Late Fees When It's Hard to Not Be Late

[Indoorvoice]

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.

I do like that way of looking at it. Their child is here for 10 hours a day and that is a lot. It's hard as a provider to not be in the mindset of "well I'm here anyway so it's no big deal to be late". We need to value ourselves more than that.

[lovemydaycare0912]

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 !

If my parents are changing their hours, I ask for 2 weeks notice. If they are unable to give a 2week notice, I see if I am able to accommodate the change. Whenever the change occurs, I have them sign a new form showing their new hours regardless if their rate remains the same. This way, they understand their new hours are from 8:00-4:30pm and any pickup after 4:30 will be grounds for a late fee. It may sound annoying to do a new form each time, but it works for me.

Also, parents need to understand you enrolled them based on the hours they originally needed. This doesn't mean you are required to keep them if those change and vice versa. I am going to change my hours soon and cannot expect for existing families who signed up because of my long hours to want to stay. Whether they figure out a way for dcb to be picked up is on them, but if they leave I will completely understand. Kind of went off on a tangent. Sorry!

[snbauser]

Definitely time for a conversation. It can be as nice or as mean as you want. Personally I would be upfront with I understand that traffic can be an issue but I close at 5:00. So I either need you to start leaving work in plenty of time to get here by 5 or this may not be the best place for you.

On a related note, not too long ago I had a potential client call about care. She asked me my hours. I close at 5:00. Her next question was "oh, well, what are your late fees?" Yah, no. Not going there. My response was "I don't allow late pick ups period. My kids and my family have things that need to be taken care of after hours." After talking to her further - she was talking about trying to find out if she could get someone else to pick up - turns out she didn't even get off of work until 5:30 and wouldn't have been getting her until almost 6:00!!

[Play Care]

It's hard as a provider to not be in the mindset of "well I'm here anyway so it's no big deal to be late". We need to value ourselves more than that.

I've never understood this line. It ticks me off when parents say this and leave me confused when providers say/think this (I know you don't OP). I am NOT here anyway. I'm off as soon as they leave taking my kids to lessons, practices, games, meetings, appointments, etc. And that's not even my own schedule with volunteering, appointments, etc.
Also, there's a HUGE difference between what I do when I'm hanging out with my own family and when I have paying kids here. I'm not even "allowed" upstairs in my own home when day care kids are present.

I've made a conscious effort the last few years to get rid of families who don't respect my closing time - even by 5 minutes. And honestly this is one of the main reasons I will not be renewing my license once my current term expires. After 10 years of clock watching at the end of the day sitting on pins and needles wondering if a parent is going to show on time so I can get OUT where I need to be, I am DONE. And my families are much better than most.

(sorry for the rant )

[JackandJill]

Exactly, Play Care!! One my my new years resolutions was to tell parents during the interview exactly this, I am not "just home". I am a business, I have set hours, rules that need to be followed and a personal life that they are not welcome to interrupt

ETA: I obviously say it in a much nicer tone!

[childcaremom]

I've never understood this line. It ticks me off when parents say this and leave me confused when providers say/think this (I know you don't OP). I am NOT here anyway. I'm off as soon as they leave taking my kids to lessons, practices, games, meetings, appointments, etc. And that's not even my own schedule with volunteering, appointments, etc.
Also, there's a HUGE difference between what I do when I'm hanging out with my own family and when I have paying kids here. I'm not even "allowed" upstairs in my own home when day care kids are present.

I've made a conscious effort the last few years to get rid of families who don't respect my closing time - even by 5 minutes. And honestly this is one of the main reasons I will not be renewing my license once my current term expires. After 10 years of clock watching at the end of the day sitting on pins and needles wondering if a parent is going to show on time so I can get OUT where I need to be, I am DONE. And my families are much better than most.

(sorry for the rant )

Agree so much with this. I do explain this during interviews (nicely as well Jack and Jill :. My parents now get it. I have had some terrible situations, though, where dcps have used variations of this line. Needless to say they did not remain clients very long.

[Ariana]

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 !

Who works for who here! Lol. You provide a service for x hours. He doesn't dictate to you what your hours are for that service. He either picks up at 5:30pm or he is terminated. I would send a nice email which states "as per our conversation today I wanted to reiterate some of my policies as outlined in my handbook regarding late fees and pick up times...." And go from there outlining that the latest their child can stay is 5:30 and that chronic lateness will result in termination.

Good luck! You are the one in charge here and if you don't make this stand you will slowly start to resent your job.

[Ariana]

I've never understood this line. It ticks me off when parents say this and leave me confused when providers say/think this (I know you don't OP). I am NOT here anyway. I'm off as soon as they leave taking my kids to lessons, practices, games, meetings, appointments, etc. And that's not even my own schedule with volunteering, appointments, etc.
Also, there's a HUGE difference between what I do when I'm hanging out with my own family and when I have paying kids here. I'm not even "allowed" upstairs in my own home when day care kids are present.

I've made a conscious effort the last few years to get rid of families who don't respect my closing time - even by 5 minutes. And honestly this is one of the main reasons I will not be renewing my license once my current term expires. After 10 years of clock watching at the end of the day sitting on pins and needles wondering if a parent is going to show on time so I can get OUT where I need to be, I am DONE. And my families are much better than most.

(sorry for the rant )

It ticks me off too! I need to get out of my house some days and I also cannot have my neighbours kids over until my DCK's leave. My older daughter wants to play with the neighbours kids but because of the rules they aren't allowed to come over and of course when she wants to go over there my 3 yr okd wants to go etc.... It is frustrating which is why I am also leaving this job in June.

[Unregistered]

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!

Tell him u keep up with news...if the backup isn't noted,he pays fees