Late Fees When It's Hard to Not Be Late

[Indoorvoice]

I live near a major highway that one of my families uses to get home from work. I'm well aware that this highway is notorious for backups right when dcd gets out of work so I have been very lenient with late fees for him. If its clear, it takes him 10 minutes to get here, but it can take 30 or more minutes if it is backed up and you never know what is going to be like so I have just been dealing with it. He's the last to leave though so it gets a little hairy when I have things to do and I'm not sure when he will get here and backup people live at least 15 minutes from me so they aren't much help in this situation.

However, lately I have been finding out that sometimes he is late because he was running personal errands. My dh works with him, so he knows when he leaves work early. Would you address with him that I am lenient about lateness due to traffic but not due to personal errands? Obviously, he'll just lie to me about why he's late... or should I start adding late fees even if it's out of his control? Or should I term because I want to be done at 5 and he can't guarantee that? Help me decide!

[childcaremom]

I live near a major highway that one of my families uses to get home from work. I'm well aware that this highway is notorious for backups right when dcd gets out of work so I have been very lenient with late fees for him. If its clear, it takes him 10 minutes to get here, but it can take 30 or more minutes if it is backed up and you never know what is going to be like so I have just been dealing with it. He's the last to leave though so it gets a little hairy when I have things to do and I'm not sure when he will get here and backup people live at least 15 minutes from me so they aren't much help in this situation.

However, lately I have been finding out that sometimes he is late because he was running personal errands. My dh works with him, so he knows when he leaves work early. Would you address with him that I am lenient about lateness due to traffic but not due to personal errands? Obviously, he'll just lie to me about why he's late... or should I start adding late fees even if it's out of his control? Or should I term because I want to be done at 5 and he can't guarantee that? Help me decide!

i would be charging late fees. Period. To me it doesn't matter why he is late but you deserve to be compensated for your time.

I think you need to decide what is most important for you. To be done on time or to have late fees?

For me, no amount of late fees is worth being open past close time. I have things to do and want to be done. I won't keep a family that regularly picks up late. I give them 1 or 2 chances and then I would tell them that they would be better off with a place that can accomodate a later pick up.

eta: Being late due to personal errands would rub me the wrong way big time. I had a family that I extended their pick up time for b/c they were rushed at the end of the day. Then I found out that they would be stopping at the store on the way here and were late a few times. I was not impressed.

[Leigh]

If you're working overtime, you should be compensated for it. I'd tell DCD that you understand traffic issues, but that you either a) need to be off work on time and he must find a way to get there or b) need to be compensated for your overtime.

From a parent's perspective: My daycare insisted that my son be picked up by 5:15. I couldn't get there on time when I got off at 5. I told my boss that I WOULD be leaving 15 minutes early if I were to continue working there because my childcare wouldn't stay open late to wait for me to arrive. I worked an extra 15 minutes at lunchtime, and they worked with me on it (they didn't tolerate leaving early, but they did accept that I had to). It's a matter of choices. Right now, his life is more important than yours-both to him and to you. If you want to be off work on time, you need to let them know what needs to happen.

[Blackcat31]

I live near a major highway that one of my families uses to get home from work. I'm well aware that this highway is notorious for backups right when dcd gets out of work so I have been very lenient with late fees for him. If its clear, it takes him 10 minutes to get here, but it can take 30 or more minutes if it is backed up and you never know what is going to be like so I have just been dealing with it. He's the last to leave though so it gets a little hairy when I have things to do and I'm not sure when he will get here and backup people live at least 15 minutes from me so they aren't much help in this situation.

However, lately I have been finding out that sometimes he is late because he was running personal errands. My dh works with him, so he knows when he leaves work early. Would you address with him that I am lenient about lateness due to traffic but not due to personal errands? Obviously, he'll just lie to me about why he's late... or should I start adding late fees even if it's out of his control? Or should I term because I want to be done at 5 and he can't guarantee that? Help me decide!

Does your DH travel the same highway with him so he could verify that traffic was backed up vs clear?

If so, then I would make it clear to DCD that you are VERY aware of traffic and that late fees may be waived at your discretion IF and ONLY IF traffic is backed up.

Otherwise, you just need to decide how important closing at 5 is for you. If it's a deal breaker, I'd lay it out for the family and let them figure out if they are going to be there by 5 or withdrawing from your care. That way YOU don't have to be the one to term. If it comes to that and they decide to figure out how to be there by 5 daily I wouldn't waive another late fee though no matter what.

[Play Care]

In my mind traffic should be an excuse ONCE. Several years ago two of my families were late because they got caught behind an accident that had a fatality. I obviously waived any fees.
But to be late daily due to traffic? No. That's poor planning. Either my hours work for you, or they don't. I tell families not to sign on if they know they can't make my closing time.

"DCD, it seems my care isn't a good fit for your family. I've tried to be understanding as I know there are traffic issues at times, but I will no longer be able to accommodate late pick ups."

[Ariana]

I give 15 minutes free for lateness. After the 15 minutes the parent is charged $15 plus $1 minute thereafter. Being late 3x for no reason results in termination.

