Charging on Holidays

[Unregistered]

You guys have taken this away from the original question. The question is holidays and the daycare CHOOSING to be closed those days. I don't get paid holidays so that point is nul and void. Not everyone gets them. What makes daycare so special that you get them? So I am now out the money for daycare and I am forced to not work which I am now also out that money. If my store closes due to in-climate weather I do not get paid. I can understand why daycare does for this reason though as it is noones fault that you were forced to close. However your CHOICE to be closed on a holiday is just that your CHOICE not to render a service causing me to have to not work and not get paid. I still have ALL the same bills while the daycare does not yet they still get paid. You are all taking this point and saying that why shouldn't I get a paid holiday when everyone else does? That is such a false statement it pisses me off. I don't know ANYONE that gets paid for 2 days on thanksgiving, 3 days on xmas and 2 days for new years! NO ONE! Teachers are the exception as they get all kinds of holidays off but I would be willing to bet that the higher majority of working americans DO NOT get that many paid holidays and you are putting a terrible hardship on the parents when you are closed forcing them to either double pay for child care or miss work all together. My gripe is only about the holiday part.

I know if I miss a day of work i don't get paid. Why do you? If you want xmas paid fine. If you want thanksgiving paid fine. But WHY THE DAYS AFTER?? Also my daycare goes one step higher to really screw over parents. If the holiday happens to fall on sat they close on friday, If it falls on sun they close MON!!! HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE!!!

[momofsix]

Let me tell u....chances are your "provider" is not certified. Anyone who has gone through state or military certification would not be that flexable. Maybe you should find someone who is certified and knows what they are doing with your child. Nothing annoys me more then someone looking for the best "deal" for childcare. It shouldn't be about the money when your looking for someone that is going to care for your children more in a day then the parent does. It should be based upon credentials, certification, years experience as well as any refrences they may have. Please people don't choose on money along, cheapest is NEVER best! Said from someone with 13 years of experience who has had many people drive out of their way to my home to keep their kids here, and to have peace of mind when going to work that their baby will be very well taken care of.

Wow I'm a licensed provider. I've been doing child care for 21 years. I don't charge when the kids aren't here. It's just the way I choose do do it.
That's not why people choose me for their provider-I have an awesome reputation, but I have had parents tell me that they do appreciate the fact that they don't HAVE to pay when their child isn't here. (sometimes they pay anyhow-but it's voluntary.)

Having said that, if a parent signs a contract agreeing to pay for holidays and days the center is closed then they should pay up and stop complaining.
They agreed to it when they signed the contract.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

You guys have taken this away from the original question. The question is holidays and the daycare CHOOSING to be closed those days. I don't get paid holidays so that point is nul and void. Not everyone gets them. What makes daycare so special that you get them? So I am now out the money for daycare and I am forced to not work which I am now also out that money. If my store closes due to in-climate weather I do not get paid. I can understand why daycare does for this reason though as it is noones fault that you were forced to close. However your CHOICE to be closed on a holiday is just that your CHOICE not to render a service causing me to have to not work and not get paid. I still have ALL the same bills while the daycare does not yet they still get paid. You are all taking this point and saying that why shouldn't I get a paid holiday when everyone else does? That is such a false statement it pisses me off. I don't know ANYONE that gets paid for 2 days on thanksgiving, 3 days on xmas and 2 days for new years! NO ONE! Teachers are the exception as they get all kinds of holidays off but I would be willing to bet that the higher majority of working americans DO NOT get that many paid holidays and you are putting a terrible hardship on the parents when you are closed forcing them to either double pay for child care or miss work all together. My gripe is only about the holiday part.

I know if I miss a day of work i don't get paid. Why do you? If you want xmas paid fine. If you want thanksgiving paid fine. But WHY THE DAYS AFTER?? Also my daycare goes one step higher to really screw over parents. If the holiday happens to fall on sat they close on friday, If it falls on sun they close MON!!! HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE!!!

Your bitterness and rage over these matters make me sad. Life is too short.

Providers do not have policies and paid holidays in order to screw over the parents nor do they sit around thinking about how they can "really screw over parents."

