Temp Raise of Late Fee

[Brooksie]

Tomorrow after daycare I have to go straight into the restaurant to work. Supposed to be there at 4 but obviously can't be there until after 5:30 when I close up here. My parents are pretty good about following my hours but if there is going to be someone late its always on Friday! Sometimes by 15+ minutes. Do you think it would be unfair to raise the late fee for tomorrow to stress the importance of NOT picking up late tomorrow? I normally charge $1 per minute but was thinking of telling them $5 per minute for tomorrow, so make sure that they are out the door BY 5:30, not just strolling in.... Is that ridiculous?

[DaycareMom]

Do they know the situation?
What if you just explained how important it was without raising your late fee?

Usually if I tell DCPs I have other obligations and need them to pick up by a certain time, they understand.

[e.j.]

I think a lot depends on whether you have a handbook/contract that spells out late fees. If you have a late fee policy and the parents have signed off on that, I would think you'd have to stick to that policy. If it says you can raise the late fee for certain events and with little to no notice, then I guess you could. (That sounds a little snarky but I don't mean it that way.)

If it were me, I would just stress the importance of parents being on time so you can get to your other job on time. I would hope most parents would do what they could to arrive on time for you. If not, you could give them notice that the late fee will be going up as a future incentive.

[BrooklynM]

Honestly, yes it's ridiculous. If it were me, I would send a text out to all of my parents today and let them know what's going on, and then remind them in the morning at drop off. Threatening them with 5x the amount you would normally charge probably wouldn't go over well at all! Just my opinion. I know what it's like to have to be somewhere and stress out that everyone is going to pick up on time. Normally when I let the parents know ahead of time they actually end up picking up early! Good luck! I'm sure it will all be ok!

[Brooksie]

Yea I didn't do it. I just told every one to make sure they were here and out the door by 5:30. We will see if any one is late. Tomorrow is going to be a looooonnnggg day.