Provider's PAID Vacation?

[bklsmum]

Myself, I think that charging a customer for a service that is not being provided is blasphemy. I myself own two businesses, one with 40 employees, so I hope that my opinion is taken into consideration.

My employees get vacation time, yes, it is an EMPLOYEE BENIFIT. But do I charge my customers to pay for my employees to go on vacation? Of course not!! This is an overhead cost to running a business. As a business owner, I am stuck with overhead costs.

As a dayhome, these people are running their own business. This cost should be their overhead as well. If they want to pay themselves during their vacation time, it should come out of their profit margins just like every other business out there. A business is a business, you provide a good or service. Charging customers for a service that isn't being provided is NOT RIGHT. It is poor business and, in my opinion, theft. Anyone in their right mind who signs a contract agreeing to this term is an idiot.

Most businesses pass their overhead costs onto their customers. What is the difference between charging for the actual week the provider is one vacation or the cost being split up and added to the actually attended weeks?

[MissAnn]

Myself, I think that charging a customer for a service that is not being provided is blasphemy. I myself own two businesses, one with 40 employees, so I hope that my opinion is taken into consideration.

My employees get vacation time, yes, it is an EMPLOYEE BENIFIT. But do I charge my customers to pay for my employees to go on vacation? Of course not!! This is an overhead cost to running a business. As a business owner, I am stuck with overhead costs.

As a dayhome, these people are running their own business. This cost should be their overhead as well. If they want to pay themselves during their vacation time, it should come out of their profit margins just like every other business out there. A business is a business, you provide a good or service. Charging customers for a service that isn't being provided is NOT RIGHT. It is poor business and, in my opinion, theft. Anyone in their right mind who signs a contract agreeing to this term is an idiot.

blasphemy and theft....idiots? That's funny, unregistered. You might have too much time on your hands. A hobby perhaps?

[Josiegirl]

Well gee, maybe if dcproviders didn't get dirt cheap pay for their services their profit margin might be high enough to save a little bit towards a vacation or just a week off. I don't get sick pay, or vacation pay, I get about 5 paid holidays, I have to be here for the 1st child to arrive until the last child leaves. I don't get to 'duck out' of work for a few minutes for a dental appt., dr. appt., to drop my car off at the mechanic, etc., etc. Most of us work 10-11 hr. days, plus plan dc meals, shop for dc meals, clean dc area, keep up with dc paperwork, attend dc workshops, conferences, are part of local dc networks. We have to abide by certain regulations the state expects; certain ways of cleaning, running our dcs a certain way, keeping up with loads of paperwork paperwork paperwork, tolerating parents and inspectors in our homes all the time, having dc insurance, keeping our homes safe, trying to please parents without compromising everything else we're trying to do....all while trying to earn minimum wage or if we're lucky a little bit more. In fact, out of my meager earnings comes toys, equipment, craft supplies, repairs(usually because of damage done by dcks). Oh wait, I could've taken a week's vacation last summer but that would've meant I couldn't have afforded the mulch on my playground to protect the dcks. Thinking about it all, maybe we should have the state regulate our vacations, I'll bet they'd agree we need them and should get them paid!!

The general person has no clue whatsoever, what we spend to stay in business. Tax write-off? Oh sure, but damn, we still have to find that $500 for mulch. So where does it come from? Either the little magic dc fairy or wait, that's right, I didn't get a vacation last year. Now that I think about it, nor did I get one the year before. And the year before that? I did take 2 days when my dad died. Not paid.

Don't ever talk to me about the injustice of paying your cherished provider, the carer of your beloved children a week's pay because s/he needs a break. Care-giving is a hard job, a draining exhausting job. A prime job where burn-out can easily happen. Do you want someone caring for your child, who is burnt to a crisp? Or fresh and fun, their morale has returned because the dcf's have helped them enjoy a measly week off out of 52 of them.

Even with state paid kids, we get to have 10 paid days off a year. I don't take them all. I don't need to because I'm not closed that many.

