I just enrolled a new infant. The family is thrilled to be with me and I think they will be a great family to work with...BUT (isn't there always a BUT???)
My hours are from 7am to 5pm. Mom normally works 8-5 and literally works down the street from my house. She asked at the interview if an extra 5 minutes would be a problem. I agreed that I would allow a 5:05pm pick-up. Here is where the problem is: Mom went back to work two weeks ago and has worked 7:30-4:30 instead of her normal hours (she will go back to the 8-5 next week). With her getting out at 4:30 I expected her to pick-up at 4:35 but it has been 4:50-4:55 everyday. This means that it is taking her not 5 minutes to get out of work and get here, but 20-25. I am not really willing to work an extra 20-25 minutes. Mom asked me on Friday if being "a few minutes" after five was still going to be ok and I was straight up with her and said it has been a lot more than five minutes. I told her that for the first two weeks we would keep track of pick-up times and that if it was consistently longer than 5 minutes, I would have to add a fee. Mom readily agreed and said that she was so happy to be here and that she would happily pay a fee if it meant her baby can stay here.
Sooo...what kind of fee is appropriate? I want it to be hefty enough to discourage the late pick-up (and encourage them to be more proactive in making my hours work such as adjusting her hours slightly) but not be ridiculous. Any suggestions?
My hours are from 7am to 5pm. Mom normally works 8-5 and literally works down the street from my house. She asked at the interview if an extra 5 minutes would be a problem. I agreed that I would allow a 5:05pm pick-up. Here is where the problem is: Mom went back to work two weeks ago and has worked 7:30-4:30 instead of her normal hours (she will go back to the 8-5 next week). With her getting out at 4:30 I expected her to pick-up at 4:35 but it has been 4:50-4:55 everyday. This means that it is taking her not 5 minutes to get out of work and get here, but 20-25. I am not really willing to work an extra 20-25 minutes. Mom asked me on Friday if being "a few minutes" after five was still going to be ok and I was straight up with her and said it has been a lot more than five minutes. I told her that for the first two weeks we would keep track of pick-up times and that if it was consistently longer than 5 minutes, I would have to add a fee. Mom readily agreed and said that she was so happy to be here and that she would happily pay a fee if it meant her baby can stay here.
Sooo...what kind of fee is appropriate? I want it to be hefty enough to discourage the late pick-up (and encourage them to be more proactive in making my hours work such as adjusting her hours slightly) but not be ridiculous. Any suggestions?
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