Closings....

[DCP]

There is SO much debate over home day cares closing and the Parent must pay. Providers "usually" stick together on this topic and 50% of parents stick together against the provider.

Parents...in order for you to FULLY understand the concept you first must place yourself in the childcare provider's place! She / he works longer hours than most employees without a break!! She / he deals with far more stress than most employees. I can not even begin to explain what they go through on a daily basis..and not just the everyday stuff the little ones put them through!! Some parents can be more demanding and higher maintenance than any 3 year old I have met!! Providers try to please everyone..however their first priority is with themselves and their family!!!!!! Just as you would do yourself I am sure!!

They need these vacations to spend QUALITY time with their own. Time when no one else's child is sharing this time.

Now for the money aspect..first Holidays,personal and sick. Last I checked..if you work full time you get personal and sick pay. Some do not and I understand this..however this is usually if they are temp or part time employees. I have yet to meet a client that worked full time perm...without these days off paid!! The person taking care of your precious gem...not only deserves this time off...but NEEDS it.

Vacations: Here is the tricky one....I know it is hard to swallow paying for child care when not used...I get it...I paid for my own...at least 12 weeks out of the year that were NOT used!!! But...I paid it because I CHOSE the place and that was part of the contract. I wanted my kids to experience preschool, knowing my parents took them a week each month.
When I first started my business I did not have in my contract for time off except unexpected days. One of my dear clients told me I DESERVE it...and should have at least one week off WITH pay. A parent paying for day care told me this!!! Her thought..I get paid vacation, why shouldn't you???

If it is part of the contract and you questioned it during the interview as well...you really can NOT complain about it later!!! READ your contract before signing. If you do not like the policies in place...check out other places. However in the majority of HOME day cares you will find you have to pay for this time. If this is a major issue, then maybe you should consider a center. But do note that centers ALSO have days off paid!!!

I have my vacations posted 6 months or more in advance...the majority of my clients take the same time off as me...the others are usually the ones that complain. "I do not have any time off left, we took ours last month!" As a provider I do not feel sorry...all vacations / holidays I bring up during the interview, they are posted WELL in advance and any changes are discussed with all clients first before making final change. Point they have to pay for it..is also discussed, posted and in their contract as well as hand book. No excuses here!!

Point of this: READ everything - ask questions before you enroll your child. Do not enroll = then complain or give the poor provider grief when the topic comes up.

Where you place your child for care is 100% YOUR choice!!! We do not choose you...so choose wisely for what works for you!!!

[SunshineMama]

Well said!!!

Too many parents want to send their child to a daycare provider for 50+ hours a week, and then gripe about a few paid days off for the provider.

Providers can come back and say, "I charge a yearly rate. For your convenience, I have broken it up into a weekly rate, regardless of whether I am open or not, that yearly rate is broken down weekly and due regardless." (I read that somewhere here and I thought it was genius)

In fact, for my next interview, I am going to tell them I have a yearly rate, and then I will break it down weekly

[DCP]

Well said!!!

Too many parents want to send their child to a daycare provider for 50+ hours a week, and then gripe about a few paid days off for the provider.

Providers can come back and say, "I charge a yearly rate. For your convenience, I have broken it up into a weekly rate, regardless of whether I am open or not, that yearly rate is broken down weekly and due regardless." (I read that somewhere here and I thought it was genius)

In fact, for my next interview, I am going to tell them I have a yearly rate, and then I will break it down weekly

I too LOVE this idea

[WDW]

Love this. I am adding paid time off for next year when I update my contracts... currently I take holidays and no vacation. My son deserves me to have some time off with him... that is why I do this is to be with him.

It makes me sad that most all of my dc parents get paid vacation, but use 99% of it on themselves, while the child is here.

[Blackcat31]

There is SO much debate over home day cares closing and the Parent must pay. Providers "usually" stick together on this topic and 50% of parents stick together against the provider.

Parents...in order for you to FULLY understand the concept you first must place yourself in the childcare provider's place! She / he works longer hours than most employees without a break!! She / he deals with far more stress than most employees. I can not even begin to explain what they go through on a daily basis..and not just the everyday stuff the little ones put them through!! Some parents can be more demanding and higher maintenance than any 3 year old I have met!! Providers try to please everyone..however their first priority is with themselves and their family!!!!!! Just as you would do yourself I am sure!!

They need these vacations to spend QUALITY time with their own. Time when no one else's child is sharing this time.

Now for the money aspect..first Holidays,personal and sick. Last I checked..if you work full time you get personal and sick pay. Some do not and I understand this..however this is usually if they are temp or part time employees. I have yet to meet a client that worked full time perm...without these days off paid!! The person taking care of your precious gem...not only deserves this time off...but NEEDS it.

