Vacations

[Justamom]

How long have you been at your job? I know all companies are different with their policies also. My friend just started a new job and receives two weeks paid vacation, all federal holidays, 1 week sick time and so many personal days, plus 6 unpaid days.

Eleven years! My paid holidays are New Year's day, Christmas, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. Fortunately my parents and in-laws are willing to babysit for free on days when we do not have daycare. Otherwise it would be a major hardship for us to have to take off that many unpaid days, especially if we still had to pay for daycare! I'm not saying providers shouldn't get days off too, four weeks+ just seems like an awful lot from the perspective of someone who gets half that.

[laundrymom]

Holy cow!!! 4 weeks? Wowsers. ! Jealous.
Here I take 2 weeks. Unpaid, plus 9 holidays & 5 personal days I'm on year 23. And I schedule each august for the years vacations and holidays.

I was wondering what everyone takes for their own vacation time and how long you have been a childcare provider. This is my 14 year of doing childcare and never had set vacation times. The last 3 years I have had summers off, this is my first one back to working. My whole schedule has changed with parents and such so I want to have it in place what I'm taking.

My thought is at a job outside the home you would have at least 4 weeks vacation, week of sick time and possibly a week of personal time. Is this an unreasonable amount for a childcare provider that has been in it this long. I would start all of this in September when I put out my new contracts. I do have it that I take all Federal Holidays off bacause my husband and children have those off so should those be included in vacation time? Nothing is ever open on those days so it seems hard to make appointments for things.

If I could get some feedback on this that would be great. I'm thinking if I have set time off we could start saving up for vacations and actually going.

[Country Kids]

I have been in business for 14 years. I take 5 paid vacation days, Federal holidays and 4 "floating holidays" each year. I typically do not use all of my floating holidays, but they are available if I really need them. I have taken 2 sick days in 14 years and only because I HAD too.

I do think that 4 weeks of vacation time is too much and parents are likely to balk at the thought. I know none of my families have four weeks of vacation time. With the economy the way it is right now I have had parents actually lose some of their vacation benefits and take pay cuts as well.

Doesn't that usually add up to about 4 weeks? Do you count holidays as well and the things like Christmas Eve, New Years Eve, and day after Thanksgiving? Its days like this that make it hard to figure in as vacation days or just days I'm closed. Most of my parents have those days off as well, plus vacation time.

[daycare]

I think that 4 weeks is a lot of time off. Thats 20 days that you would close, most parents dont have that much vacation time.

Then add in an additional 10 days for sick and personal together.

thats 30 days. Oh and then throw in your holidays off as well, which I am not sure which you close for, but I can think of about 9. so add that in there too.

So basically you are going to offer 10.5 months of care instead of 12 months?

There are 240 days of care in a year and you would only offer 201.

Unless you have a family that has been on the job as many years as you have, you are not going to find that too many people have that much time off.

[Country Kids]

So after reading all the posts back and forth, everyone takes about 4 weeks throughout the year. Whether it is 4 full vacation weeks plus personal/sick time or 2 weeks vacation, federal holidays/holidays plus personal/sick days the average provider receives about 4 weeks off. It is all on how you word the whole process it looks like. I don't charge my parents for the time I take off so they would save having to pay two childcare providers that way.

This is definetly something to really look at and see what works best for you and your family. Thanks you for all your imput! It is always great to see the support you get from fellow providers.

[Crystal]

Doesn't that usually add up to about 4 weeks? Do you count holidays as well and the things like Christmas Eve, New Years Eve, and day after Thanksgiving? Its days like this that make it hard to figure in as vacation days or just days I'm closed. Most of my parents have those days off as well, plus vacation time.

I don't look at it like that. I close on holidays that my families are off.....if they work them, I work them.

I take 5 paid vacation days and 4 floating holidays (the most I have ever taken is 3) so less than two weeks total.

[momofboys]

I don't think it is excessive. My husband has almost 6 (yes, you read that right, 6 - he gets 28 paid vacation days off a year plus his holidays) weeks of vacation each year & then he gets 7 - 8 holidays on top of that. BUT, the vacation time includes sick time too. And he has not been in his line of work too long. . . but has been with his company about 12 years. He just has a very generous company. To be honest I think if you have clients who are willing to work with you then that is fine. Why should daycare providers be expected to only take 1-2 weeks off a year? There is NOTHING wrong with expecting a parent to find a back-up provider for a week or so each year. So long as the parents know in advance I don't see it as a problem. We work hard we should be entitled to have more then 2 weeks off to relax.

