Contracted Hours

[Country Kids]

Thinking more and more of doing this but have some questions.

A. Do you allow parents to contract for the whole day? I have a few parents that need it but wondering how to say do you really need it?

B. Do you allow them to come on parents day's off (since they are paying for it).

C. If they get off earlier do you have them come at that time to pick up?

D. In the contracted hours do you allow for drive time?

E. How do you figure your rates as? I charge a three day, four day, five day rate. I then figured out my monthly rate they pay me for having those children here how ever many days (has to be consistent through the week). So if I shorten the time they are here it seems, I would need to refigure my rates.

I"m sure I will have more questions but this is what I'm thinking of for now.

My husband thinks it won't work as they know I'm open so why not have their child here. They are paying for they day so why not be here.

[Blackcat31]

A. Do you allow parents to contract for the whole day? I have a few parents that need it but wondering how to say do you really need it?

My parents contract for the week.
They choose the latest pick up time they need.
If it's M,T, W and F at 3:00 but Thur it's 4:00.
They contract until 4:00 then for the whole week
My fees are weekly not daily.

B. Do you allow them to come on parents day's off (since they are paying for it).

I don't care what they are or aren't doing when their children are here. If they pay for it, they can go home and nap. Not my issue. As long as I can reach them, it's good.

C. If they get off earlier do you have them come at that time to pick up?

They are required only to pickup by their contracted pick up time. If they get off early, they can go stand in the snowbank if they want. Just be here at the time they contracted for.

D. In the contracted hours do you allow for drive time?

I don't know. I just tell parents to choose a time. If they choose 3:00 and they get off at 3:00 but don't get here until 3:30, they are going to have a big late fee so...

E. How do you figure your rates as?

I used my old flat weekly rate as the rate for the earliest pick up. I added or subtracted from there depending on whether or not they contract for 3, 4 or 5 days and picked up at 3:00, 4:00 OR 5:00.

[LysesKids]

Thinking more and more of doing this but have some questions.

A. Do you allow parents to contract for the whole day? I have a few parents that need it but wondering how to say do you really need it?

B. Do you allow them to come on parents day's off (since they are paying for it).

C. If they get off earlier do you have them come at that time to pick up?

D. In the contracted hours do you allow for drive time?

E. How do you figure your rates as? I charge a three day, four day, five day rate. I then figured out my monthly rate they pay me for having those children here how ever many days (has to be consistent through the week). So if I shorten the time they are here it seems, I would need to refigure my rates.

I"m sure I will have more questions but this is what I'm thinking of for now.

My husband thinks it won't work as they know I'm open so why not have their child here. They are paying for they day so why not be here.

I don't have set open/closed... my parents are contracted based on hours worked plus drive (yes, drive time is included); that said I limit to 10 hours daily & charge extra for early drops/late pick ups outside contracted hours... doesn't matter is someone is here earlier or later - it's their contract not yours. Because TN limits infant/toddler care to 4 babes and considers PT to be under 20 hrs, I contract FT only... otherwise you can pay daily drop-in rate if a space is open; and yes, if they are paying FT, if they contract 5 days , then they can use all 5 days during their hrs; they contract only 4 days, them they pay extra for day 5

[Ariana]

I have 3 contracted rates. I am open 10 hours a day and parents can choose up to 4 hours at $X up to 8 hours at $X or up to 10 hours for $X per day. They can choose however many days they want within the 3 days I work. I charge a premium for 10 hour days. The hours have to be within my opening time of 7-5pm. I do not factor in drive time really because I am still taking care of their kid whether they are driving or not but it depends. If someone needs an 8 hour day and 30 minutes for a commute I may just give them my 8 hour rate if I have other kids here anyway. There have been families I do that for and others I don’t do it for.

[Country Kids]

BC do you let parents contract for the entire day? Say 7:00-5:30? I have some children here from open to close even though they can be picked up much earlier. Do you do a certain amount of hours they can be in care?

I'm thinking even with contracted hours I will still have this issue and really very few children need 10.5 hours of childcare. I have some families who have one parent that get off earlier than the other one but the children still are here till closing.

[Blackcat31]

BC do you let parents contract for the entire day? Say 7:00-5:30? I have some children here from open to close even though they can be picked up much earlier. Do you do a certain amount of hours they can be in care?

I'm thinking even with contracted hours I will still have this issue and really very few children need 10.5 hours of childcare. I have some families who have one parent that get off earlier than the other one but the children still are here till closing.

I am only open from 7:30 to 5:00 so if a parent drops off at 7:30 and contracts until 5:00 (even if they are done working at 3:00) they are welcome to do so.

Mostly because it will cost them ALOT more than if they picked up earlier. Eliminates the resentment on my end and takes from their wallets on their end. Loss of time with their child isn't something I can compensate for or force them to do.

[CityGarden]

Thinking more and more of doing this but have some questions.

A. Do you allow parents to contract for the whole day? I have a few parents that need it but wondering how to say do you really need it?

When I offered contracted hours parents could select the hours the best suited their schedule and budget!!! They were in control of their childcare budget which was a selling point to parents.

My very first dck's family selected the hours for the whole day and paid me very well for that time.

B. Do you allow them to come on parents day's off (since they are paying for it).

C. If they get off earlier do you have them come at that time to pick up?

In response to questions B & C, four out of my five dcks have a SAHM and I do not care what they do with their time as long as they pay tuition and pick up on time.

