Paid Vacations/Holidays vs Parents

[WDW]

I do not do the whole paide vacations/holiday type thing.

My question is: do you guys take more paid time off then your parents get or do your times line up pretty well.

I have 95% of my families that actually have all the same holidays/day after/before off as I do.

5% don't and I just found out some interesting things about their time off. They only get 5 holidays off a year and 1 week of sick time. Now I guess it is a little more clearer to me why they always double/triple asked my days off because they don't get that much time off.

Side note-just found out my bank is only closed 4 days of the year!!!!

I know its not our worry but I'm starting to wonder if more parents are now working holidays then before?

I have not read all the replies... but here is what I am doing beginning in January. I take 8 pd holidays (Christmas Eve and the Fri. after Thanksgiving are two of them). I also take 10 paid days off each year in addition to the holidays. My parents will get five days of unpaid "sick" leave and 5 days of 1/2 pay "vacation" time IF they give me 2 weeks notice. No notice is required for the sick time... most of my families have paid vacation and paid holidays...

[Cat Herder]

My question is: do you guys take more paid time off then your parents get or do your times line up pretty well.

I know its not our worry but I'm starting to wonder if more parents are now working holidays then before?

I take my Holidays as I would had I worked the same number of years in the private sector.

Just because one of my clients does not have enough seniority at their job, to have earned as many days off, does not mean I have to give up mine. YKWIM?

In my first few years, while I was earning my reputation in the community, I rarely closed. I now take my holidays with pay. I feel I have earned that right and will not allow them to make me feel guilty for it.

[Country Kids]

I take my Holidays as I would had I worked the same number of years in the private sector.

Just because one of my clients does not have enough seniority at their job, to have earned as many days off, does not mean I have to give up mine. YKWIM?

In my first few years, while I was earning my reputation in the community, I rarely closed. I now take my holidays with pay. I feel I have earned that right and will not allow them to make me feel guilty for it.

Oh, it has nothing to do with seniority-they have been there about 6 years or so. Alot of places here, jobs have nothing to do with seniority. Like my hubs job, he is the only one there is to do it. That is how its with alot of my parents-they are the only one doing their job.

[Country Kids]

Are you in the US??? I thought banks would have to close for federal holidays - there are a lot more than 4 of those in a year!

Yes, I am in the US. There are two banks that were actually open on Sun/Monday.

They take off New Years Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas. I think they may actually open pretty early on Black Friday also.

[lovemykidstoo]

I guess I have never thought about how much my parents get for vacation time, but now that I think about it they don't seem to keep the kids home too much. I hand out my vacation time in January for the whole year. I always take the 4th of July week off, a week in August and the time between Christmas and New Years. Pretty much that's it, but there may be a day that I take off if the kids are doing something with school. Alot of my dcf's take the same weeks that I take off. I do not charge them for the days that I take off as vacation, I do charge for the days that are holidays that I close if their day falls on that day. If their child does not come for any reason, their vacation, sick etc then they still pay me.

I am always interested in how people get their families to pay them on their own vacation. How do those people not have a hard time with it that they then have to pay someone else to care for their child? Thereby paying double for a week of care? I can pretty much say that none of my parents would care to do that, let alone be able to afford it. If they normally pay me $140 for the week, then they would be paying $280 a week for one child. Doesn't anyone get a hard time about that? I understand they can take time off of work, but what if they don't have the time? Just curious.

[Cat Herder]

I am always interested in how people get their families to pay them on their own vacation. Just curious.

I can only speak for myself, but:

I only charge for holidays that fall during the work week. Not the day before or the day after. 4th of July, Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day, etc.

I do not charge for my family vacation (1 week a year) OR theirs (up to two weeks a year) as long as they give me enough notice.

It just works both ways so they don't mind.

[NeedaVaca]

I take 8 paid Holidays, 10 paid vacation days & 3 paid sick/personal days. My families pay me the same amount 52 weeks per year. Even if they go on vacation or kids are sick. I am very clear about this during the interview and so far everyone has said said no problem, they have grandparents or family nearby, some have gone on vacation at the same time, a good portion of my vacation is during the holidays and they also take time off, work at home dad can handle it, etc...so far it hasn't been a problem.