[Country Kids]

You guys have taken this away from the original question. The question is holidays and the daycare CHOOSING to be closed those days. I don't get paid holidays so that point is nul and void. Not everyone gets them. What makes daycare so special that you get them? So I am now out the money for daycare and I am forced to not work which I am now also out that money. If my store closes due to in-climate weather I do not get paid. I can understand why daycare does for this reason though as it is noones fault that you were forced to close. However your CHOICE to be closed on a holiday is just that your CHOICE not to render a service causing me to have to not work and not get paid. I still have ALL the same bills while the daycare does not yet they still get paid. You are all taking this point and saying that why shouldn't I get a paid holiday when everyone else does? That is such a false statement it pisses me off. I don't know ANYONE that gets paid for 2 days on thanksgiving, 3 days on xmas and 2 days for new years! NO ONE! Teachers are the exception as they get all kinds of holidays off but I would be willing to bet that the higher majority of working americans DO NOT get that many paid holidays and you are putting a terrible hardship on the parents when you are closed forcing them to either double pay for child care or miss work all together. My gripe is only about the holiday part.

I know if I miss a day of work i don't get paid. Why do you? If you want xmas paid fine. If you want thanksgiving paid fine. But WHY THE DAYS AFTER?? Also my daycare goes one step higher to really screw over parents. If the holiday happens to fall on sat they close on friday, If it falls on sun they close MON!!! HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE!!!

I have 12 children I watch-11 Families

All but 1 family will have the day after Veterans day off-November 12. The actual holiday is Sunday November 11 but it will be observed on MONDAY November 12.

Oh, did I mention they will all be paid for it-

[Blackcat31]

You guys have taken this away from the original question. The question is holidays and the daycare CHOOSING to be closed those days. I don't get paid holidays so that point is nul and void. Not everyone gets them. What makes daycare so special that you get them? So I am now out the money for daycare and I am forced to not work which I am now also out that money. If my store closes due to in-climate weather I do not get paid. I can understand why daycare does for this reason though as it is noones fault that you were forced to close. However your CHOICE to be closed on a holiday is just that your CHOICE not to render a service causing me to have to not work and not get paid. I still have ALL the same bills while the daycare does not yet they still get paid. You are all taking this point and saying that why shouldn't I get a paid holiday when everyone else does? That is such a false statement it pisses me off. I don't know ANYONE that gets paid for 2 days on thanksgiving, 3 days on xmas and 2 days for new years! NO ONE! Teachers are the exception as they get all kinds of holidays off but I would be willing to bet that the higher majority of working americans DO NOT get that many paid holidays and you are putting a terrible hardship on the parents when you are closed forcing them to either double pay for child care or miss work all together. My gripe is only about the holiday part.

I know if I miss a day of work i don't get paid. Why do you? If you want xmas paid fine. If you want thanksgiving paid fine. But WHY THE DAYS AFTER?? Also my daycare goes one step higher to really screw over parents. If the holiday happens to fall on sat they close on friday, If it falls on sun they close MON!!! HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE!!!

Daycares are privately owned businesses. They are free to set or make any policy/rule they would like.

You are also free to make a choice. You can choose to use whatever daycare you wish to use.

No one forces you to sign or agree to anything.

If you don't like having to pay for a providers holidays or days off, then find one that doesn't charge for those things.

It REALLY is that simple.

[Unregistered]

Because our employer pays us

Yes it is legal.
Why should you get paid for holidays and not us?

Daycare employees should get paid for holiday leave....by their boss, by the owner. I pay the owner, the owner pays his/her empoyees. I wouldnt pay for a pair of pants that wasnt available and that i wasnt receiving. If you want parents to pay you on federal holidays then offer a service to be paid for. I'm tired of hearing about "we have bills". yes and as a businiess that sells daycare you should be paid for providing daycare, not for not providing daycare. That's ridiculous. Why are you entitled to my money that i work for when you arent working?

[Crystal]

I understand the parent's complaints about having to pay for child care when they are not using it, really I do. However, I also understand the providers' side of this.

