Contracted Hours

[Mom o Col]

Black Cat, would you mind sharing that with me?

[lucky]

Would you mind sharing with me also. I've been thinking of moving to contracted hours for quite a while

[craftymissbeth]

My "business hours" are 7-5, but I changed to contracted hours. My rates are based on pick-up times like Blackcat's. This is how mine work:

Drop-off can be any time between 7-9 am. I do not take drop-offs after 9.

Pick up times:
3:00 $80.00
3:15 $85.00
3:30 $90.00
3:45 $95.00
4:00 $100.00
4:15 $105.00
4:30 $110.00
4:45 $115.00
5:00 $120.00

Contracted drop-offs between 6 am and 7 am are $5 per day per child. Contracted pick-ups between 5 pm and 6 pm are $5 per day per child.

I'm not working more than 10 hours per day without making good money for doing so, kwim? I have one family that gladly pays the $25 extra per week to be able to drop off at 6:15, but they worked it out so they can pick up at 3:15. Their weey rate is $110... I still make what I need to but work a whole lot less than when dcg was here until 5 everyday

[craftymissbeth]

I forgot to add that I'm done with my day by 3:45 every single day and I still make what I need to pay the bills and put some in savings

[daycaremom2014]

everything she said
For me, when the parents sign the contract, they choose their drop off and pick up times for each day of the week. That's when their weekly rate is determined. And if they ever need to change it they sign a new contract. Late fess start at their contracted pick up time. My earliest pickup time is 3:30. Same as Blackcat, the rate goes up every 30 minutes.

hi my name is Dana and I am a provider if you still have the letter available please send thank you and good luck! Dana email is dannabromm@yahoo.com

[Blackcat31]

hi my name is Dana and I am a provider if you still have the letter available please send thank you and good luck! Dana email is dannabromm@yahoo.com

I sent you a Private Message (PM) with the link.

If you have any questions, let me know.

[morgan24]

I started doing it Blackcats way. I sent out new contracts last week and I gave everyone two weeks notice before it starts. Everyone already has their contracts back and I only have one staying until 5:00.

[Blackcat31]

I started doing it Blackcats way. I sent out new contracts last week and I gave everyone two weeks notice before it starts. Everyone already has their contracts back and I only have one staying until 5:00.

happyface happyface

cool! Keep us posted as to how you feel it is going.

[mim]

I would like some info on this as well please.

I am a provider and have been for about 10yrs. I just never knew about contracted hours. I just pm'd Blackcat to see if I could get those forms and letters as well. It would be greatly appreciated. I am new at the whole forum thing to. So I am sorry in advance.
Thanks so much

[Unregistered]

I set my base rate (amount I HAVE to have to survive financially) for my earliest pick up (3:00) and added fees for every 30 minutes.

That way, if a parent picked up at 3:00 daily, I wouldn't be taking a loss on my budget.

I presented contracted hours to parents as a way for them to decide how little or how much their daycare costs were. If they were on a tighter budget, they could have family members work out arrangements with them to pick up early in the day.

I highlighted the positives of the parent being in control of their budget and let them choose the contracted times that worked for them.

I was good budget-wise because no matter which time a family choose, I still made enough to meet my own financial needs.

If you are interested in seeing the letter I used to explain/present the new rate scale to parents, let me know.

I do a twist on this same fee schedule. I prefer (8 months out of the year) to start later. So my base rate is for an eight hour chunk of day, and then I add on fees by the half hour at the beginning, and subtract fees by the half hour at the end of the day.
Explained the same way: Parents have more control over their fees. (And I have more control over my time. I can go grocery shopping in the a.m. if I need to. Or dr. appt. or dentist. IF I don't have anyone early.) I find most families add on 1/2 hour in the a.m. and take nothing off in the evening. 90% of the time, I know exactly when I'm starting, and 90% of the time I know exactly when I'm ending. (There is one family soon leaving, who abuses both ends. In a week or so, it will be 100%!!)
I love it. LOVE. IT. Parents seem to like it too.
It's not hard to figure out the fees. Each fee stays the same weekly. I just write them out like this to figure them out: [ $XX (daily base) + $4 (2 extra half hours) - $2 (1/2 hour earlier pickup) ] TIMES the number of days they attend = weekly fee.

