Absent Days

[williams2008]

For the providers that give their dcf's absent days. For the families that get 8 free days for attending 5 days a week, do you let them take consecutive days off or how do you allow it their days to be taking?

[lovemykidstoo]

I used to give free days. When I did, I didn't care if they took them all at once or not. It was a rough week when they took 5 days all at once, but then I knew for the rest of the year I could count on the paycheck.

[williams2008]

I used to give free days. When I did, I didn't care if they took them all at once or not. It was a rough week when they took 5 days all at once, but then I knew for the rest of the year I could count on the paycheck.

That was my big concern, missing a full week pay from the ones that took an entire week off I see you said " I used to give free days". Do you not still give them and do you think it's a good idea to give them out??

If my dcp's have to pay their kids are here regardless if they are working or not. I'm trying to find a way to give myself a break because if it's left up to the parents, I'll never get one!

[lovemykidstoo]

That was my big concern, missing a full week pay from the ones that took an entire week off I see you said " I used to give free days". Do you not still give them and do you think it's a good idea to give them out??

If my dcp's have to pay their kids are here regardless if they are working or not. I'm trying to find a way to give myself a break because if it's left up to the parents, I'll never get one!

I only have 1 family left that gets free days and I have to say that I wish I would have switched it over a long time ago. I just couldn't afford to give them out anymore. Especially when multiple families used them teh same week. I still have some parents that bring no matter what, but not every single time. They still go on vacation etc. I guess really I don't see a difference with the attendance. My parents are still responsible when the child is sick, they keep them home. I do not charge them if I take a day off though, so if you need a break, take whatever days you want. I should add that I do take the major holidays off with pay if their normal day falls on it. IE New years day, 4th of july, memorial day, labor day, thanksgiving, christmas day.

[williams2008]

I only have 1 family left that gets free days and I have to say that I wish I would have switched it over a long time ago. I just couldn't afford to give them out anymore. Especially when multiple families used them teh same week. I still have some parents that bring no matter what, but not every single time. They still go on vacation etc. I guess really I don't see a difference with the attendance. My parents are still responsible when the child is sick, they keep them home. I do not charge them if I take a day off though, so if you need a break, take whatever days you want. I should add that I do take the major holidays off with pay if their normal day falls on it. IE New years day, 4th of july, memorial day, labor day, thanksgiving, christmas day.

I take the major holidays off with pay as well, when I take off I don't charge them either. I very seldom take off unless I have vacation scheduled, so I guess if I want a day off I'll just take it like you said!

[MarinaVanessa]

I also used to give out "free" vacation days (not sick days). My FT and PT clients would get the same number of days free for vacation that they were contracted for per week so if I had a FT client that came 5 days a week they got 5 days a year "free", if a PT client came 3 days a week then they would get 3 days a year "free" for vacation. I always required a written notice of their vacation days at least 2 weeks before they actually needed to use them if they wanted to be able to get the "free" days. I didn't care either if they used them one at a time or all at once because for me 2 weeks was enough notice to plan. I have known others that require a minimum of 4 weeks written notice.

I don't give them out anymore but that's just a personal preference. I charge for certain holidays each year but if I close because I'm sick or because I go on vacation I don't charge my clients ... if my clients go on vacation or their kids are sick they still pay. It seems to work better this way for me.

[NeedaVaca]

That was my big concern, missing a full week pay from the ones that took an entire week off I see you said " I used to give free days". Do you not still give them and do you think it's a good idea to give them out??

If my dcp's have to pay their kids are here regardless if they are working or not. I'm trying to find a way to give myself a break because if it's left up to the parents, I'll never get one!

I don't know if this will solve that problem...unless they go on an actual vacation I would not expect the parents to keep the kids on their days off, unfortunately I see way too posts about parents sending kids to daycare even when they are home. Have you thought about taking your own paid vacations?

[williams2008]

I also used to give out "free" vacation days (not sick days). My FT and PT clients would get the same number of days free for vacation that they were contracted for per week so if I had a FT client that came 5 days a week they got 5 days a year "free", if a PT client came 3 days a week then they would get 3 days a year "free" for vacation. I always required a written notice of their vacation days at least 2 weeks before they actually needed to use them if they wanted to be able to get the "free" days. I didn't care either if they used them one at a time or all at once because for me 2 weeks was enough notice to plan. I have known others that require a minimum of 4 weeks written notice.

I don't give them out anymore but that's just a personal preference. I charge for certain holidays each year but if I close because I'm sick or because I go on vacation I don't charge my clients ... if my clients go on vacation or their kids are sick they still pay. It seems to work better this way for me.

Thank you!! I think I have just made up my mind to not give them out, I really don't think I can afford to have families taking a week off at the same time. I don't charge for the days I take off, which is rarely or my vacation days. They also pay me if their child is sick or if they go on vacation. Doing it this way has worked for me this far, so I guess I'll just leave that alone!

[lovemykidstoo]

Thank you!! I think I have just made up my mind to not give them out, I really don't think I can afford to have families taking a week off at the same time. I don't charge for the days I take off, which is rarely or my vacation days. They also pay me if their child is sick or if they go on vacation. Doing it this way has worked for me this far, so I guess I'll just leave that alone!

I would LOL! It's fair.

[williams2008]

I don't know if this will solve that problem...unless they go on an actual vacation I would not expect the parents to keep the kids on their days off, unfortunately I see way too posts about parents sending kids to daycare even when they are home. Have you thought about taking your own paid vacations?

The past year I had 1 family out of 6 to take a vacation. I haven't considered taking paid vacation, I may have to work that in next year if I'm still doing childcare.

[williams2008]

I would LOL! It's fair.