As a provider who DOES charge for holidays, as well as a week of vacation and four floating holidays of my choice, I must say that in 16 years I have never been questioned about it. Here is why:

I provide a very high quality program, spending a significant amount of my "income" on my program, (MUCH more than I do on myself or family)

I work 12+ hours per day (up at 5:00, working in the playroom preparing for the days activities and cleaning the restrooms, mopping floors, etc. by 5:30, open doors at 7:00-sometimes earlier if needed - for FREE- work until 5:30-6:00-sometimes later if needed-for free - then clean up and shut down until 6:30-7:00) I don't get paid overtime.

I NEVER take a sick day, (really, 3 in 16 years and those were major emergencies)

I provde mildly ill child care - so if your child has a virus that most providers would require her to stay home for AND charge you for it, they can stay with me so you don't miss work (this is provided in another area, away from well children)

I offer alot of "extras" for my families, such as I do not charge late fees if a parent calls and says they are running a little late to pick up (who works late without getting paid for it? Providers do) open early if needed, plan weekend outings with families that I pay for, etc.

I charge less than the average rate for my area and do not charge more for infants just because they are infants.

I spend upwards of 600+ hours per year participating in training and school so that I can be the BEST provider for your children....time taken away from my own family and money as well, because no one else pays for my education. Many of my Saturdays and Sundays (two weekends per month) I am in school from 9-5

I am very active in the child care community, advocate for parents and children and provide resources for my families that they otherwise would not know about.

I am SUPER dependable.....my parents KNOW that if they are scheduled to be here, I will, without fail, be here and be READY for their children.

I could go on and on and on.....but my point is MANY (and I dare say most here) do all of the same things I do, and we do it with a SMILE, because we love your children and we love our work. All we ask for in return is a little respect, a timely "paycheck" and a few measley holidays off to spend with our own families.

I am very privileged to have the families I have. They VALUE having me as their provider, and the HAPPILY pay me for extra days off AND give me GREAT Holiday Bonuses as well! If they treated me with the disdain that some of the parents here have expressed, well, they'd be losing out on a great thing, because I would absolutley REFUSE to work with a parent who did not value my work with their children enough to pay for a few holiday closures.

[daycare]

Crystal very well said

I have my prices built into the days off. I have a flat monthly fee. There is no discount for these days, unless you want to pay me more money out of pocket each month, I take away all of your paid days off and I charge you a flat weekly rate instead.

MV- also another great way to look at it..

I tell families when they interview that it's much like paying to rent a home. The landlord does not discount your rent if you decide to go on vacation for a few days, the rent is due in full if you were in your home one day or 30 days. If you want to have your home to come back to when you are gone, you need to secure it with on time payments.

I really don't see why any one would argue this?? Really is having a few paid days off a year so bad to give to the people who take care of your pride and JOY?? It's not like I'm watching your gold fish.........................

[Blackcat31]

[daycare]

I think I pee my pants laughing!!!!!!!!!!

[MyAngels]

I'm always reminded of this whenever this thread pops up again....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz6OGVCdov8

[MamaBearCanada]

Daycare employees should get paid for holiday leave....by their boss, by the owner. I pay the owner, the owner pays his/her empoyees. I wouldnt pay for a pair of pants that wasnt available and that i wasnt receiving. If you want parents to pay you on federal holidays then offer a service to be paid for. I'm tired of hearing about "we have bills". yes and as a businiess that sells daycare you should be paid for providing daycare, not for not providing daycare. That's ridiculous. Why are you entitled to my money that i work for when you arent working?

A lot of us are our own boss and the owner with no employees. You agree that workers should get paid for holidays, so there are 2 ways this happens:

1. We charge for those days as paid holidays
2. We close "unpaid" but average out the cost of those days over the other days to increase the daily rate when we are open.
Either way over the course of a year you would have paid the same amount.

If you don't like it - don't sign a contract agreeing to it. Choose somewhere else. No-one is forcing you to do something you don't want to do.

