Question for Blackcat

[spud912]

Or anyone else with a similar policy......
This year's contract revision included an excerpt that if you are not working or attending school that your child can't be dropped off at open times and/or picked up when I close. There is nothing worse than staying open or waking up early for people who are not working. The question I have is how to enforce this rule?

[daycare]

Or anyone else with a similar policy......
This year's contract revision included an excerpt that if you are not working or attending school that your child can't be dropped off at open times and/or picked up when I close. There is nothing worse than staying open or waking up early for people who are not working. The question I have is how to enforce this rule?

speaking from experience you don't. can i ask why it matters what your parents are doing while their kids are at DC?

I think that this has been a hot topic on here for years. Honestly, if your parents are paying you on time, following all of the rules, why do you care what they are doing.

If you try to control that, parents will just start to lie to you about what they are doing.

[Blackcat31]

Or anyone else with a similar policy......
This year's contract revision included an excerpt that if you are not working or attending school that your child can't be dropped off at open times and/or picked up when I close. There is nothing worse than staying open or waking up early for people who are not working. The question I have is how to enforce this rule?

You really cant... You just make the policy and tell parents... I also add that if anyone is found to be deceitful, I will term.
...and trust that your clients follow the rule.

Its really all you can do.

[Meeko]

While I think it's a moral shame that parents just don't seem to want to spend time with their own kids nowadays, I have just tried to put it in business terms.

I am offering a service from 6AM to 6PM Monday thru Friday. Parents can buy that service and use it however they like. Just pay me on time.

It is too hard to worry about what they are doing while their kids are with me. As long as I can get hold of them whenever I need to, they can be doing whatever they care to do.

Walmart doesn't worry about what I am going to prepare with the chicken they just sold me. I feel the same about my services. Buy it and use it however.

[SignMeUp]

I wonder if the problem providers have with this dates back to pre-cell phone era issues.
I remember when I'd call a parent at work because their child was sick, and find out that they never went in that day. It isn't much of an issue now, because it seems that at many workplaces, you only get voicemail anyway, and parents are more reachable on their cell phone, whether a personal cell or work cell.

It did used to irk me terribly to waste my time calling a place where the parent wasn't - and they'd never told me.

[Unregistered]

I guess you could make 2 separate classes of clients. One class gets to use your services when they need to because you approve of their lifestyle (that's the students or workers). The second class clients get to come at less convenient times because you have decided they don't have an equal need and you don't approve of their lifestyle and parenting choices. You can put that in your contract and charge two different rates!

[midaycare]

I think you can state it however you want, but enforcing it would be another thing.

Personally, I don't care what parents are doing with the time they buy from me, much like Meeko. I appreciate having a job I like, so I try not to get so concerned with the ins and outs of every single thing.

I'm pretty relaxed though. I've never charged a late fee (and I don't have an issue with lateness, but it happens on occasion), I let parents come early when they need to - within business hours, I'm just really flexible.

I just had a parent this week take a "mental health" day while dropping dcb off. I thought it was great! We all need a break now and then.

I think you can try to enforce it, but then dcf's would just lie about where they are.

[Cradle2crayons]

I don't have an open to close program.

I offer ONLY contracted care for people who work or attend school.

They are required to provide me with a schedule at enrollment preferably pre printed from work and signed by a manager.

If their schedule changes, I require immediate notification.

At interview I explain if they lie about their schedule, they will be immediately termed.

My rate depends on their schedule. And because I offer non traditional hours and not an "open to close" program, it works wonderfully.

HOWEVER, if a parents schedule next week is 11a-8p and they tell me ahead of time they have a say, mammogram at 11a and then are going to work, I absolutely wouldn't have an issue.

I allow drop off 1 hour before they start and pick up is 1 hour after their shift is over. That's because I live in the middle of nowhere and that's how far people have to drive to get to work.

[daycarediva]

The only way I have found to deter this is to do contracted hours, offer a few unpaid days off if they keep the kid home and to ASK if they are working on expected days off that I am open (eg. Labor day).

I find that families who parent like this aren't the best fit for my program and I go over it on interview but I don't always weed them all out. I have two kids here who spend the bare minimum amount of time with their parents and are farmed out (love that phrase!) to anyone who will take them.

It isn't my business. I try not to judge.

[Play Care]

Or anyone else with a similar policy......
This year's contract revision included an excerpt that if you are not working or attending school that your child can't be dropped off at open times and/or picked up when I close. There is nothing worse than staying open or waking up early for people who are not working. The question I have is how to enforce this rule?