Vacations: Here is the tricky one....I know it is hard to swallow paying for child care when not used...I get it...I paid for my own...at least 12 weeks out of the year that were NOT used!!! But...I paid it because I CHOSE the place and that was part of the contract. I wanted my kids to experience preschool, knowing my parents took them a week each month.
When I first started my business I did not have in my contract for time off except unexpected days. One of my dear clients told me I DESERVE it...and should have at least one week off WITH pay. A parent paying for day care told me this!!! Her thought..I get paid vacation, why shouldn't you???

If it is part of the contract and you questioned it during the interview as well...you really can NOT complain about it later!!! READ your contract before signing. If you do not like the policies in place...check out other places. However in the majority of HOME day cares you will find you have to pay for this time. If this is a major issue, then maybe you should consider a center. But do note that centers ALSO have days off paid!!!

I have my vacations posted 6 months or more in advance...the majority of my clients take the same time off as me...the others are usually the ones that complain. "I do not have any time off left, we took ours last month!" As a provider I do not feel sorry...all vacations / holidays I bring up during the interview, they are posted WELL in advance and any changes are discussed with all clients first before making final change. Point they have to pay for it..is also discussed, posted and in their contract as well as hand book. No excuses here!!

Point of this: READ everything - ask questions before you enroll your child. Do not enroll = then complain or give the poor provider grief when the topic comes up.

Where you place your child for care is 100% YOUR choice!!! We do not choose you...so choose wisely for what works for you!!!

I agree that parents should read everything carefully however, I completely disagree with the line about providers not choosing the parents...I DO choose which parents I want to enroll.

I do not simply take anyone who wants an open space. I have a very strict and thorough interview process so I am able to "pick" from interested families as to who would be the best fit for my program.

The rest of your post has good intentions but doesn't really speak for me personally. I think that as providers we should do what works best for us individually, but I certainly dont want other providers to state for me that I deserve time off or speak as though I absolutely need a break because I work 10.5 hours per day. Working that long is MY personal choice and I really dont expect any parent or anyone else to feel sorry for me because of it.

Also there are many many full time jobs where parents do not receive paid time off or paid holidays or even get holidays off at all. I dont think providers should ever charge for those things based on the concept that other places have those benefits so we should too. I didnt charge for any days I was closed when I first opened my child care. I did what I needed to do to build my clientel so that I eventually ended up with families who WANTED to pay me for vacations and time off but I would never in a million years expect it simply because I made the choice to be a family child care provider.

My job does not stress me out and actually I think it is one of the easiest and most enjoyable jobs I have ever had....and ftr~ I am NOT a provider who tries to please everyone. That is not my cup of tea.

I think providers need to put themselves in parents shoes just as equally.

Running a successful child care business IS work but no one made me do it....it also takes a good deal of balancing between your needs and the needs of your clients. There IS a happy medium. The relationships I cultivate with my daycare families are unique and as individual as the children I care for so I don't think there is any one size fits all method of doing this job.

I get what you are trying to say and I appreciate it but I really don't agree with a lot of what you said and want to make it clear that not ALL providers feel this way.

(fwiw~ I do not mean this snarky or rudely....I just don't like when providers, parents or people in general try to speak for everyone.)

[DCP]

Black cat - I was not speaking in terms of every provider out there as I know some on this board DO NOT charge for closings. I was however speaking in terms of those providers that DO and I think my post says that. If you do not charge for your closings then this topic does not pertain to you.
However countless times I have been faced with and seen parents complaining about how they have to pay for their provider's time off.

This post was merely to those parents that are in the situation - I, myself have experienced both sides as a provider and a parent of multiples that chose to place my children in a preschool . I also have another child that went to home day cares - so I do put myself in the parents shoes and understand their side.

[Blackcat31]

Black cat - I was not speaking in terms of every provider out there as I know some on this board DO NOT charge for closings. I was however speaking in terms of those providers that DO and I think my post says that. If you do not charge for your closings then this topic does not pertain to you.
However countless times I have been faced with and seen parents complaining about how they have to pay for their provider's time off.

This post was merely to those parents that are in the situation - I, myself have experienced both sides as a provider and a parent of multiples that chose to place my children in a preschool . I also have another child that went to home day cares - so I do put myself in the parents shoes and understand their side.

No where in your post did I read that you were speaking to a specific group of parents or directly to those parents who use providers that charge on holidays.

I also did not interpret your post as your own personal experience (with the exception of the part about not having ever met a client working full time without paid days off).

I read it as a message to parents in general...which I think parents may as well....which in turn prompted me to speak up on my own behalf.

[wdmmom]

There is SO much debate over home day cares closing and the Parent must pay. Providers "usually" stick together on this topic and 50% of parents stick together against the provider.

