Late Payment?

[mrsnj]

Maybe I need to raise the fee up to $30. She might think twice. I have even called n said I was going to the bank n stopping to pick up her check but come on! I need to baby here? Call her? Stop n pick up MY pay? Stupid! So last wk I didnt call. She paid late. This week she didnt pay. Still no check. I did confirm with dad n he said she has bills at school too. The oldest has library n lunch money fees. They're calling him too. But he said the money is already coming out of his pay. He can't afford to pay everyone again while she keeps the money. And I understand. So frustrating.

I like the Friday payment. She can't say it's not her day cause she is the one dropping off! She was doing that for a little while when they were working together to pay me. She wanted to make sure she got her payment in before him so she could pay what she wanted n he picked up the end. But....sigh.....that was too good to last.

So I should maybe consider switching to Friday payments n raise the late fee

Fun part is in two weeks I will have the sibling for summer and she will then be late for TWO

[mrsnj]

Thinking on that.... When you have two children but one check do you charge late fee per child or per payment?

[Blackcat31]

Thinking on that.... When you have two children but one check do you charge late fee per child or per payment?

I charge ONE late fee, no matter how may children attend. One fee = one payment.

Ok, I do NOT mean this rudely but the only reason this mom is doing this is because you are allowing it to happen. You need to put a stop to it and if she doesn't pay, then she shouldn't be getting ANY services until her fees are paid IN FULL.

Give her the balance.

Tell her she needs to pay IN FULL by xxx date.

If she doesn't pay, then add a late fee. I charge $10 per day.

If she doesn't pay the FULL amount, do NOT provide services. If she does not pay after 10 days, I consider the family termed.

If she pays late a second time in 90 days, charge a late fee of $20 per day.

Again, NO services until she pays you IN FULL.

If she does not pay within 10 days, she should be terminated.

If a payment is late a 3rd time in 90 days, I terminate. It simply isn't worth having the family if you have to continually chase your paycheck and add late fees.

The whole point of the late fee isn't to make extra money, it is suppose to be to deter the parents from paying late. It isn't always about the money. It is a respect issue and this mom clearly does not respect what you do.

Anything to do with her divorce or personal life shouldn't even weigh into this situation.

You provide a service, she uses it and needs to pay for it.

If you are continuing to provide services despite not being paid, then you are never going to change this situation and this mom will continue to operate in the manner in which she does...and to me that is complete and total disrespect to the person caring for her child.

Set up some strict payment policies and then enforce them. If you don't, you might as well just keep watching her kids for free.

[MarinaVanessa]

I have a parent who pays late all the time. She already owes me late fees from last week! Yesterday she conviently forgot her check again. Yet she lives like four houses away n has to pass my house to leave the development. To make matters worse the family is going through a divorce and now SHE is the one who pays. She is the one who pays late. As soon as I found out she was the payee I knew I would have an issue. And already here we go. I have to deal around daddy days where he has the kids n she put the blame on that. "Well I wasn't here cause it wasn't my day". Meanwhile she is paying three days late. So..... Because the court determines she is to pay yet I have nothing in writing do I notify both or just her?

If she's paying you late and there is a court order that says that she needs to pay you and she is using it as an excuse to pay late then on top of the Friday evening pay date add that if the child is absent payment is still due and late fees will be added to late payments. I personally have adopted a "payment is due on your child's last day of scheduled attentance for the week" policy, meaning if a child is here Mon-wed their payment is due Wednesday at pick up. This has solved the "but he wasn't at daycare so i didnt get to pay" bit.

Also, whatever your original contract says still stands until its amended. If your original contract has both mom and dad responsible for daycare fees then call DCD and let him know that technically with you he is still liable and if he wants it changed then he will have to provide some type of proof such as a copy of divorce order. Let him know that one has not been provided yet and that until one is provided you cannot change the original contract. If only mom is on the original contract then your only issue is to make sure that she understands that if payday falls on a day that her child is not at daycare her fees are still due that day. I mean, how hard is it to pay one day before? If your electricity bill is due and you leave on vacation they still shut off your power even though "you werent here".

[MarinaVanessa]

Thinking on that.... When you have two children but one check do you charge late fee per child or per payment?

I charge PER CHILD. Just because they pay with one check for two children doesn't mean you have to charge one amount. I do one fee and one contract for one child and another fee and other contract for the other child. At least its easier that way for me. If payment isn't made when due then both kids payments are late so late payment fees are added for each child.

And definitely add a "no pay/no play" policy. If payment is not made when due a late payment fee of $10 per day per child will be added to your invoice. Child care services will be suspended until payment is made in full including all fees owed. Credit or discounts for absences due to late payments will not be given.

[mrsnj]

Blackcat- I agree. Problem is that Monday to wed is daddy days. So if I cut off drop off for no payment then daddy gets the poo end of the stick. Of which he tech paid. And knowing mom the way things have been. She would do that on purpose too. It would actually give her leverage to be spiteful. If it was her on Monday I would do that in a split second.

I pretty much agree with everything you said. I just don't know how to work it and enforce it when dad is the one I deal with at the start of the week. Clearly my rules are not deterring her. Totally agree. Trying to figure out how to fix that

[Blackcat31]

Blackcat- I agree. Problem is that Monday to wed is daddy days. So if I cut off drop off for no payment then daddy gets the poo end of the stick. Of which he tech paid. And knowing mom the way things have been. She would do that on purpose too. It would actually give her leverage to be spiteful. If it was her on Monday I would do that in a split second.

I pretty much agree with everything you said. I just don't know how to work it and enforce it when dad is the one I deal with at the start of the week. Clearly my rules are not deterring her. Totally agree. Trying to figure out how to fix that

So dad actually has physical custody/visitation of the child Monday-Wednesday?

Is dad required to pay mom directly or is the cost of child care all lumped into one child support payment?

[mrsnj]

Yeah. He gets them Monday through wed and every other weekend. So most times I won't see mom till wed.

I don't know. He just said that everything is taken out of his check now. So assuming all lumped.

[MarinaVanessa]

So dad actually has physical custody/visitation of the child Monday-Wednesday?

Is dad required to pay mom directly or is the cost of child care all lumped into one child support payment?

I'd like to know too. If dad pays for his own days an he has the child Mon-Wed then dad should have his own contract for himself and he should pay his fees on Wednesday no later than pick up and if mom has the child and brings child to your daycare Thurs & Friday I'd have her own contract as well (put both contracts in the child's file) and have DCM pay her fees on Fridays no later than pick up.

[Blackcat31]

I'd like to know too. If dad pays for his own days an he has the child Mon-Wed then dad should have his own contract for himself and he should pay his fees on Wednesday no later than pick up and if mom has the child and brings child to your daycare Thurs & Friday I'd have her own contract as well (put both contracts in the child's file) and have DCM pay her fees on Fridays no later than pick up.

That's where I was going with this..

If dad has custody on certain days, I would have two contracts then.

That way you can stop services for mom when she doesn't fulfill her contractual obligations.

[AmyKidsCo]

I have parents pay on Thursday for the following week's care. I have stiff late fees in my policies but don't usually enforce them - usually if they forget on Thursday they bring it Friday morning, which is OK with me. I used to have it Friday but then it was a bigger deal if they forgot.