[juliebug]

I would guess my parents get more, but i get 9 paid holidays and 2 weeks off with out pay for vacation

[Blackcat31]

I am always interested in how people get their families to pay them on their own vacation. How do those people not have a hard time with it that they then have to pay someone else to care for their child? Thereby paying double for a week of care? I can pretty much say that none of my parents would care to do that, let alone be able to afford it. If they normally pay me $140 for the week, then they would be paying $280 a week for one child. Doesn't anyone get a hard time about that? I understand they can take time off of work, but what if they don't have the time? Just curious.

I am much like Catherder and only charge for holidays that fall during the week and do not take paid days off for anything that falls on a weekend.

I also do NOT take ALL holidays off. I take 5 paid holidays each year (ONLY if they land on a weekday) and I take 2 week long vacations.

The vacations are always the week of 4th of July and the week between Christmas and New Years. I charge my parents 50% of their normal weekly rate for both vacations. I also give them the option to begin paying for the vacation by adding a bit extra to their payments 30 days prior to the vacation.

I started taking paid holidays the 16th year I was in business. I started charging for my vacation weeks the 17th year I was in business. Before that I simply closed and took the loss.

I also give my full time parents 8 days off per year they may use when ever they like.

My 3/4 parents get 6 days per year and my parents who attend 3 or less days per week, do not receive any days.

ALL families pay for the 5 holiday days that I am closed whether it falls on one of their days or not.

[lovemykidstoo]

I am much like Catherder and only charge for holidays that fall during the week and do not take paid days off for anything that falls on a weekend.

I also do NOT take ALL holidays off. I take 5 paid holidays each year (ONLY if they land on a weekday) and I take 2 week long vacations.

The vacations are always the week of 4th of July and the week between Christmas and New Years. I charge my parents 50% of their normal weekly rate for both vacations. I also give them the option to begin paying for the vacation by adding a bit extra to their payments 30 days prior to the vacation.

I started taking paid holidays the 16th year I was in business. I started charging for my vacation weeks the 17th year I was in business. Before that I simply closed and took the loss.

I also give my full time parents 8 days off per year they may use when ever they like.

My 3/4 parents get 6 days per year and my parents who attend 3 or less days per week, do not receive any days.

ALL families pay for the 5 holiday days that I am closed whether it falls on one of their days or not.

without it reading the same, you and I basically are the same if you look at the dollars and cents of it. You get your vacation at 1/2 price paid while giving your ft people 8 days free. I don't charge for my vacation, but don't give dcf's any free days anymore. I also charge for the 5 major holidays if they're during the week and their day falls on it. I used to give the free days to the parents, but found that they were using them most of the time during the same pay period. Found that kids tended to get sick around the same time, so I was out alot of money that I needed, so I stopped the free days.

[Mommy2One]

I know its not our worry but I'm starting to wonder if more parents are now working holidays then before?

I work in a very small, family owned and operated company in a professional salaried position. I get 6 paid holidays:
New Years Day
Memorial Day
Fourth of July
Labor Day
Thanksgiving
Christmas

I do not get the day after Thanksgiving or Christmas Eve off. I get 10 paid vacation days/year. I get up to 5 paid sick days per year but the general cultures it that you take a few as you possibly can. Most people take 0-3/year.

My husband is mid-level (district) manager for a corporation that has locations throughout the US. He gets 10 paid vacation days, 5 paid sick days and when the economy was better he also got 5 paid "personal enrichment" days. At the bottom level the company serves customers and they are only closed two days per year (Thanksgiving and Christmas) so he only gets 2 paid holidays.

Before I had my daughter I worked for a slightly larger family owned company and I had 7 paid holidays (we also got the Friday after Thanksgiving off), and half days for Christmas and New Years Eve. We got 10 paid vacation days and sick days were based on the honor (aka good excuse) system.

In all three cases you got 15 vacation days/year once you'd been with the company 5-7 years.

Thankfully we only need care 3 days/week (the other two are covered by one grandmother) and the other grandmother can usually be backup for 2 of the 3 days so it's only Fridays that we have to worry about using our days on.