Parents...in order for you to FULLY understand the concept you first must place yourself in the childcare provider's place! She / he works longer hours than most employees without a break!! She / he deals with far more stress than most employees. I can not even begin to explain what they go through on a daily basis..and not just the everyday stuff the little ones put them through!! Some parents can be more demanding and higher maintenance than any 3 year old I have met!! Providers try to please everyone..however their first priority is with themselves and their family!!!!!! Just as you would do yourself I am sure!!

They need these vacations to spend QUALITY time with their own. Time when no one else's child is sharing this time.

Now for the money aspect..first Holidays,personal and sick. Last I checked..if you work full time you get personal and sick pay. Some do not and I understand this..however this is usually if they are temp or part time employees. I have yet to meet a client that worked full time perm...without these days off paid!! The person taking care of your precious gem...not only deserves this time off...but NEEDS it.

Vacations: Here is the tricky one....I know it is hard to swallow paying for child care when not used...I get it...I paid for my own...at least 12 weeks out of the year that were NOT used!!! But...I paid it because I CHOSE the place and that was part of the contract. I wanted my kids to experience preschool, knowing my parents took them a week each month.
When I first started my business I did not have in my contract for time off except unexpected days. One of my dear clients told me I DESERVE it...and should have at least one week off WITH pay. A parent paying for day care told me this!!! Her thought..I get paid vacation, why shouldn't you???

If it is part of the contract and you questioned it during the interview as well...you really can NOT complain about it later!!! READ your contract before signing. If you do not like the policies in place...check out other places. However in the majority of HOME day cares you will find you have to pay for this time. If this is a major issue, then maybe you should consider a center. But do note that centers ALSO have days off paid!!!

I have my vacations posted 6 months or more in advance...the majority of my clients take the same time off as me...the others are usually the ones that complain. "I do not have any time off left, we took ours last month!" As a provider I do not feel sorry...all vacations / holidays I bring up during the interview, they are posted WELL in advance and any changes are discussed with all clients first before making final change. Point they have to pay for it..is also discussed, posted and in their contract as well as hand book. No excuses here!!

Point of this: READ everything - ask questions before you enroll your child. Do not enroll = then complain or give the poor provider grief when the topic comes up.

Where you place your child for care is 100% YOUR choice!!! We do not choose you...so choose wisely for what works for you!!!

I have experienced both sides of this controversial topic as well.

Here's my thought: If you have a contract and the parent signs up with you and signs your contract, they are fully aware of your rules, regulations and time off.

That being said...Parents take random days off throughout the year all the time and they still usually bring their child to daycare. (My experience.)

If you have a family that doesn't offer them paid time off/paid vacations/paid holidays, that's not your problem.

Most of my families get paid time off/paid vacations/paid holidays so so should I! Another way to look at it is like this: I work for families that have good careers. With that comes a good salary. If they are getting paid $15 to $30 an hour, they can afford to pay you your $3 - $5 an hour.

I look at it like this: My daycare provider used to work 12 hours a day. She got paid regardless of my child's attendance. The bonus to that was that I knew she was open every single day she said she would be! The woman NEVER took an unscheduled day off! I paid for that!!! My provider also knew that I worked out of town and that if traffic was congested or I was running late, she wouldn't charge me late fees. It works both ways. She took care of me and mine and I did the same for her!

[DCP]

There is SO much debate over home day cares closing and the Parent must pay. Providers "usually" stick together on this topic and 50% of parents stick together against the provider.

Parents...in order for you to FULLY understand the concept you first must place yourself in the childcare provider's place! She / he works longer hours than most employees without a break!! She / he deals with far more stress than most employees. I can not even begin to explain what they go through on a daily basis..and not just the everyday stuff the little ones put them through!! Some parents can be more demanding and higher maintenance than any 3 year old I have met!! Providers try to please everyone..however their first priority is with themselves and their family!!!!!! Just as you would do yourself I am sure!!

They need these vacations to spend QUALITY time with their own. Time when no one else's child is sharing this time.

Now for the money aspect..first Holidays,personal and sick. Last I checked..if you work full time you get personal and sick pay. Some do not and I understand this..however this is usually if they are temp or part time employees. I have yet to meet a client that worked full time perm...without these days off paid!! The person taking care of your precious gem...not only deserves this time off...but NEEDS it.

Vacations: Here is the tricky one....I know it is hard to swallow paying for child care when not used...I get it...I paid for my own...at least 12 weeks out of the year that were NOT used!!! But...I paid it because I CHOSE the place and that was part of the contract. I wanted my kids to experience preschool, knowing my parents took them a week each month.
When I first started my business I did not have in my contract for time off except unexpected days. One of my dear clients told me I DESERVE it...and should have at least one week off WITH pay. A parent paying for day care told me this!!! Her thought..I get paid vacation, why shouldn't you???