[daycare]

I don't think it is excessive. My husband has almost 6 (yes, you read that right, 6 - he gets 28 paid vacation days off a year plus his holidays) weeks of vacation each year & then he gets 7 - 8 holidays on top of that. BUT, the vacation time includes sick time too. And he has not been in his line of work too long. . . but has been with his company about 12 years. He just has a very generous company. To be honest I think if you have clients who are willing to work with you then that is fine. Why should daycare providers be expected to only take 1-2 weeks off a year? There is NOTHING wrong with expecting a parent to find a back-up provider for a week or so each year. So long as the parents know in advance I don't see it as a problem. We work hard we should be entitled to have more then 2 weeks off to relax.

I think I misread her post of time off requesting. I thought she was saying 4 weeks of vacation time and then all of the other closing dates as well.

I agree that everyone needs a break. I mean teachers get the full summers off, spring break, christams break and any other holidays off as well. I feel that it is important we get time off so that we don't experience burn out. Working long hours and workng with children does take a toll one anyone. I was not saying don't take a vactaion, heck I am leaving next week for disneyland for 2 days off of DC and return on Sunday.

I also think that it depends on your client base. In my case, closing that many days would not work for my parents. I don't even close on minor holidays, because most of my parents are self employeed and don't close their business. But if you can find the clietns that can make it work on both ends then heck yeah do it~

[momma2girls]

I have been providing childcare near 10 yrs. I started out with paid Holidays, and one week vacation. About 5 yrs. ago, I raised it to 2 weeks paid vac. when I moved. If I am ever sick, which has only been one time, I have had to close, then I either take it out of my vac. days or take it unpaid.
I think everyone out in the workforce, inc. us as daycare providers- really truly deserve and need paid vacation days!!

[Ariana]

I forgot to mention my vacay is UNpaid!!

You really need to do what feels comfortable for you! My husband gets 5 weeks plus sick and personal days and stat holidays. It depends on the job and the contract.

I state all my vacay upfront and the parents sign an agreement so if they have a problem they can look elsewhere for a provider that meets their needs

[sharlan]

I took a total of 6 weeks off for the first 22 years. Two of those weeks I was hospitalized after bc surgery. So that's 4 weeks for family vacations in 22 years. I took 1 or 2 daycare kids with me on 3 of those vacations - Hawaii, Texas, and a riverboat vacation.

Mynew contract states that I will be off between Christmas and New Year's, all federal holidays, and the first week of July.

[permanentvacation]

Here's my opinion - it's not too well-approved by most daycare providers though. Paid vacations are given to EMPLOYEES by their EMPLOYERS. We are not employees. We are individual business owners. I think of myself as a business owner and often think of how other businesses are run and try to implement some 'real businesses' ways to my small home business. One of the things that has always been an issue for daycare providers is paid/non-paid days off. So, if I think of my daycare as a business, I then think of whether a 'real business' would be paid for times they are closed - let's take Chick-fil-A for example. They are closed every Sunday - do they expect to make an income on Sundays? No - The company is CLOSED! They are not offering to make any sandwiches or chicken nuggets for anyone that day, so why would they expect someone to pay them that day? Now, lets think about a business that we use on a daily basis that we get a service from - lets say the phone company. Lets say that the phone company decided to completely close their company down for the day and not offer any phone service - yep, you would not even get a dial tone on your phone and you could not use your phone at all all day long because the phone company is closed for the day. Of course, the phone company will send you and expect you to pay the regular full bill even though they closed one of the days that month and you had to either not use a phone at all or find another phone to use. Would you willingly accept that? Would you pay your regular bill in full? Or would you be outraged that you weren't even given the ability to use the phone service for one of those days and demand to be reimbursed for that day as well as complain furiously to the manager? The way I see it, my daycare is a business and I am a business owner. If my business closes for any time frame and does not offer services to my clients for that time frame, I do not expect for my company to make any income for that time frame. The problem, in my opinion, is that daycare providers don't always think of themselves as a business owner. We sometimes want the benefits of being an employee rather than the sometimes hardships of a business owner.

