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I charge $5.00 per 15 min. earlier or later than contracted time. I am going to be enforcing them come the Fall for my teacher's children. They are late at least one day per week. Then they tell you that you need to open 30-40 min. early for them!!!!!!! I just had this happen with 2 families and one wanted me to close later on the same day, so I was open 10 1/2 hrs.!!!!!! I will be implementing this soon! I do have it in my contract, but families just don't really care, til you put a stop to it, and charge them the extra fees!
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Yes, that frustrates all of us, I'm sure!!! Ultimately, there is a delicate balance between operationg hours that work for your clients, and personal family time at your home. It is different from program to program, but the common thread is that it is a business, and there aren't too many stores on the planet that will open its doors for a late customer, nor a company that would prevent its employees from leaving without compensation. There are labor laws and liability issues that make it illegal to do so, and for very good reason.Comment
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I also charge a $1 a minute and i do not think that $50 is to high of a late fee to pay when they were almost an hour late, they signed the contract agreeing to certain hours and know what the late fee is, I would not pander to the parents at all and if she says anything i would tell her/them that the two week termination notice needs to be in writing, as soon as you get it you will intitial it and date it and that is the date that the two weeks goes from, i tell parents i will acknowledge verbal notices but everything has to be in writing. THEY were late NOT YOU! Let them take the child else where and see what happens if they continue to forget who's picking up the child and running late, stick to your policies and do not work anything out with them.
Kiddie CareComment
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This is what I charge also. $1 an hour for me seems steep but if that works for you then great.
I don't believe that you shoudl refund the money. If she wants to throw a fit (because that is what she is doing) then let her. If she wants to put in her two-weeks because of something that they did against your policy then let her do it. I would talk to her first though and discuss why she thinks that it is unfair if she already knew the policy. Remind her that her own husband has been late and has been charged and has never complained about the fee. I think it's silly of her to be so late (which is not your fault) and then throw a hissy fit and take such a drastic measure as to quit your services. Seems to me like she'd be doing you a favor. If someone did this to me because of something that was out of my control and they clearly knew my policies I'd wonder what else they would make a fuss over later if another issue happened against my policies. Let us know if she actually does put in her two-weeks notice.Comment
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I gave the father the two week notice withdrawal form to be filled out and signed yesterday,today he comes back empty handed. Seriously why do parents think that the ball is always in their court?!
They need to understand that as providers we have the final say. Just because a parent my give a 2 week notice doesn't mean the provider has to honor it give two weeks. We can say this is your last week....or in some case TODAY! I'm so sick of the way parents treat us they feel like they can give your crap and you have to take it. I told them if I don't have an answer by tonight....tomorrow morning the latest then I'm going to go ahead and make an executive decision. I mean come on! Who wants to drag this into the weekendComment
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Our rate was $5 for first 5 mins and then 1.00 each additional min PER CHILD.
We once had a family that was ALWAYS late. 6:31..6:33 etc...we always let him slide. Finally I got so fed up with him and I told him that he was going to be charged from then on.
While he had 3 kids. Then he was picking up at 6:33..6:35 etc.. Well I only charged him for one child. It was like he didnt care. What was 5 dollars to him? It was a Friday night and I had plans. He did not get there until 7:00!!! I was SOOOO furious. I literally yelled at him. I said it was going to be 60 dollars (which I only charged him for 2 otherwise it was 90..thought that was TO harsh :
and that from then on should be late it was going to the FULL $15 increments if he was even 3 mins late.
He was late only once again at 6:34. He really was truly sorry and he finally did look remorseful. I didn't charge him. He never was late again
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late fee
just curious, I have a set of siblings that come to dc would you charge the late fee X2
how would you work that?Comment
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I only do the late fee 1 time between the siblings. The way my late fee is set up it's enough to make it worth my while to work after hours on only 1 late fee whereas my datime rate ends up being $2.50/hr/kid. I wouldn't be able to charge that and watch just one kid. Now if they're late, I charge $8/hr if they call me to let me know what's going on AND I don't have to be somewhere. No call/no show at pick up time or if I have plans that are effected it is $20/hr. But you charge even more (if you are the OP?) Honestly, at $60 per hour I don't see the need to double it. But then some parents are harder to get through to than others. I'd say use your best judgement on this with the families that you have.Comment
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It's abandonment & neglect
I think you did the right thing, however, they also need to know exactly how lenient you were. This happened to me a couple months ago. At drop off the dad reiterated that he would be here at 4pm to pick up his 2 children. My husband was standing right there and heard everything. I had asked 2-3 times to be sure it would be 4pm (they had been 15 mins late earlier in the week). 4pm came and went, 4:30 came and went. By 5pm, I called the parents house, talked to the 15 & 16 yr old sisters (family lived a couple blocks away and I had written permission to release to the 15 & 16 yr old sisters). The 15 & 16 yr old said they did not know where mom & dad were. I explained that they were late and someone had to get here immediately to pick up the children. 5:30 comes and goes. By 6pm, I called the house again and got the same response, so I demanded that the 15 & 16 yr olds get here immediately to pick up the children. When I got off the phone, I called DHS and reported the parents. They were over 2 hours late and no one knew where they were. The sisters showed up at 6:30pm and the parents finally called at 7:30 to say they were - get this - at their lawyers office for that whole time and that lawyers like to talk and talk! (FYI - I went to law school, quit in my 2nd yr to be a SAHM). Last I knew lawyers had phones in their offices. Too late.
Leaving your children in daycare for more than a half hour past the scheduled pick up time, without any notice to the provider - that's ABANDONMENT!! It is neglect. We are mandated reporters of abuse and neglect.
I can understand 10, 15, maybe even 20 minutes late. But in this day and age, there is always a way to contact - email, text, call, etc. The only excuse I accept is life or death situations. Anything else is just bs and abuse of the daycare provider.
So you might want to explain to this family that you are a mandated reporter and that you could very well have reported the "abandonment" to the authorities. As a parent, I'd gladly deal with a $50 fee than deal with DHS investigating me for neglect!! They should be thrilled that you didn't report them.
Just my opinion.Comment
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That's really rough imo. Stuff happens. I'll stick with late fees and save the reporting the parents for abandonment when I believe they may have actually abandoned their children. Over 30 minutes is inconsiderate and may be very inconvenient for us, but late fees and termination do the job just fine.
Now I had a father drop his sons off once in the afternoon and say I'll be back tonight after a business dinner. He didn't come back until a day and a half later. He was one of my first jobs, so I didn't know what to do and just sat there and worried, but knowing what I know now I would've started with a call to the police/hospitals to try to figure out what happened to him and then yes reported him if I could not find him. 30 minutes to an hour late though? No way. Rude yes. Abandonment no.
And letting them know you could report them for abandonment isn't likely to build a good rapport either. And if they decide to return the favor? Have you ever had SS called on you without a legitimate reason? These are NOT people you should be reporting to lightly. They can make a family's life a living hell, not just the parents but the children as well. Not all of them are good people. Speaking from experience there. I back up my own policies without leaning on threatening to call the "authorities" on them.Comment
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