[Blackcat31]

without it reading the same, you and I basically are the same if you look at the dollars and cents of it. You get your vacation at 1/2 price paid while giving your ft people 8 days free. I don't charge for my vacation, but don't give dcf's any free days anymore. I also charge for the 5 major holidays if they're during the week and their day falls on it. I used to give the free days to the parents, but found that they were using them most of the time during the same pay period. Found that kids tended to get sick around the same time, so I was out alot of money that I needed, so I stopped the free days.

I do it that way because it seems to make the money balance better. I used to find myself in the same situation you mentioned, with parents conveniently having their kids home at certain times of the year and then I had shorted pay weeks etc. Tough to make ends meet when the money isn't consistent.

I also do not allow parents to use their free/credit days during any of my vacations or paid holidays. I also only give those free/credit days to full time families as I feel they "earned" it more than the part time families and they are also the ones I depend most on for income so I feel it is all part of the R+R-R=R+R system.

R+R-R=R+R means

Rules and Regulations minus Relationships equal Resentment and Rebellion
~ John Maxwell.

BEST advice I ever got. (well one of the best pieces of advice anyways)

[littlemissmuffet]

I am always interested in how people get their families to pay them on their own vacation. How do those people not have a hard time with it that they then have to pay someone else to care for their child? Thereby paying double for a week of care? I can pretty much say that none of my parents would care to do that, let alone be able to afford it. If they normally pay me $140 for the week, then they would be paying $280 a week for one child. Doesn't anyone get a hard time about that? I understand they can take time off of work, but what if they don't have the time? Just curious.

Where I live, all full-time employees are entitled to 3 weeks of vacation per year (after working for a company for 1 year; after 5 years you are entitled to 4 weeks)! Most of my parents have 4 (or more) weeks vacation. All of my parents use vacation time when we close (and most plan vacations when we close for ours - I send out a schedule each January so parents have time to plan) and are not double paying. Almost every child of mine is gone an additional 1-3 weeks per year during family vacation with parents... so I certaintly don't feel bad
In a two parent home, the majority of my families have 8 weeks (40 days!) vacation and 20+ days paid sick/personal time compared to the 15 I have. For me, it was a no-brainer to charge for vacation time and to not allow free/discounted vacation time to families. This is the norm here.

I would never continue doing daycare if I didn't have paid time off. I feel very sorry for those providers who don't earn an income when they close or simply never close because they can't afford it.

[lovemykidstoo]

I do it that way because it seems to make the money balance better. I used to find myself in the same situation you mentioned, with parents conveniently having their kids home at certain times of the year and then I had shorted pay weeks etc. Tough to make ends meet when the money isn't consistent.

I also do not allow parents to use their free/credit days during any of my vacations or paid holidays. I also only give those free/credit days to full time families as I feel they "earned" it more than the part time families and they are also the ones I depend most on for income so I feel it is all part of the R+R-R=R+R system.

R+R-R=R+R means

Rules and Regulations minus Relationships equal Resentment and Rebellion
~ John Maxwell.



BEST advice I ever got. (well one of the best pieces of advice anyways)

I love that from John Maxwell!! I can't tell you how much more money I make now that I don't allow free/credit days. It is so nice to know that I will make X amount in a week instead of worrying if so many kids will show up. Wish I would have done it years ago. I think that's a great idea to only do it for full time families as well. I have an unique situation though. I'm only open 4 days a week. I only have 1 family that comes all 4 days. They actually are the only family left that I do give free days to. They started 4 years ago and back then I did that. I never took it away from them. I only give them 5 free days a year so it's not bad at all.

[Mommy2One]

Where I live, all full-time employees are entitled to 3 weeks of vacation per year (after working for a company for 1 year; after 5 years you are entitled to 4 weeks)! Most of my parents have 4 (or more) weeks vacation.

In a two parent home, the majority of my families have 8 weeks (40 days!) vacation and 20+ days paid sick/personal time compared to the 15 I have. For me, it was a no-brainer to charge for vacation time and to not allow free/discounted vacation time to families. This is the norm here.

Are you trying to convince me to move to Canada? ::