Most(I'm certainly not saying all) families see more importance in giving their 1 yo a huge birthday party costing easily a couple hundred bucks, buying baby Reeboks, or eating out a couple nights a week, or having the most expensive iphone, car, boat, fill in the damn blank, rather than paying 1 week for their provider to take a breather??

And then yeh, there's always reading the contract before you sign it.

[Leigh]

Myself, I think that charging a customer for a service that is not being provided is blasphemy. I myself own two businesses, one with 40 employees, so I hope that my opinion is taken into consideration.

My employees get vacation time, yes, it is an EMPLOYEE BENIFIT. But do I charge my customers to pay for my employees to go on vacation? Of course not!! This is an overhead cost to running a business. As a business owner, I am stuck with overhead costs.

As a dayhome, these people are running their own business. This cost should be their overhead as well. If they want to pay themselves during their vacation time, it should come out of their profit margins just like every other business out there. A business is a business, you provide a good or service. Charging customers for a service that isn't being provided is NOT RIGHT. It is poor business and, in my opinion, theft. Anyone in their right mind who signs a contract agreeing to this term is an idiot.

Profit margin? There are plenty of daycare providers who make NO profit at all. They don't have the guts to charge what they are worth or what they need.

I charge by the year. I let my clients pay weekly or monthly. I don't discount for my days off. Do I get a rebate on my storage shed if it is empty? Do I get to not pay for the gym membership on days that I don't use it? I could go on and on. There is nothing wrong with charging for days off, ESPECIALLY when you and your client agree on it before entering into a contract that the client signs. I HAPPILY paid my daycare provider for days off-she earned it, just as I do now. The last thing any parent needs is a burned out daycare provider who can't afford to take a day off to recharge, IMO.

[Unregistered]

One of the earlier posters stated to think about it that we as parents get paid by our employers for vacation so providers should be afforded the same benefit. Here is the difference. Providers are not our employees or employers. I have read countless times on this board that childcare providers are their own boss. They are a service provider. When my maid, landscaper, dog walker or hairdresser go on vacation I don't pay them their normal fees for the week. I either skip that service for the week or I use someone else and pay them their fee.

[Blackcat31]

One of the earlier posters stated to think about it that we as parents get paid by our employers for vacation so providers should be afforded the same benefit. Here is the difference. Providers are not our employees or employers. I have read countless times on this board that childcare providers are their own boss. They are a service provider. When my maid, landscaper, dog walker or hairdresser go on vacation I don't pay them their normal fees for the week. I either skip that service for the week or I use someone else and pay them their fee.

I'd have no issues letting you skip paying me for the week if you paid me half as much as you did your maid, landscaper, dog walker or hair dresser.

[Meyou]

One of the earlier posters stated to think about it that we as parents get paid by our employers for vacation so providers should be afforded the same benefit. Here is the difference. Providers are not our employees or employers. I have read countless times on this board that childcare providers are their own boss. They are a service provider. When my maid, landscaper, dog walker or hairdresser go on vacation I don't pay them their normal fees for the week. I either skip that service for the week or I use someone else and pay them their fee.

With most child care providers you are signing a contract agreeing to their terms. Once you sign you lose your right to complain about the content of the contract. Read carefully and don't sign if you don't like what you're reading. If you don't want to pay for vacation then use a provider, dog walker, maid or landscaper with those terms.

On a side note...someone with a landscaper, dog walker and maid can probably afford to pay their babysitter for her vacation.

[Annalee]

I'd have no issues letting you skip paying me for the week if you paid me half as much as you did your maid, landscaper, dog walker or hair dresser.

::::AMEN TO THIS! ::::

[saved4always]

One of the earlier posters stated to think about it that we as parents get paid by our employers for vacation so providers should be afforded the same benefit. Here is the difference. Providers are not our employees or employers. I have read countless times on this board that childcare providers are their own boss. They are a service provider. When my maid, landscaper, dog walker or hairdresser go on vacation I don't pay them their normal fees for the week. I either skip that service for the week or I use someone else and pay them their fee.

