Question About Scheduling Part Time With Rotational Schedule

[MaritimeMummy]

What would you all do (those who do part time, that is)? Here's my situation:

I have 1 full time child and 2 part time children.

Obviously full time DCK is here every day so scheduling is a non-issue.

Then I have PT DCG who is written in the contract as coming Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. But, lately her mom's been adding a day or two because she's swamped with work. No problem, it's not like I'm maxing my numbers or anything.

But then I have PT DCB. His mom is my cousin. First of all, and my biggest mistake, is that I gave her a rate discount, -$5 my regular rate each day. Second of all is that she is a nurse with long, rotating shifts. I keep him most days from 6:45am to 5:45pm. She pays me extra on those days.

ANYWAY, what *IS the problem is that her shifts are all over the place. So one week she might need me Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, the next she might only need me Wednesday, then another maybe Tuesday and Thursday. So there is no consistency in how many days a week he is here.

Since he started in January she's always been very good about giving me her schedule months in advance. So I guess, for whatever reason, I didn't *mind* that my weekly pay from her jumped around so much. I'm not sure why but just knowing far in advance really kept me calm about the whole thing.

Last night I got an email from her saying that there is a change of bosses at work, and that she can''t give me a written, advance schedule until October, so September will apparently end up being "give me notice week by week". I kinda boned myself because I didn't say anything about rotational schedules in my handbook.

I think what it boils down to is that lately, I am much less comfortable with the whole, "1 day one week, 4 days the next" kind of rotation. I need some stability.

How would you broach the subject with DCM? remember, she is also my cousin, and she has been one of the best DCP's I've had, albeit a little bit of an airhead. ;-)

[Meyou]

I've had a couple of nurse schedules in the past and I always charged them a minimum weekly charge of 3 days per week. If they used more than 3 days they paid by the day but less than 3 days was still the flat weekly fee. I'm not sure if that will work with your cousin though.

Now I have a minimum of 4 days per week regardless of attendance. I can't afford to give people free days every week since there is a cap on the max income I can earn. I have a nurse starting next August who will be paying 4 days per week regardless of what is used.

[mac60]

Yes, charge a minimum of 3 days per week, and if need more xx rate for the extra days. You are then quaranteed a minimum amount each week. I do this for a family with a rotating schedule of 2 days one week 3 days the next, and the days change week to week.

[MaritimeMummy]

I've had a couple of nurse schedules in the past and I always charged them a minimum weekly charge of 3 days per week. If they used more than 3 days they paid by the day but less than 3 days was still the flat weekly fee.

Over the course of a month, on average, it works out that he comes about 3 days a week. So this could work (for me anyway). I don't think this is unreasonable. I just emailed her and asked her if she has any idea how many days a week we're looking at from here on out. If she comes back and says she needs to reduce to anything less than 3 days a week I am going to have to advertize for another part time spot.

I really didn't want to fill my open spot. I like only having 3 DCKs. It worked out well when my numbers reduced from 4 to 3. My Part time DCG went from coming once a week, one full day to 3 set, for sure days. When I had my 4th DCK, she was only here 2 days a week. So my current PT-DCG is making up for the days lost from the 4th child's spot. So since with that child gone, I was still making the same amount of $'s each week with only 3 kids instead of 4, I chose not to advertize. But if my cousin is going to reduce the number of days DCB is here, that is going to be a HUGE pain to me.

[Nickel]

I was going to take a nurse and it was similar but it was always the same. 2 days on 2 days off, 3 days on 2 days off. What I was planning on was just charging for 3 days per week. So if one week she did 2 days and then next was 4 it would still average out. but I think I was also going to do weekends. So I didn't charge her extra for the one week as long as it pretty much averaged out over a two week period. kwim? Then the pay was always the same. Easier for her and me

[MaritimeMummy]

Well, I found out why she's been so obscure with her scheduling this month. Lots going on at work. She promised me that she wouldn't go down less than 3 days a week. It will be random what days, and for this month it will only be one week's notice, but I can deal with that. And she understands it's within reason, like if someone comes to me and asks for drop in care on a specific day before she approaches me with what days she'd need that particular week, she can't have that day. Basically for this month, she does not get to pick and choose her days and she is low on the totem pole.

Next month it goes back to normal for a few more months. She just told me that she's 15 weeks pregnant and will keep him coming to me about 3 days a week. At that point it will get even better because she won't be working for a year and she will be actually setting the days (probably Mondays, Wednesdays ,and Fridays) rather than rotating. I'm glad I asked her, I feel much better. I was worried that her job was in jeopardy and she wasn't telling me. Just the opposite, it's looking like I will eventually get DCB's sibling. :-)