Are you talking about people you are offering special for by opening early and closing late, or just people using your contracted open hours? The former I DO have an issue with and would tell the parent straight out "Jane, as you are aware I agreed to open early/close late because of your work schedule. When you are not working, the hours are x to x."
The latter, I don't know how you could. Though I keep my hours of operation shorter than most so I don't feel that it's a big deal. Perhaps working to change your hours so you're not feeling as put out?

[Blackcat31]

Are you talking about people you are offering special for by opening early and closing late, or just people using your contracted open hours? The former I DO have an issue with and would tell the parent straight out "Jane, as you are aware I agreed to open early/close late because of your work schedule. When you are not working, the hours are x to x."
The latter, I don't know how you could. Though I keep my hours of operation shorter than most so I don't feel that it's a big deal. Perhaps working to change your hours so you're not feeling as put out?

IIRC, Spud is referring to regularly attending daycare kids who's parents have a day off......and on those days that the parent brings them but that those kids are the ones that end up being first to be dropped off and last to be picked up.

I do not care why parents buy my services. I don't care what they are doing when their child is here but I DO care that the kid who's parent is sitting at home doing whatever on their one day off, brings their kid the second I open and leaves them until the second I close on that day off.

That schedule can happen when it's a work day but when it's a parent's "off day" I get needing to do xx without your kid....whatever... just don't be that first one here and last one picked up on that particular day.

You got a break from your kid, now give me one too....kwim?

I'm pretty positive that scenario is what Spud is referring to.

[Country Kids]

Like another poster said-I know it irks me when I have called a parent and then find out they never went to work that day.

I have no idea if I can reach them and it seems more time then not, you call a parent they still do not pick up their phone. I know at work at least they will answer or can be paged till picking the phone up.

[Heidi]

IIRC, Spud is referring to regularly attending daycare kids who's parents have a day off......and on those days that the parent brings them but that those kids are the ones that end up being first to be dropped off and last to be picked up.

I do not care why parents buy my services. I don't care what they are doing when their child is here but I DO care that the kid who's parent is sitting at home doing whatever on their one day off, brings their kid the second I open and leaves them until the second I close on that day off.

That schedule can happen when it's a work day but when it's a parent's "off day" I get needing to do xx without your kid....whatever... just don't be that first one here and last one picked up on that particular day.

You got a break from your kid, now give me one too....kwim?

I'm pretty positive that scenario is what Spud is referring to.

The way I read it, she opens earlier than she normally would, and closes later, for a certain family because of their work schedules. So, if they aren't at work, she want those kids there within the same hours as the other children.

[Blackcat31]

Or anyone else with a similar policy......
This year's contract revision included an excerpt that if you are not working or attending school that your child can't be dropped off at open times and/or picked up when I close. There is nothing worse than staying open or waking up early for people who are not working. The question I have is how to enforce this rule?

The way I read it, she opens earlier than she normally would, and closes later, for a certain family because of their work schedules. So, if they aren't at work, she want those kids there within the same hours as the other children.

...we (Spud, me and a few others) had this convo before ...that's why I think she specifically asked me about it.

I don't think she is saying she opens EARLIER than normal...I think she is saying why get up early at all if a family that is coming, isn't going into work....thus not really needing to be there her regular hours.....(see bolded above)

It just seems that it's always the way things go. Billy is here from 7-5....all of your available hours. Which is normally not an issue but on the rare day that Billy's mom isn't working, there is no need for him to be there the entire 7-5 time frame because at the end of the day when you (the provider) are MORE than ready to close up and be done for the day, there sits Billy right up until 5:00 on the dot.

I made a policy a while back stating that if you have the day off, you can't be the first to arrive and the last to pick up. You can still bring your kid for the whole day but you just can't stretch it out like that because its always "that" kid then that stops you (the provider) from getting any relief or being able to get off early once in a blue moon.

Hopefully, she'll chime in and clarify for us.

[midaycare]

...we (Spud, me and a few others) had this convo before ...that's why I think she specifically asked me about it.

I don't think she is saying she opens EARLIER than normal...I think she is saying why get up early at all if a family that is coming, isn't going into work....thus not really needing to be there her regular hours.....(see bolded above)

It just seems that it's always the way things go. Billy is here from 7-5....all of your available hours. Which is normally not an issue but on the rare day that Billy's mom isn't working, there is no need for him to be there the entire 7-5 time frame because at the end of the day when you (the provider) are MORE than ready to close up and be done for the day, there sits Billy right up until 5:00 on the dot.

I made a policy a while back stating that if you have the day off, you can't be the first to arrive and the last to pick up. You can still bring your kid for the whole day but you just can't stretch it out like that because its always "that" kid then that stops you (the provider) from getting any relief or being able to get off early once in a blue moon.

Hopefully, she'll chime in and clarify for us.

That makes a lot of sense.