If it is in their contract and you sign it (AGREEING to it by SIGNING it), you sure do pay them what you agreed to!

It is always enlightening to hear complaints about paying for daycare from people who can afford maids, landscapers, and dog walkers. Totally love what Blackcat said above. When I provided childcare, I made $25 for an 8.5+ hour DAY to watch a child. I probably would have made a better living per hour in one of those other services since it seems people are willing to pay more for those luxuries than they are for the care of their CHILD.

[PhotogMum]

I personally cannot believe how worked up parents get about paying their provider's vacation pay. Your DCP cares for your child(den) every day, in many cases they spend more waking hours with your kids then you do! They are so important in your child's life and they deserve paid vacation.

[Unregistered]

Myself, I think that charging a customer for a service that is not being provided is blasphemy. I myself own two businesses, one with 40 employees, so I hope that my opinion is taken into consideration.

My employees get vacation time, yes, it is an EMPLOYEE BENIFIT. But do I charge my customers to pay for my employees to go on vacation? Of course not!! This is an overhead cost to running a business. As a business owner, I am stuck with overhead costs.

As a dayhome, these people are running their own business. This cost should be their overhead as well. If they want to pay themselves during their vacation time, it should come out of their profit margins just like every other business out there. A business is a business, you provide a good or service. Charging customers for a service that isn't being provided is NOT RIGHT. It is poor business and, in my opinion, theft. Anyone in their right mind who signs a contract agreeing to this term is an idiot.

I am just laughing OUT LOUD!

Gym memberships, massage montly fee programs, cable companies, AND MORE: they all charge you for a flat premium that most likely, they know you won't use all of the benefit. They KNOW people sign up thinking "Oh yeah, I'll need to use this" (especially gym membership) and then they don't go. these companies make money off services they don't provide, and KNOW they are unlikely to provide the amount of service they charge for. The bottom line? If the consumer signs the contract, it's a fair practice and the consumer has to pay. Or else? They lose their ability to use the service and get sent to collections or court. Consumers don't like that? They shouldn't sign the dotted line!!!

[Unregistered]

Also think about if you took a weeks vacation and stayed in a hotel with your family. Would you call your landlord/bank and ask to not pay that weeks rent/mortgage since you weren't there and had to pay someone else?

Uh, have to disagree there. A mortgage payment for a home that is yours and that will be there when you return is a tad different then paying someone that has not performed a service.

I completely understand that the providers need their time, but this is the line of work they chose, and getting "paid" vacations when you work for a company or state or any other line of work that pays their employees benefits is different from a daycare.

Daycare is expensive as it is, I wouldn't pay a landscape company when they take vacations and don't mow my lawn? I don't pay my paper boy vacations or pay for a newspaper that I wouldn't receive? Do you pay your mechanic if he doesn't fix your car? People work for many places that DO NOT provide benefits, and that is the breaks, I worked for a restaurant they did not pay anything! But I made tips so that was the offset. A daycare is a service of caring for your child, and in my opinion if you are not performing that service than why should you get paid for it?

I can understand the other way around if the parent takes the vacation they must pay. That I get, but if that's the case than why doesn't the parent pay for the daycare providers insurance too?? That's because as a SELF EMPLOYED person you are faced with that. For example you are self employed as a house cleaner, do the homeowners pay for your vacations when you won't be cleaning their home? My very good friend owned her own floral store and so that makes her a self employed individual, I never heard of people having to pay for her vacation?

I understand that the providers need breaks, we all need breaks, of course. But home daycare is a business they chose, concerns of benefits and paid vacations are reasons why self employed people decide to work for someone/company that can afford to provide employees with these benefits. Parents are usually struggling as it is to pay daycare so charging them when you are not performing a service I feel is not so fair. As I said, if we are to pay your vacations then why are we not paying your healthcare or other benefits?

That is why I work for a company that provides these benefits to me. But maybe I should go in to the daycare business.