[Meyou]

Here's my opinion - it's not too well-approved by most daycare providers though. Paid vacations are given to EMPLOYEES by their EMPLOYERS. We are not employees. We are individual business owners. I think of myself as a business owner and often think of how other businesses are run and try to implement some 'real businesses' ways to my small home business. One of the things that has always been an issue for daycare providers is paid/non-paid days off. So, if I think of my daycare as a business, I then think of whether a 'real business' would be paid for times they are closed - let's take Chick-fil-A for example. They are closed every Sunday - do they expect to make an income on Sundays? No - The company is CLOSED! They are not offering to make any sandwiches or chicken nuggets for anyone that day, so why would they expect someone to pay them that day? Now, lets think about a business that we use on a daily basis that we get a service from - lets say the phone company. Lets say that the phone company decided to completely close their company down for the day and not offer any phone service - yep, you would not even get a dial tone on your phone and you could not use your phone at all all day long because the phone company is closed for the day. Of course, the phone company will send you and expect you to pay the regular full bill even though they closed one of the days that month and you had to either not use a phone at all or find another phone to use. Would you willingly accept that? Would you pay your regular bill in full? Or would you be outraged that you weren't even given the ability to use the phone service for one of those days and demand to be reimbursed for that day as well as complain furiously to the manager? The way I see it, my daycare is a business and I am a business owner. If my business closes for any time frame and does not offer services to my clients for that time frame, I do not expect for my company to make any income for that time frame. The problem, in my opinion, is that daycare providers don't always think of themselves as a business owner. We sometimes want the benefits of being an employee rather than the sometimes hardships of a business owner.

ALL valid points except that they don't take into consideration that the parents in question will be agreeing to the vacation policy before starting childcare.

[Cat Herder]

Here's my opinion - it's not too well-approved by most daycare providers though. Paid vacations are given to EMPLOYEES by their EMPLOYERS. We are not employees.

My opinion is that my clients pay tuition for their child's full-time slot. There is a set yearly rate that is paid in weekly installments. Tuition is NOT based on attendance.

My program is closed two weeks a year with the rate worked in so there is no payment due on those weeks for convenience. Notice is given 12 months in advance for parental planning, no surprises. It is the same two weeks every year.

No discount is offered for Major Holidays that fall during the work week (Christmas Day, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, etc.). My niche of clients have no problem with this as they also have these Holidays off paid.

As a courtesy my program offers two additional weeks of unpaid care to my clients for their Family Vacations. I do require a 30 day notice, however, for the discount to apply.

Some years I loose a bit on this, most years they don't take it and I make a bit extra since I budget on losing this income. The truth is I always hope they take it with their kids, that time with their kids can never be replaced.

I have worked in the childcare field 24 years, in home daycare 17+ years.

[Unregistered]

My vacation/closure dates are not a surprise, they are in the contract signed at enrollment. I take major holidays, a week at Christmas, a week in summer and the odd Fri or Mon depending on my daughters softball schedule. That said, ALL of these dates are given to each family in Dec for the following full year. I am paid for emergency closure such as power outage, family emergency or my illness. I average ONE day per year in this catagory- I work through all minor illness and only close if I get the stomach flu and cannot function. I lost my Mom last year and took 4 days total, spending her last 4 days on this earth in the hospital with her. I scheduled the funeral on a Saturday. I am dependable and parents know that. Most of my parents have vacation and it's in my contract that back up care is essential and their responsiblity as I am the sole provider and I am a human with human issues and problems in my life just like them. IMO parents who do not have back up care or vacation/sick leave are better suited for centers who do not close with the exception of major holidays. The choice to add 1-2 days paid vacation rather than raising rates for the last 4 years was presented to parents (most long term clients) and they would rather this be the case. That said - next year the number of days will remain the same and I will raise rates a bit as I am now ridiculously low compared to others in the area. The other thing I look at is before I opened daycare I worked as a waitress for 11 years and had 3 weeks paid vacation when I left and the seniority to have most major holidays off. It's all about what fits - policies are clear and the parents decide if the schedule and amount of days off work for them before enrollment. They have a choice.