departure time.

I am open 730-530pm. I have an infant that comes in at 730am and leaves at 345pm. The DCP's are charged according to the hours he is here.

The rate gets higher the later the departure time.

[MarinaVanessa]

I think it needs to work for ALL families and you have to have a plan in place for adjustments and changes.

Yep I agree. There are so many different ways to do it and the best way to figure out what works better for the individual is to try it out diffrent ways. I do like Nan's sliding fee schedule however I have FT, PT and drop-in clients and I had too many people asking for fewer hours (extremely part-time).

Maybe in the future I'll try it again but for now I like the way things work out for me. Very few providers do it the way that I do it and I'm sort of the opposite ... in a way, the longer you are here the less you pay by the hour. This encourages people to become FT and PT instead of only asking for drop-in, which seems to be what a lot of parents want around here.

FT for me is up to 50 hours a week with a set schedule at a rate of $160 per week. Anything over 50 hours is charged an extra $5 an hour. You have to come at your scheduled times, if you arrive late you lose hours and if youre late and dont call to let me know then I can schedule a drop-in and you lose a day. If you drop off early or pick up late or you pay extra.

Same idea with PT. PT is 29 hours a week or less, set days and hours at the rate of $108 a week. You can't switch days around, or trade days. If you are PT and schedule M-W-F and I close on M for a holiday or you have a Dr's appt you can't switch it and come on T. If you need childcare on T and I have room then you pay drop-in rates for the day.

Drop-in clients pay $40 per day for 10 hours. If you need more than 10 hours a day it's an extra $5 an hour. If you need less than 10 hours it's $5 an hour with a minimum of $20 per day. Whoever pays me first gets the slot and your slot isn't guaranteed. Drop-in clients don't pay for holidays or vacations but even if you pay drop-in and come regularly on the same days every week if one of my FT or PT clients needs extra hours, they get priority and you may find yourself without child care for the day.

It works for me because I "reward" my clients for becoming regular/scheduled FT and PT clients. FT clients pay less hourly than PT clients, PT clients pay less hourly than drop-in clients. A drop-in client that comes 4 days a week pays the same as a FT client that comes 5 days a week. I do it like this because the clients feel like they get a discount for upgrading from drop-in to PT, or PT to FT when in actuality I set my FT rates based on what I wanted to make and then just charged more for PT and even more for drop-in. They think that they are getting a discount but they aren't, PT and drop-in clients are just paying more per hour.

I think that the best thing to do is to see what your options are and try the ones that are more appealing to you. If you prefer to have the sliding scale then GREAT! I think that the key to success in whichever way you choose to do it is to have clear expexcations and communicate these clearly with your clients. Then have clear consequenses for everything that goes beyond what their rate covers AND IMPLEMENT THEM!!

It used to BUG me silly when clients came whenever they wanted to and tried to stay all day. Once I set limits to what their rates covered and set "overtime charges" most of my clients stopped or drastically reduced arriving early, late or leaving their kids here from open to close. The ones that still continued to do it didn't bother me anymore because at least I was being paid extra for my time. You want to leave little Suzie here from open to close every day of the week? Okay, sure. No problem. You'll just have to pay $210 a week for FT instead of $160

[Lucy]

I have contracted hours and it's awesome. Parents must call if they are early...and, to be honest, I use every last minute before my first arrival and probably wouldn't hear the door if they were early anyway because of the blowdryer, running a load to the washer and finishing up the dishes. I always turn on my porch light and sit in the livingroom with my coffee at 2 minutes to first arrival, ready for them!

I like knowing exactly when everyone gets picked up too.

This exactly! My first one comes at 7:05, and if they pull up at 7:03, I am still brushing my teeth and wouldn't hear them. I must admit, if they come early and I do hear them (or if my first one isn't coming on a particular day, but my 7:30 one comes early), and I DO know they are there, I will do whatever I can to NOT answer the door right away. Then when I do, I go through a kind of fumbling thing to get the door & deadbolt unlocked, and open the door with a little bit of a surprise look, then look at the clock near the door and say, "oh, you guys are early this morning". It just drives home the point that it isn't cool with me to arrive early, and hopefully makes them think twice about doing it next time. And like you said, I really like knowing what time they are being picked up. I have them put their shoes & coats on and put any backpacks or belongings next to the door. It bugs me when someone comes even as much as 3 min late.

[hoopinglady]

thank you!!!!

here's what I'm thinking. (opinions are welcomed)

I think I would be too unorganized (unassertive) to deal with individual contracted hours.

I'm thinking of saying it like so: No rate increase BUT I now close at 4:30. There is an optional 430-530 pick up weekly rate at 40/week or something.

I really think all of my current families can work out the 430 thing though I'm sure they will be irritated about it.

Do you think the $40 is too steep?

I doubt this will put more money in my pocket but it will take a lot of the building resentment away. I can't carry on like this if I want to do this for long term, ya know?