Contracted Time - Help with Wording Please

[Baby Beluga]

I have one DCF who is contracted from 7:00am - 4:30pm and the children are consistently dropped off 10 - 15 minutes earlier. I have not said much because they can contract for up to 10 hours and are currently contracted for 9.5 so it isn't a huge deal money wise. However it is a big deal when I am not expecting the two children until 7am and they show up at 6:40. So, I am wanting to change their contract from 7:00am - 4:30pm to 6:30am - 4:30pm. How do I go about wording this to this family? They came from a center to me so they aren't used to contracted times.

Thanks for your help

[Blackcat31]

I have one DCF who is contracted from 7:00am - 4:30pm and the children are consistently dropped off 10 - 15 minutes earlier. I have not said much because they can contract for up to 10 hours and are currently contracted for 9.5 so it isn't a huge deal money wise. However it is a big deal when I am not expecting the two children until 7am and they show up at 6:40. So, I am wanting to change their contract from 7:00am - 4:30pm to 6:30am - 4:30pm. How do I go about wording this to this family? They came from a center to me so they aren't used to contracted times.

Thanks for your help

Dear DCF

Your normal contracted time is 7:00 to 4:30, however you have consistently dropped off 10-15 minutes earlier than your contracted times therefore a contract revision is necessary.

I understand that natural thinking dictates that it is only 10-15 additional minutes but when added up, that extra time equates to a lot of free care.

Please let me know what you would like your new contracted hours to state and I will adjust your rate accordingly. If you are not wanting to adjust your contracted times, please be aware that drop off must occur NO EARLIER than 7:00 am unless prior permission and payment have been submitted.

Thank you

DCP who doesn't want to continue working for free anymore.

[Leigh]

I think that a lot of people grow up trained to believe that they should be 10-15 minutes early for everything. Parents MAY believe that they are showing you respect by showing up early! A straightforward talk is in order:

Your contracted hours start at 7AM. I have noticed that you've been showing up early most days. Is there a need for an earlier contracted time, or does 7AM still work best for you? I will no longer accept children before their contracted times, so if 6:45 is the time you need, then let's contract for that time. The additional fee will be $XX. If you prefer to keep 7AM, please don't drop off before that time. In the future, more than 2 early drop-offs in a period of XX months will result in contracted time being moved to 6:45 at a rate of $XX.

[daycare]

I had this issue in the past, but the parents kept coming later and later, which was messing up our drop off rotation. I have 14 kids daily and we spread out the drop offs so that not everyone is here at once.

I took a full month of sign in/out log and said that I was going to change it to reflect the actual drop off time that they were using.

I ended up adding a part to my handbook that says I have the right to change their contracted hours of care to reflect the actual time used if necessary. Additional charges may apply.

15 min early each day is 3.5 hours a month for free

[Unregistered]

I had a family like this with departures.... I sent out a text that looked like it was to all families stating that departure times need to be adhered to or late fees will be applied. It worked!

[daycarediva]

I had this issue in the past, but the parents kept coming later and later, which was messing up our drop off rotation. I have 14 kids daily and we spread out the drop offs so that not everyone is here at once.

I took a full month of sign in/out log and said that I was going to change it to reflect the actual drop off time that they were using.

I ended up adding a part to my handbook that says I have the right to change their contracted hours of care to reflect the actual time used if necessary. Additional charges may apply.

15 min early each day is 3.5 hours a month for free

This is what I did, too. I don't ASK. I hand them two contracts, two rates and tell them to return the contract that better suits their needs by X date.

I also DO NOT allow early drop offs. Do you already have kids in care at that time? If not, I would have had everything locked up and not opened the door until 7.

[Baby Beluga]

This is what I did, too. I don't ASK. I hand them two contracts, two rates and tell them to return the contract that better suits their needs by X date.

I also DO NOT allow early drop offs. Do you already have kids in care at that time? If not, I would have had everything locked up and not opened the door until 7.

Yes, I do. My first drop off is right at 6:30am which is why it hasn't been a huge deal so far. However, this morning 6:30am drop off was here and pitching a fit (had been gone for 2 weeks on vacation) and the other two showed up early. Had I had the 15/20 mins to calm first DCK down before the other two showed at their scheduled time, our morning would have been much smoother.