Vacation Policy

[TXhomedaycare]

My current handbook says if you give me 3 weeks notice that your child will not attend a full week than I accept 50% tuition that week to hold the spot. I currently want to get rid of this policy or change it to 2 weeks vaca per year or something that works for our family. I asked dh opinion and he thinks we should keep it but I hate during the holidays when things are tight for us and my families are saving money. I wouldn't mind getting rid of the policy all together but dh thinks families will leave or not enroll. Some daycares in the area have no vacation policy you just pay period and some do. I want to do what is best for my family and be fair (if possible). I considered doing it based on length of time the family has been with me or earned time or raise the amoubt to hold a spot but I am not sure. I am putting out my new handbook for 2017 and want to get this settled. Please tell me what you do or your suggestions. Thank you

[Unregistered]

Vacation Policies

All the daycares around me do 1 week 1/2 fee vacation and completely paid closed holidays. I am newly licensed and decided the best policy for all involved is you get 5 days 1/2 fee vacation within a year as long as I get a 2 week notice for the vacation. If I take a vacation you do not have to pay me. If we are closed for a holiday you pay 1/2 your daily fee so I get something you save something. As a mom who needed daycare up until a few months ago and now a new provider I felt it was the best for everyone. Makes them feel they are saving some but also gets you something!

[AmyKidsCo]

I used to offer 1 week unpaid vacation after they were with me for a full year.

Now I have a weird system - I prorate my vacation weeks into the rest of the year so the weeks I'm on vacation they don't pay me because it's already been pre-paid.

[Alwaysgreener]

My current handbook says if you give me 3 weeks notice that your child will not attend a full week than I accept 50% tuition that week to hold the spot. I currently want to get rid of this policy or change it to 2 weeks vaca per year or something that works for our family. I asked dh opinion and he thinks we should keep it but I hate during the holidays when things are tight for us and my families are saving money. I wouldn't mind getting rid of the policy all together but dh thinks families will leave or not enroll. Some daycares in the area have no vacation policy you just pay period and some do. I want to do what is best for my family and be fair (if possible). I considered doing it based on length of time the family has been with me or earned time or raise the amoubt to hold a spot but I am not sure. I am putting out my new handbook for 2017 and want to get this settled. Please tell me what you do or your suggestions. Thank you

I was considering switch over to something similar. I was thinking an incentive type of discount. Like, after a year they get 10% and families that are here 3 years get a 30% discount. But I am not sure if I need to limit the days or how many days to limit it too. Capping them off at 50%.

Currently, if they give me a 2 week notice in writing they get 100% discount up to x many days a year (two weeks worth based on the number of days they attend each week). But they have to attend 12 weeks before they can use them.

As of now, I have not had any use any days. I had one family comment they wanted to use all 10 of their days between Christmas Eve and New years, basically to avoid paying for holidays. They never put it in writing.

I also had a parent not sign once they found out that they had to attend 12 weeks before they could use the vacation days. She want to send her lo for a week then take a week off. Since I would not bend, she told me off via email, in a your beneath me way, oh well I did not want to sign her and could not come up with a polite way to tell her.

[Blackcat31]

My current handbook says if you give me 3 weeks notice that your child will not attend a full week than I accept 50% tuition that week to hold the spot. I currently want to get rid of this policy or change it to 2 weeks vaca per year or something that works for our family. I asked dh opinion and he thinks we should keep it but I hate during the holidays when things are tight for us and my families are saving money. I wouldn't mind getting rid of the policy all together but dh thinks families will leave or not enroll. Some daycares in the area have no vacation policy you just pay period and some do. I want to do what is best for my family and be fair (if possible). I considered doing it based on length of time the family has been with me or earned time or raise the amoubt to hold a spot but I am not sure. I am putting out my new handbook for 2017 and want to get this settled. Please tell me what you do or your suggestions. Thank you

First few years in business I gave every family 2 weeks of vacation for free.

Then I started giving only full weeks (first 2, then just one) to full time families and a couple days to part time families

Then I stopped giving them to anyone at all and now require all families to pay their same weekly rate 52 weeks a year regardless of what they do/take for vacation days themselves.

If I had it to do over again (which I can but am too lazy : I would probably use the accrued method of giving vacation days... I think it "looks" fair for both parties.

