Charge For A Split Shift?

[hgonzalez]

Wow, I got a daycare inquiry from someone that works a split shift. The child would need care for 3.5 hours in the morning and then return right after our naptime until 5 pm. So that means he would not need lunch or an afternoon nap here. The downside is that it is a 6:30 drop off (I now open at 7). I know he would be taking up a full time spot and I should charge a full time rate, which would be $ 165.00 here (he is 2.5), but the other part of me says if I don't have to deal with lunch and a nap for him, I should give them a break in the fee. If I break it down to my hourly rate, it still comes out to $ 165.00.

What do the rest of you do with a 'split-shift?"

In my 16 years doing daycare, I have never been asked this before.

Thank you!

[Blackcat31]

I think your initial thought is the way to go. If he is taking up a full time space you should charge the full time rate.

I understand your line of thinking about the lunch and nap thing as I offer half days in blocks of time that don't include lunch or nap but at the same time you would be dealing with a completely separate issue of two drop offs and two pick ups for him and at 2 yrs old, that could be a issue all in itself.

If it were me, I'm not sure I would do it at all, but if I did I would definitely charge my full time rate. I would also maybe warn DCM and DCD that it might not work out well if the child has any kind of issues with the two drop offs and pick ups.

I would definitely have a trial period with this situation.

[rbmom]

I agree with BC. I would charge your normal full time rate.

[MarinaVanessa]

One way to think about it is like this:
Like you said, the child is still taking up a full-time spot.
Think of meals as "meals are included at no additional cost" so if a child is missing meals think of it as "well, I'm not charging for them anyway, they are a perk".
You are opening up a half an hour earlier than your regular time so this and the the time during the day that he will be gone should even out.
Nap times the kids sleep anyway so the DCK isn't really missing anything at that point.

One thing I would ask about is whether this DCK needs a nap and whether the DCP's will be napping this child during the time that he is not at daycare. You don't want them to drop off a tired, overly-stressed out mess of a DCK right at the end of your nap.

[hgonzalez]

I ended up replying to her email and asked her to call me. I need to check into more about the two drop offs and pick ups. If they are going to be disruptive, then it may not be worth all the fuss.

I did tell her I would be opening early and that the fee involved with that would offset any discount she would get for not having her child here during lunch time.

I need to add a couple of kids, so it is difficult to turn away anyone that might be even close to full time. Ugghhh....I get so tired of this. Most of the calls I get are for infants or under 2s and I can only have three of those.

If I do take interview the family, I am going to make it really clear that the pick up times cannot stray at all; especially if I decide to give them any kind of discounted rate.

[MarinaVanessa]

I would NOT give any type of discounted rate PERIOD other than not charging them extra for the earlier drop off.

I would explain that since they are taking up a FT spot the hours that the child attends are irrelevant. Let's say your DC hours are from 7am-5:30pm.
a DCK needs daycare from 9am- 3:30pm Mon-Fri, 32 1/2 hours per day, 32 1/2 hours per week. What would you charge them?

This DCK:
6:30 am - 10am then 2pm-5pm = 6.5 hours/day = 32.5 hours per week. It's the same number of hours as the other DCK but with a half an hour start-time before you even open.

If anything you are providing them the extra benefit of opening a half an hour earlier without any additional cost. I think that's enough of a discount ... I'd still charge the regular FT rate.

And don't forget to include a 2 week trial period where either of you can cancel without notice if it just doesn't work out.

[daycarediva]

I agree, I would charge a FT rate, and I would also do an extended trial period. I would add in something in their contract that allows you to term if the drop offs and pick ups stray from scheduled time, or charge a late fee PER PICKUP time with two contracted sets of hours maybe.



I had a split shift dck picked up at 1, nap starts at 1. Mom would come in at 1:10, 1:15, 1:30 & I am sitting around waiting for her during naptime. I changed our contract to include late fees for both shifts and ended up charging them until they left over it. I was honestly relieved because dck couldn't handle the two drop offs and was a mess at 2nd drop off (at 3:30). dcm worked from home and dck would ONLY nap laying on Mom, so she would pick up, go home and nap with dck, drop dck back off.

[DaisyMamma]

I would charge FT rate.
I would also do a trial basis and make sure they are good about drop offs and pickups being on time and quick - it may become inconvenient for you. Make sure DCK is rested when they return.