[Unregistered]

a bit more

Forgot this part: If someone needs earlier care once in a while, I charge 2X the normal 1/2 hour fee. I don't give discounts for the occasional early pickup though - that is called Being A Parent Who Likes To Spend Time With Their Child. (Plus it doesn't happen often. Even when parent comes in play clothes.)

[spinnymarie]

I don't want anyone here more than 9 hours, so we have contracted hours: any nine between the hours of 7 and 5, you choose drop off and pick up at enrollment. If you need 9.5 hours we charge an extra $15/wk, and 10 hours/day would be an extra $30 every week.

[MarinaVanessa]

I also do contracted schedules however mine works a little differently than how BC's works.

I figured out what I wanted to charge for FT and defined it for me. To me FT is 4 or 5 days a week, 50 hours a week, 10 hours a day on a fixed schedule. Realistically it's difficult to find a client that only wants to come 1 day a week to fill in a gap if a client wants only 4 days and many times 1 day a week children have adjustment issues so I don't bother, therefore clients wanting 4 days a week pay the FT fee anyway. I personally could care less how many hours a day a client needs each day, as long as they need 4 or 5 days a week that's FT to me. Clients working in retail or restaurants with schedules that change every week also pay FT. If they need me to have a FT spot open for them, they will pay for it. If they have an alternating schedule it's an extra $15\week fee.

I charge my PT clients similar to BC. That's when I use the pickup scale. They give me their schedule and we figure out how many days a week they need and based on the pickup time for each day I come up with their weekly rate. My earliest pickup is also 3pm and then I charge extra for every 30 minutes after that. When you break it down hourly my PT rate is higher than my FT rate. Like FT my PT fee is a flat weekly rate based on enrollment not attendance so every client pays their rate whether their child was absent or not. FT and PT clients have a guaranteed spot in my daycare.

Then I also have Drop-In available for those only want to pay for the days that they use. I charge a daily rate that is higher than my PT rate or an hourly rate which is higher than my daily drop in rate and has a minimum of 4 hours. They do not have a guaranteed spot in my daycare.

I have a handbook with policies that all clients follow and I have separate contracts for my FT and PT clients (this is one contract) and they sign a fee agreement. Each time they move up to FT or down to PT or if a PT clients needs to change their schedule then they fill out a new fee agreement. My drop in clients have their own drop in contract.

I should also say that even though I work based on contracted schedules I may occasionally get a request for a temporary or permanent early care or evening care and if I agree to it and accept a child before 7am or after 6pm then I charge the hourly droo in rate in addition to what my normal fees would be.

For example if a FT client needed one day a week to start at 6am and only needed 9 hours of care that day they would still pay the regular rate and I would charge them my drop in rate for the early hour even though they are typically allowed 10 hours per day.

My forms are all available for download from my website which is posted in my signature below. You can find them in the Parent secrion under enrollment.

[MarinaVanessa]

Double post

[Annalee]

My forms are all available for download from my website which is posted in my signature below. You can find them in the Parent secrion under enrollment.

I really like your contracted hours form....I offer my parents 9 1/2 hours a day not to exceed 4:30 which works for all parents except 1, of course. She only works 3 days a week but I allow her 6-4:30 because she works 12 hour shifts and her mom picks them up. It seems now she is constantly asking if she can come at least one of the other 2 days but I told her if she did that, the 9 1/2 hr rule will go into affect which I waived during the interview on her contract. She has been here for 3 years now and I think a specific contract like this would force her to choose all week with only 9 1/2 hours a day which she can't because no one can get the kids on time or come 3 days from 6 to 4:30 with NO OTHER DAYS ATTENDANCE AS OPTIONS. Thanks for sharing!