The only exceptions are:
-They text that there is an accident on the highway and I can verify it through twitter/news
- There is a major snowstorm

Is there anyway you can verify that traffic is backed up? Does the dad at least text to say they will be late or are you left in the dark?

[BabyMonkeys]

Personally I would extend my closing time by 15-20 min and increase your rates to compensate. If he still can't be there with that extra time, charge a steep late fee. That gives him a cushion for when he needs it, and he won't be likely to be late if he is being charged $2 a min after that.

Everyone's situation is different though. I have a great relationship with all of my families and it really isn't that much of an imposition to have them here a few minutes late.
It is extremely disrespectful to expect you to extend his time (without pay!) when he is actually out handling personal errands. The lack of respect would weigh heavily on my decision.

[JackandJill]

To me there is no amount of money worth being open after 5 pm. I have always had a late fees, but after a while I think parents see it as a late pick up service I offered.

I let parents know they have to figure it out on their end, but my door closes at 5. I have a 2 strikes your out policy and charge late fees both times. Good luck!

[Leigh]

To me there is no amount of money worth being open after 5 pm. I have always had a late fees, but after a while I think parents see it as a late pick up service I offered.

I let parents know they have to figure it out on their end, but my door closes at 5. I have a 2 strikes your out policy and charge late fees both times. Good luck!

I feel like you do. I had to extend my hours a little because I moved to the other side of town. It does take a lot longer to get to my new house because of very heavy traffic and train schedules (they always go through town at shift change times! grr. ) I HATE that I have to stay open an extra 15 minutes. I am really surprised that what seemed like no big deal when I made the decision has become something I resent. I also open 15 minutes earlier, which I don't like. But when I'm ready for work to be done, I watch the clock like crazy!

[sharlan]

All late fees are charged regardless of the reason.

I "may" choose to waive the fee if "I" know for a fact that there was an accident or the parent calls and tells me what is going on and I can verify it.

An example is heavy rain. In CA, drivers don't know how to drive in the rain so there are tons of accidents. I had one mother show up 45 mins late one day. She kept calling me every 5 mins saying this road is blocked, there's an accident here. I waived her late fee because I knew for a fact the roads were blocked.

Another mother started showing up 10 mins late every day because of road construction. Yes, I could see the helicopter from my house lifting the power poles. I told her to take the next street up. Every day, she "forgot". She finally admitted that she was leaving work early so that she could stop at the park and run for 30 mins. Late fees doubled.

[thrivingchildcarecom]

I think most providers have to deal with this same issue at one time or another (or all the time, LOL). Anyway, its hard but in recent years I justified enforcing my late fees for a number of reasons.

First of all, like you said, it can cause problems when you have things to do after work. Also, if you did have to leave you would have to pay someone to cover that time to wait on the parent. Lastly, my license has specific hours that I am to be running my business and anytime after or before that and I could be subject to citation and/or fees.

So how to handle this issue. Whenever I see parents straying from their contracted times, I send them a little note. It goes out to all of the parents as a reminder. If you would like me to share my specific verbiage just send me a PM with your email.

One last note, its funny but I have found that if you don't tell people when you are giving them grace they tend to take it for granted and abuse the grace even more. I have learned to inform people that this is a "one-time thing" or whatever so they know not to try it again.

[Indoorvoice]

Thank you for the advice everyone. When we set the contracted hours and he needed right up until my closing time, I told him I would be understanding about being late if it was traffic or weather related, but to not take advantage. It used to not be a problem because if he was late one day he would usually leave early from work the next day and pick up early. Well all good things come to an end and so has his early pick ups ::

I have been lucky enough to find doctors and dentists who have evening hours so I don't have to disrupt dcf schedules as a courtesy to them. In order to make those appointments though, I have to leave at 5 so I don't want to extend my hours even for more money. Obviously they aren't every week, but I have had to rearrange my appointments often enough for this dcd that it is a problem now.

I think I'll have to be up front with him and tell him he has one more chance and then he'll have to find someone with later hours. I hate to do that, because I really wanted to be flexible for him, but I don't want to be taken advantage of either.

[Laurel]

In any other job, if you work extra hours you get overtime pay. Period. So why shouldn't providers? You can explain the late fees to the family that way. The reason doesn't matter. If they can't work out some way to get the child and you don't want to work overtime, even for extra money, then they'll need to find someone who does want to work those hours.

[Boymom]

This post helped me a lot because I'm having a similar issue. Dcd just got a promotion and said he will be here closer to 5:30, which is fine because that's when another family picks up, but then he said it could be later and I was like, noooo, 5:30 is the latest! Now I'm stressed I am going to have to enforce my late fees or send them on their way! 10 hours is already too long !

[Indoorvoice]

This post helped me a lot because I'm having a similar issue. Dcd just got a promotion and said he will be here closer to 5:30, which is fine because that's when another family picks up, but then he said it could be later and I was like, noooo, 5:30 is the latest! Now I'm stressed I am going to have to enforce my late fees or send them on their way! 10 hours is already too long !

We'll I'm glad you found this thread then! Be up front right away. That way you don't have to have an awkward conversation down the road like I do after you let late fees slide one too many times ::