[childcaremom]

If I close for any reason, I don't charge. Except for stat holidays. Every other day families pay, whether they are here or not.

I now have all teachers. I upped my daily rate and am closed over Christmas, March break and summers.

So yes, they don't pay for holidays. But they pay more during attendance times to make up for the unpaid breaks.

[Controlled Chaos]

I don't do discounts at all. Reason 1 - I hate the math every month. I don't want to figure out adjusted tuition rates and who's used what vacation days. Reason 2 - I need the money. I can not afford to have huge chunks discounted, especially during the holidays. I just handed out my holiday closures for 2017. Its federal holiday, plus a 4 day weekend in April (Easter) and August (my anniversary). Any days I close in addition to those days a credited to their account for the following month's tuition. My tuition is based on 52 weeks a year. If its hard getting kids in your area I can see offering 1 week at 50% after they have been with you a year...but otherwise I would charge them. YOU are still available even if they take a vacation.

[jenboo]

1 week half off with 2 week written notice, once per calendar year. I don't remind parents so it rarely gets used.

[Ariana]

I don't charge for my vacation but it is mainly because we can afford it and I like to take at least 4 weeks off every year. My husband gets 5 weeks off. I figure if parents don't pay they won't complain.

I have noticed however that because parents pay when THEY go on vacation they never ever go on vacation, or if they do the kid still comes here. I don't think charging them either way will help the situation.

Nearly every provider around here charges for vacation.

[Max]

If I had it to do over again (which I can but am too lazy : I would probably use the accrued method of giving vacation days... I think it "looks" fair for both parties.

What's the accrued method? Is it for every X number of months a family attends, they get X hours to use as vacation days?

[Blackcat31]

What's the accrued method? Is it for every X number of months a family attends, they get X hours to use as vacation days?

Here is a great example:

I accrue paid time off in each slot. When a child leaves the parent is responsible for paying their child's slot pto.

I take 18 days paid off.

I take 10 days vacation, 8 paid holidays.

I accrue pto at 1.5 days per month. 1.5 x 12 months equals 18 days.

So if it is June and the kid leaves I would have earned six times 1.5 which is 9 days.

I would have taken NEW years, and memorial day off by then. That would leave seven days I have earned but not taken.

So the parents would owe one months notice plus seven paid days.

I have done this system for about 17 years and it STOPPED cold the parents leaving right before my paid time off.

I take ten of the eighteen days off in the six weeks between thanksgiving and new years. I take thanksgiving, day after thanksgiving, Christmas eve, Christmas, five vacation days and New year's.

So I had parents pulling out mid November because they didn't want to pay two of six weeks paid and they had used all their days off. They would wait till it was getting close to deal with it and get care lined up. It was easier and cheaper to find new daycare then to find someone to do free at the Holidays.

Now they have to pay their slots time off whether they are here or not. It stopped the vacation loss and it helped me a ton to retain kids. It also stopped them taking me days.

For part time kids of three days a week... I accrue one day per month. I had a problem with them wanting Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday for the week of thanksgiving making it so I didn't get my paid two days. They would try the same thing if I had any days working the week before I took xmas off depending on the day it hit and the weekafter new years depending on what day it hit.

So they pay twelve days a year and if they want to come Monday Tuesday Wednesday before thanksgiving they can but they pay an additional two days for Thursday Friday.

[Max]

Ahh gotcha. That's a great idea! But would take more work to track. I wonder if going that route has issues with parents paying the PTO they accrued come time to withdraw?

I thought it was a method for parents to accrue vacation days - days they aren't at daycare and don't have to pay. I suppose you could have it work both ways... But it would be even more work to track it all!

[Blackcat31]

Ahh gotcha. That's a great idea! But would take more work to track. I wonder if going that route has issues with parents paying the PTO they accrued come time to withdraw?

I thought it was a method for parents to accrue vacation days - days they aren't at daycare and don't have to pay. I suppose you could have it work both ways... But it would be even more work to track it all!

.... Like I said, I'm too lazy for that :: but I think its a good method for both provider vacation days and for parent vacation days (the method would work both ways easily) but I just don't have the math skills... My "official work" calculator says Playskool on it..