What is your late policy/fees?

[Learning Daycare]

Do you give three strikes, then term?
Do you even care as long as you don't have anything to do/need the extra money/still have other children in your care?
Do you charge for the first incident?
Or let the first one slide?
What do you actually charge for late fees?
Do you charge by the minute, 15/30 minute intervals or hourly?
Also, what are your DAILY late fees, for example, if you require payment on Friday at pickup, how much do you charge for Saturday and Sunday?

I know most of you have a "no pay, no play" policy. I plan to have this policy as well, that's why I want to know what you charge for the weekend when no payment has been received?

Okay, I know that was a lot and I think that's it for now
Thank you all!

[Blackcat31]

My late fee is $1 per minute.
No grace period as that is just an invite to be "A little late" and I don't like that.

I also would NEVER waive a fee the first time. It's the first time that sets the precedence for the other times.

Just like money....do you borrow someone you don't know money or wait until you know them a bit better, to see if they are trust worthy first?

Same concept. Only families that have proven their trustworthiness are open to having anything waived or forgiven.

My fee doubles the second time and is open to immediate termination the third time as I can't work with a family that doesn't respect my family and my time with them.

[Learning Daycare]

My late fee is $1 per minute.
No grace period as that is just an invite to be "A little late" and I don't like that.

I also would NEVER waive a fee the first time. It's the first time that sets the precedence for the other times.

Just like money....do you borrow someone you don't know money or wait until you know them a bit better, to see if they are trust worthy first?

Same concept. Only families that have proven their trustworthiness are open to having anything waived or forgiven.

My fee doubles the second time and is open to immediate termination the third time as I can't work with a family that doesn't respect my family and my time with them.

Wow! I'm surprised to see that you charge that rate. I plan to charge the same as my time is VERY important to me. It seems, for the most part, I have see many providers on here charge $5 every 15 minutes which, to me isn't enough to "make" the parents come on time.

How many times have you had to charge late fees? Term?

[Indoorvoice]

Wow! I'm surprised to see that you charge that rate. I plan to charge the same as my time is VERY important to me. It seems, for the most part, I have see many providers on here charge $5 every 15 minutes which, to me isn't enough to "make" the parents come on time.

How many times have you had to charge late fees? Term?

I charge $5/15 minutes after their contracted time and then switch to $1/min after my closing time. I only do this because I AM still open so it doesn't bother me too much if they are late for their contracted time.

[Blackcat31]

Wow! I'm surprised to see that you charge that rate. I plan to charge the same as my time is VERY important to me. It seems, for the most part, I have see many providers on here charge $5 every 15 minutes which, to me isn't enough to "make" the parents come on time.

How many times have you had to charge late fees? Term?

I've charged two families one late fee.
They're both still with me.
Never been late again.

I value my time too and don't give much lea way for tardiness.
I also stress my rules at the interview so parents know I'm serious.

[AuntTami]

I charge $5/15 minutes after their contracted time and then switch to $1/min after my closing time. I only do this because I AM still open so it doesn't bother me too much if they are late for their contracted time.

This is how I do it too. As long as I'm still open, it's $5 for every 15 minutes. During the winter, because I live in Wisconsin, if it's a particularly snowy/icy day, I give the parents some wiggle room as long as they don't come in saying "I'm so sorry! I had to stop at the store!" or something along those lines. I'd rather keep their kids 5 extra minutes than them try to rush to get here in winter and get into an accident.

But, besides that, whether its the first time or the 100th time, they get charged. Especially if it's one of the first times. Like Blackcat said, charging for the first time really sets the tone that your time is valuable and you will not bend. But, also like she said, if one of my established families is running behind, I'll waive the fee depending on the circumstances. For instance, one of my DCM's is a nurse and sometimes she gets an admit at 1:45 when she's scheduled to leave at 2:00...Having been in the healthcare field myself, I know that she's responsible for doing that admit whether it's time for her to leave or not. So, if she comes 10-15 minutes late because of an admit, or something similar, I don't charge her. But, she's my *special* family anyways. ::

With most of my families, as long as they let me know they're going to be running late/are running late, and as long as they've been here for a while and have shown that it's not a habitual issue, I let it slide. I'm open and here anyways, whats 5 extra minutes?

However, after closing time it becomes $1 for every minute that they're late. Once I'm closed, then I DO care because they're cutting into my family time and that's a big problem for me, whether they're established families or not. All of my families know that my family time is VERY important to me.

If payment is due on Friday and it has not been received by closing of Friday, a $10 late fee is applied for EACH DAY that the payment is not received. If I don't have it by Monday at drop off, the kids can't stay until it's paid up, and the $10 late fee PER DAY continues to accrue until it's paid.