D. In the contracted hours do you allow for drive time?

Nope, planning their day and commute is their responsibility, not mine. They should consider that themselves when deciding which pick up time works best for them.

E. How do you figure your rates as? I charge a three day, four day, five day rate. I then figured out my monthly rate they pay me for having those children here how ever many days (has to be consistent through the week). So if I shorten the time they are here it seems, I would need to refigure my rates.

Have you given any thoughts to the earliest pick up time you would suggest/offer? (Really think about when you would have the children ready for pick up post nap time.)

Will send you a PM.

I"m sure I will have more questions but this is what I'm thinking of for now.

My husband thinks it won't work as they know I'm open so why not have their child here. They are paying for they day so why not be here.

Their benefit to pick up on time is to not have to pay higher fees. They can have their child there since you are open but they should pay you the higher rate to do that.

My comments are above in Purple.

[lovemydaycare0912]

My answers are under your question.

Thinking more and more of doing this but have some questions.

A. Do you allow parents to contract for the whole day? I have a few parents that need it but wondering how to say do you really need it?

My whole day is 10 hrs. I don't have anyone right now with that as I try to stay away from it. The entire day is $15 more a week.



B. Do you allow them to come on parents day's off (since they are paying for it).

Yes. Idc what you do, just pick up on time.


C. If they get off earlier do you have them come at that time to pick up?

No again, just pick up on time.



D. In the contracted hours do you allow for drive time?

Yes. If a parent works 8-4, their hours would be 730-430.



E. How do you figure your rates as? I charge a three day, four day, five day rate. I then figured out my monthly rate they pay me for having those children here how ever many days (has to be consistent through the week). So if I shorten the time they are here it seems, I would need to refigure my rates.


My weekly rate is a max of 45 hrs for fulltime. So for example you can be 730-430 or 800-500 and it is still the same rate. I don't charge like BlackCat does although I love that method.

[Country Kids]

I have 3 contracted rates. I am open 10 hours a day and parents can choose up to 4 hours at $X up to 8 hours at $X or up to 10 hours for $X per day. They can choose however many days they want within the 3 days I work. I charge a premium for 10 hour days. The hours have to be within my opening time of 7-5pm. I do not factor in drive time really because I am still taking care of their kid whether they are driving or not but it depends. If someone needs an 8 hour day and 30 minutes for a commute I may just give them my 8 hour rate if I have other kids here anyway. There have been families I do that for and others I don’t do it for.

Can they choose different hours within those three day? Like if two days are a 10 hour day and one is a four hour day?

[Ariana]

Can they choose different hours within those three day? Like if two days are a 10 hour day and one is a four hour day?

Yes they can . I have had kids in the past only come in the morning or afternoons.

[LysesKids]

Yes they can . I have had kids in the past only come in the morning or afternoons.

The problem with that is filling the empty hours... if you are limited to just 4 kids, it makes no sense if you can't find someone to fill in

[Blackcat31]

Yes they can . I have had kids in the past only come in the morning or afternoons.

The problem with that is filling the empty hours... if you are limited to just 4 kids, it makes no sense if you can't find someone to fill in

...another issue is the time it takes to track all of that.

I'd love to offer daily options but when I have 12-14 kids (10+ families) it's time consuming to track, bill, record and manage all of that.

One of the benefits to moving to contracted hours based on the latest pick time needed weekly for me was to minimize the time I spent doing paperwork.

[CityGarden]

Can they choose different hours within those three day? Like if two days are a 10 hour day and one is a four hour day?

I my case the answer in NO, that family would need to pick one set schedule that worked for them. Maybe they would switch down to two days per week and have grandma watch the child the 4 hours day or hire a sitter for just that day... or contract all three days for 10 hours and do what they please with the hours the child is in care.

[nanglgrl]

I do the same as Blackcat because of Blackcats advice on here. The only difference is my rates go up every 15/30 minutes after 3:30. The way I determine part time/full time is also different. Determining if it’s part time or full time depends on what I have available first and then depends on days/hours. Drop off can be anywhere between 7:30-9:30 am but is the same rate if you drop off at 7:30 or 9:30 and a 3:00 pick up isn’t cheaper than a 3:30 pick up.
I wanted off at 3:30 and didn’t want pick up at 3:00 when children were just getting up from nap so that’s the time I chose for my base rate. 7:30-3:30 or 9:30-3:30 is $125. $125 is what the average provider charges in my area for a full day, open-close schedule. That rate goes up every 15/30 minutes thereafter. When I closed at 5:30 the rate went up the most between 4 and 5:30. This made it so everyone was picking up by 4 and now that’s been my closing time for years and I can’t imagine going back to 5:30.
My part time rate isn’t concrete. It depends on if the schedule works around another schedule, how many hours/days, what times are pick up and drop off (how disruptive it is) and the age of the child (I don’t do part time rates for under 18 months). Parents who are given a part time rate because their schedule works around another schedule are made aware that their rate could change if the other schedule changes.

[nannyde]

Here is a blog about it and a sample rate scale within the blog.

https://www.daycare.com/nannyde/how-to-set-child-care-rates.htm

I developed the contracted rate by departure time (for day shift kids) and arrival time (for evening kids) based on a max number of hours per day with a full or part time rate schedule.

It's become popular with home providers who tailor it to their business needs. Mine is based on 15 minute increments.

Here is the rate page on my website with the evening shift upside down scale:

http://www.nanshouse.com/fees.htm