A pair of pants is a retail not service industry example. We provide a service based upon a yearly or monthly service not daily contract that is why holidays are included - like a gym membership. If you want daily service so you don't have to pay for holidays be prepared to pay the higher daily rate... Which is really version 2 of the above example.

[Country Kids]

Daycare employees should get paid for holiday leave....by their boss, by the owner. I pay the owner, the owner pays his/her empoyees. I wouldnt pay for a pair of pants that wasnt available and that i wasnt receiving. If you want parents to pay you on federal holidays then offer a service to be paid for. I'm tired of hearing about "we have bills". yes and as a businiess that sells daycare you should be paid for providing daycare, not for not providing daycare. That's ridiculous. Why are you entitled to my money that i work for when you arent working?

I'm self employed so I am the boss. So you pay me and I pay myself if you want to look at it that way.

Are you in a job with holiday/vacation pay? Why should your boss pay you, when you aren't working? Same concept as us.

Any job that has holiday pay has a boss that is paying workers to have the day off. Its really not unheard of or a new concept in the working industry.

[Blackcat31]

First...I think providers should STOP trying to reason with people who do not agree that we should charge for holidays or vacation time.

If parents do not want to pay the person who cares for their child for holidays/vacation time when daycare closed then they don't have to.

There are plenty of providers out there that don't charge for those things.

I also am having issue with providers who are using the "Well my parents get paid vacation time or paid holidays, then so should I/we" explanation.

Yeah, well Billy got a cupcake and I didn't ....same thing!!!
Using that logic to defend your policies is not at all professional IMPO.

Honestly...who care who gets paid what and when....NOT our business any more than it is the parents business as to why we have the policies we have.

Bottom line is find a provider who has policies you can abide by and policies that work for you, your child and your family.

If you spend any amount of time on this board you can see there are hundreds of providers here who ALL do things differently than the others.

FIND ONE WHO WORKS FOR YOU AND STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT FAIRNESS!!!! LIFE IS NOT FAIR....DON'T SIGN ON WITH A PROGRAM YOU DON'T AGREE WITH!!!

It really is that simple!!

[Meeko]

Good grief...some parents never fail to amaze me with their cheapness.

They want the best car they can afford. They want the best house they can afford. They want the biggest, best TV they can afford.

Then...they want the cheapest day care they can possibly find.

They expect great care for a cheap price. They expect "special" treatment of their little angel. They expect their provider to be up at dawn and to be cheerful all day. Day and in and day out. She is to be kind and courteous. She is to be happy and gentle. She is expected to put up with lateness, rudeness, and being taken for granted by her clients.

And she is to do all this without a paid break? She is never to burn out? Never get tired? Never take a break she can actually afford? She is to be available constantly?

These parents whine and moan about giving the person who loves and cares for their child even one day's paid leave.

Yet they pay their gym membership each month, whether they use it daily or not. They pay their cable bill, whether they watch TV daily or not. They pay their mortgage or rent even though they aren't in the home 24/7. They pay their car payment even if they don't drive it. They pay their internet bill even if they don't turn on the computer once during the whole month.

They do it willingly for those things....but not for the person they should have the most gratitude and respect for. The one taking care of their child. The one who has the ENORMOUS responsibility of caring for that child for more hours than the parent does. The one who is shaping their child and teaching them life skills. The one who feeds them well and hugs and loves them.

Yet she doesn't deserve a paid day off?

These same parents will tip their hair stylist, tip their waiter, tip their mail carrier etc etc.....yet feel their day care provider doesn't deserve diddly.

These same parents would be upset if their own boss made snide comments about giving them a few paid holidays....and did his best to make them feel guilty for having any time off at all.

I do this job because I love children and I love being home with my own family.

I SOOOO wish I could do it without some of the parents.

I am lucky enough to have some wonderful clients.

I take some paid time off and some unpaid too. I have clients who INSIST on paying me for the unpaid ones too because they want me to know how much they appreciate me.

Then there's the others who feel I should be open Christmas Day if they want me to be and I'm such a burden to them because they have to pay for that day.

Makes me sad there are so many ungrateful people in the world.