Help please! Have a parent due in the morning

[Starr870]

I have a parent coming in the morning. Basically she is a young single mum who is going back to college to re-train. I think the government will be paying for her childcare. She wants me to care for her 2 year old boy for two and a half days a week whilst she is at college. This will be for at least a year and will only be term time. Given that the government will be paying her childcare what do I say to her about keeping his place in the holidays i.e. the place needs paying for even if she isn't at college and doesn't need me to look after him. She won't be able to afford to pay it and I guess the government won't pay for the place to be kept open. So what do I do???????????? Please help!!!! xx :panic:

[sweets]

im not 100% sure but yes i think college will pay you during the hols as well.

good luck with the meeting :)

[karensmart4]

This is called 'care to learn' the college pays.

They send you a form and you put your fees on there, they will pay up to £4.75 per hr and there is a space on the form that mentions holiday time and retainers.

I suggest you charge at least 75% retainer and you charge a little over your normal fees as they are notorious in late payments :rolleyes:

Its a good scheme when it runs well ;)

[Goatgirl]

Hi,
Don't want to rock the boat, but i had a similar situation last september and it must have been a different scheme, because they weren't going to pay me for the holidays. They would have paid up to £6 an hour though, so I charged a higher rate than normal to make up for the inconvenience, insecurity of being paid in arrears etc.
My parent actually left college without telling me but kept bringing her little girl at random times for a couple of weeks. When I invoiced the college, they woldn't pay any of it, even the day she did attend, because he had left so soon :(.
Just make sure you know about all the financial implications before you commit to anything. If at all possible, get a deposit and make sure you emphasise that the contract is between you and the parent, so she should be aware she will be liable for any fees owing when the contract ends if college don't pay up for any reason.

Hope it works out for you: I know it often does, i was just unlucky :D
bws,
Wendy

[Starr870]

Thank you guys for all your help. I'll now be better prepared for her visit. Let's see what happens! xx :thank you:

[karensmart4]

Good luck for today, hope all goes well :D

Things are different throughout the country, so just take a good look at all the paperwork and talk to the college before you commit :)

Karen

[The Juggler]

there were lots of threads on this last year and I don't think care to learn or college will pay holiday retainers. What someone suggested was work out total annual charges (including holiday pay) then split this amount over the months that they will be paying you so you get paid for the holiday in advance or spread out over the year.

[caz3007]

I had a mum on care to learn and they paid the holidays without me asking. I just put down my hourly rate, had lots of problems with them and wished I had upped the rate a bit

[love381]

I was paid for looking after a little boy a few years back with a college scheme of some sort. They paid for holidays and the form did have a bit for filling in. It needs to be set up with lots of ifs and buts and so on, but it worked well. First payment was late, but rest were fine. x

[singlewiththree]

Has she been? How did it go?

[Starr870]

Hasn't been yet and just called to ask to change appointment to 2pm which is fine with me. Will post an update later! :)

[Starr870]

What rate do you think I should put down? My normal hourly rate is £3.50 per hour plus meals. Oo, do they pay meals? xx

[caz3007]

I do an hourly fee including meals anyway, so if I was you, I would do the same, work out an hourly charge, but definately dont under price yourself. You probably need to know a bit more about the funding, cos if you arent being paid for holidays then you need to add a bit more to your hourly rate