[Unregistered]

And also, paying for a gym membership when you don't go, is not even the same thing. If you don't go, then it's your fault that you don't utilize your gym membership. Let's compare apples to apples. My gym doesn't close for 2 weeks out of the year either or every single holiday they can.

I realize that this can be looked at from different angles but as a parent that pays for a home daycare I am obviously stating my side. You can't assume that everyone that pays for daycare is rolling in the dough like some people are, and can afford to pay for your vacations and then have to pay someone else to watch their child while you are on vacation. Just doesn't seem fair. As I said if someone was mowing my lawn every week in the summer, and he was going on vacation with his family, I wouldn't be paying him and then paying someone else to mow it at the same time?

I'm not comparing my child to a lawn or any other commercial service and I am happy with my home daycare but I just find it unfair because not getting a paid vacation is the downside to being self employed. Along with having to pay taxes to be self employed, license fees, health insurance, dental etc etc.

[saved4always]

Uh, have to disagree there. A mortgage payment for a home that is yours and that will be there when you return is a tad different then paying someone that has not performed a service.

I completely understand that the providers need their time, but this is the line of work they chose, and getting "paid" vacations when you work for a company or state or any other line of work that pays their employees benefits is different from a daycare.

Daycare is expensive as it is, I wouldn't pay a landscape company when they take vacations and don't mow my lawn? I don't pay my paper boy vacations or pay for a newspaper that I wouldn't receive? Do you pay your mechanic if he doesn't fix your car? People work for many places that DO NOT provide benefits, and that is the breaks, I worked for a restaurant they did not pay anything! But I made tips so that was the offset. A daycare is a service of caring for your child, and in my opinion if you are not performing that service than why should you get paid for it?

I can understand the other way around if the parent takes the vacation they must pay. That I get, but if that's the case than why doesn't the parent pay for the daycare providers insurance too?? That's because as a SELF EMPLOYED person you are faced with that. For example you are self employed as a house cleaner, do the homeowners pay for your vacations when you won't be cleaning their home? My very good friend owned her own floral store and so that makes her a self employed individual, I never heard of people having to pay for her vacation?

I understand that the providers need breaks, we all need breaks, of course. But home daycare is a business they chose, concerns of benefits and paid vacations are reasons why self employed people decide to work for someone/company that can afford to provide employees with these benefits. Parents are usually struggling as it is to pay daycare so charging them when you are not performing a service I feel is not so fair. As I said, if we are to pay your vacations then why are we not paying your healthcare or other benefits?

That is why I work for a company that provides these benefits to me. But maybe I should go in to the daycare business.

I think you miss the point that, if a parent signs an agreement that includes paying for the provider's vacation, the parent has to abide by the agreement. I personally did not charge for any time I had off when I provided childcare in my home. That was MY choice in how I ran MY business and how I handled the fees I set. My contract spelled out that the parents did not pay when I had vacation. Other providers DO include payment for vacations in their contracts. That is their choice and obviously plenty of parents accept that since the majority of providers on this forum appear to charge that way. If you sign it, you need to follow it. Just like you abide by a landscaper's contract that spells out the fees they charge and what they will provide or a gyms membership contract.

[craftymissbeth]

I think you miss the point that, if a parent signs an agreement that includes paying for the provider's vacation, the parent has to abide by the agreement. I personally did not charge for any time I had off when I provided childcare in my home. That was MY choice in how I ran MY business and how I handled the fees I set. My contract spelled out that the parents did not pay when I had vacation. Other providers DO include payment for vacations in their contracts. That is their choice and obviously plenty of parents accept that since the majority of providers on this forum appear to charge that way. If you sign it, you need to follow it. Just like you abide by a landscaper's contract that spells out the fees they charge and what they will provide or a gyms membership contract.

I don't charge for when I'm closed for any reason, but if that's something that really bothers a parent then there are other child care options. Find a different daycare with policies you agree with, hire a nanny, become a stay at home parent, etc.