If it is part of the contract and you questioned it during the interview as well...you really can NOT complain about it later!!! READ your contract before signing. If you do not like the policies in place...check out other places. However in the majority of HOME day cares you will find you have to pay for this time. If this is a major issue, then maybe you should consider a center. But do note that centers ALSO have days off paid!!!

I have my vacations posted 6 months or more in advance...the majority of my clients take the same time off as me...the others are usually the ones that complain. "I do not have any time off left, we took ours last month!" As a provider I do not feel sorry...all vacations / holidays I bring up during the interview, they are posted WELL in advance and any changes are discussed with all clients first before making final change. Point they have to pay for it..is also discussed, posted and in their contract as well as hand book. No excuses here!!

Point of this: READ everything - ask questions before you enroll your child. Do not enroll = then complain or give the poor provider grief when the topic comes up.

Where you place your child for care is 100% YOUR choice!!! We do not choose you...so choose wisely for what works for you!!!

Black cat - personal experience highlighted as well as in the very first paragraph I said providers usually stick together..in other words not ALL providers agree...I also said 50% of parents..meaning not ALL parents feel the opposite. So I was not generalizing all to be the same.

I did not want it to be another debate..I was merely pointing out facts for those providers that DO charge for these things. And the ones that do..generally (meaning not all) feel the same way.

[B Lou]

As I am one of those providers that does not charge for vacations or holiday's, I would agree with both of you on one point or another.

I agree that parents need to read everything carefully and understand before signing any thing.

But I went into this business so that I could be my own boss. I choose my parents as well. I want it to be a good fit for everyone not just the parent. Any one that knows me on here knows I work very very long hours. I wouldn't say more then most, but long. I run my daycare as a true family setting. My whole family has been a part of my DC since the day I opened my doors. Even to this day, now that my own children have grown and moved out. They still come by to visit with the DCK. I keep DCK over the weekend if needed. They are all treated like they are a part of our family. So more stressful than any other job. Not in my case. I love my job and chose it for that reason. Just like any other job, if I didn't like it then I would find a new one.

I chose to be self employed. Therefor I do not feel comfortable charging for times I'm not open. That's the disadvantage of having your own business.

If you feel that your parents aren't a good fit then I would suggest it might be time to think about getting new ones.

Not really sure who this post was meant for, but as a parent if I was to read this I would feel that all daycare providers felt this.

I would hope that parents would realize that all providers do what work us us and not all the same.

[Meeko]

I say each to his/her own on this topic.

I get paid for the federal holidays, but I do not charge if I take any extra days off.

But if a provider wants to take
6 months of the year as paid vacation,
all paid holidays
and 6 weeks sick pay days,
work from noon to three each day
with $20 a minute late fees
(yes I know that's all stupid, but I'm trying to make a point here)

...... and THE PARENT SIGNS THE CONTRACT then they can't gripe about it later.

Last time I checked, providers weren't physically forcing parents to sign up.

[Countrygal]

I started out having paid holidays in my handbook, but I was not charging. I recently amended my handbook to a 1-week pd vaca and 3 pd holidays, only if they fall on a weekday.

One statement I took exception to was that anyone who works full time has paid benefits. I have only worked one job with any benefits in 10 years. I have been in retail and food service. Almost every job I had did not have benefits. I have a bachelor's degree, but chose to stay home to raise my children, and by the time they were gone my degree wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. So I ended up in retail. I have even had retail management jobs with no benefits!!! (OK, I'm exaggerating - we had three paid holidays - Christmas, New Years and Easter at one job). I live in a very rural area where businesses are still family owned. They do not provide benefits. I'm just saying there are millions of full-time employed people who do not have benefits, including health insurance. In my tri-county area alone there are thousands. Many people I know who work full time have no benefits.

So, just saying.....

[jokalima]

A year ago when I started my DC I was so afraid of even mentioning time off, sick or appointment. Now is different, I do feel that working 11-12 hours a day plus weekends makes me deserve vacation time off and I feel I do need it. not necessarily I want people to feel sorry for me, but I do work hard and I know I chose this and because I did I know what I need in order to be rested and take good care of the kids. Right now I don't charge for vac time but I will, I think I will start with maybe one paid week a year and then go from there but the reason is I DESERVE it, does not matter if the parents complaint or not I deserve it, I deserve it, I deserve it. I do compare, but not with parents because I know like blackcat says is not fair because all parents don't get time off paid, but I do compare to centers, why would I be any different? The center I worked in used to close 2 weeks for vacation, holidays and around 2-3 days in august for workshops, no parents complained, all kept coming back, the center did not help them find back up care, it was the way it was and that was it.