I'm very lax on my policies because I can afford to be right now. The group that I have is very respectful and is great about getting here on time for pick up AND drop off. They're great about paying on time etc. If I started to have problems with any of my families, I would put my foot down and start enforcing the policies that I DO have in place.

[TwinKristi]

I charge $10/day for late payments. I give them one pass and then I charge.

As far as late pickup, I charge $10/15 mins. I give a 5 min grace period but after that I charge. If it's preplanned and approved I charge $10/hr.

[jenboo]

Late pick up fee: $10 for being late PLUS $1/ minute until the parent arrives.
Late payment: $30 for late payment PLUS $15 a day until paid. Payment is due Friday at close. Parents are more than welcome to leave payment under the doormat on the weekend.

[midaycare]

I won't take kids if I don't have payment for the week ahead. I don't want to deal with late payments. I've given a few exceptions because the majority of my dcf's have never paid late, so if they forget their check books or cash, I don't care as long as they pay at pickup. I think that has happened 3x in the past 8 months.

I have it in my contract that late fees are up to my discretion. I tell them at contract signing that if they go past my closing time and into my personal time, it will be $1 a minute with a $20 minimum. It used to be less so I upped it in my new contract.

I've only had 1 dcf challenge that and try coming late.

[Cradle2crayons]

I currently charge $1 per minute for late pickup past contracted time (I don't do open to close hours)

For late payment is $10 per day. I used to get paid Monday morning at drop off but I just recently change it to Fridays by pick up.

I'm thinking about changing my late pickup fee to $1 per minute with a minimum like a pp said.... Hmmmm....

[Learning Daycare]

I won't take kids if I don't have payment for the week ahead. I don't want to deal with late payments. I've given a few exceptions because the majority of my dcf's have never paid late, so if they forget their check books or cash, I don't care as long as they pay at pickup. I think that has happened 3x in the past 8 months.

I have it in my contract that late fees are up to my discretion. I tell them at contract signing that if they go past my closing time and into my personal time, it will be $1 a minute with a $20 minimum. It used to be less so I upped it in my new contract.

I've only had 1 dcf challenge that and try coming late.

I currently charge $1 per minute for late pickup past contracted time (I don't do open to close hours)

For late payment is $10 per day. I used to get paid Monday morning at drop off but I just recently change it to Fridays by pick up.

I'm thinking about changing my late pickup fee to $1 per minute with a minimum like a pp said.... Hmmmm....

Okay, I've really been sitting here trying to figure out what this "minimum" is about. I just don't understand it. Are you guys saying you don't charge whatever your late fee is or $1/minute until the parent has been however many minutes late? I know the answer is probably very simple, but it's waaaayyyy over my head. Explanations please:confused:

[SignMeUp]

I think it means that as soon as you are late, the fee is $X.oo (the minimum). Then add on $1 per minute until the parent comes.

[Meeko]

Late pick up fees:
I close at 6PM. Everyone gets until 6:01 as a freebie. At 6:01 on the nose....$5 is charged and $1 per minute after that. I changed recently from a flat $1 per minute because a few parents figured 3 or 4 minutes late was only $3 or $4 and was worth it....... Now with $5 added at 6:01, they have miraculously made it on time every day.

Late payment fees:
Payment is due by 6PM on Friday. If I don't get paid on Friday, they have to wait until Monday morning to pay me as I do NO business over the weekend and they must add $30 in late fees. This is to stop the ones who think $10 per day is no big deal and want to come round Friday night or Saturday to pay me. They cannot bring their child on Monday morning without full payment and full late fees. If they don't attend, $10 is added every night at 6PM until I am paid.

If after 2 weeks, they have not paid....they lose their spot and the account goes to collections.

[midaycare]

Okay, I've really been sitting here trying to figure out what this "minimum" is about. I just don't understand it. Are you guys saying you don't charge whatever your late fee is or $1/minute until the parent has been however many minutes late? I know the answer is probably very simple, but it's waaaayyyy over my head. Explanations please:confused:

If you go past my closing time of 6:00 pm, it is automatically $20. 6:05 pm pickup is still $20. If you go to 6:21, 6:22, etc, then I add $1 per minute in addition.

[LysesKids]

My late pick up/early drop fee is $1 minute after my 5 minute grace period.

I also get paid Fridays in advance by 6pm... a parent doesn't pay, then unlike everyone else who charge late pay $, families in my care know their contract automatically changes to Drop-in status. I don't do late pay and knowing upfront if you don't pay, come Monday your spot might be gone & you have to pay the higher fees all week stopped all my late pays years ago.