Does the clock start when they arrive or when mum leaves?

[buzzy bee]

I have a new mindee who is paid from 7.45-4.45 but usually arrives 5/10 mins early and mum usually picks him up 5 mins late.

I'm having to get ready by 7.30 every morning just in case he's early.

Mum doesn't usually leave my house until 7.45 so technically I am only having him from then.

Just wondered what you'd do - charge her from 7.30 or leave it as is?

[QualityCare]

I would charge from when mum leaves as its only 5-10 mins she probably needs to leave at 8.45 so that few minutes gives her time to settle the child and say goodbye same at the end of the day saying goodbye, you telling her how the day has been. If the time stretches to over 1/4hr early/late l would say you don't mind the 5/10mins but you will have to charge extra 1/2hr if its any longer.

[mama2three]

For me its when Im 'working'. If a parent wants me to be ready to open the door at 730 then thats when I charge from!
To some degree it depends on the parent and how they are generally with timing , paying etc..but if they do this regularly and also pick up late then id definately be charging!!

[Sunflowers]

I kinda split the difference with my mum who's a tad adhoc in her arrival times!
Officially I have her boy from 8am - 6.30pm
Somemornings she's here at 7.45 others 8.15.... I always charge from 8am
collecting can be anything from 6pm - 6.45... I do pick up to the minute!

find a happy medium... so far none of my parents can actually tell me how many hours their kid has been in my care and do take my bills on trust

[AliceK]

For me its when Im 'working'. If a parent wants me to be ready to open the door at 730 then thats when I charge from!
To some degree it depends on the parent and how they are generally with timing , paying etc..but if they do this regularly and also pick up late then id definately be charging!!

Same here, although I wouldn't be opening the door more than once at that time in the morning. My DS is very good at shouting through the front door that mum's not ready, she'll be there soon :laughing:
I can't stand parents arriving early in the morning to drop-off as I have so much to get done in the mornings I wont be ready.

xxx

[Blaze]

When they arrive!

[Goatgirl]

I charge them by the half hour but don't let them in until contracted time.

I would say that as this is affecting the time you have to be ready by in the morning you should have a word with the parent, guage their reaction and go from there. Does she want to change to 7.30? (and are happy to do that?)

If not, Remind her the contracted time is 7.45 so you expect her to arrive at or just after 7.45. Earlier is not convenient unless pre arranged so that you can plan and charge accordingly. If she wants the same contracted time but continues to arrrive early, either don't answer the door or charge an 'early' fee. I charge £6 for being late or early, plus double the hourly rate in minimum half hour blocks, so at £3.75/hour this would cost one of my parents an extra £9.75 a day. I make a big eal about it at contract time so they do know what they're signing up to and if they'd planned to pay me from 8 but arrive 10 miutes earlier, they have a chance to put it right from the beginning for much less than early fees will cost them!

Once charged they rarely do it again, though I tend to just remind them of the charges the first time they do it.

Hope you work something out; its very annoying and a stressful way to start the day :) Good luck :thumbsup:

best wishes,
Wendy :)

[candy cat]

I charge for contracted hours and my door is not open until that time.... just enough time to slurp my cuppa down before the day starts:)

[kindredspirits]

totally agree - my door opens at contracted times, if they're early on the odd occassion and I am ready then I don't mind, but I certainly wouldn't have mum turning up at 7.30 and then chatting for 15 mins - mornings are precious, as are the extra minutes you KNOW you can stay in bed for if you just want a quick rush uo!! (or maybe thats just me! I have been known to be in bed at 7.05 when my first is due to arrive at 7.30!! ;) )

[uf353432]

see I used to get all stressy about what time they arrive and what time they collect and now in the main I chill my boots. In my head I give parents 15 mins grace to be late, if a parent is early I might on the first time make a little song and dance eating my breakfast in front of them , saying sorry - blimey good job you weren't earlier you'd have caught me in my jim jams. If they are persistently early I may ask if they need to amend the contract to an earlier start time? and hope thats enough of a message that its not on to pitch up that early. I have to say though i'm not really interested in the whole charging them extra for 15 mins here and there - I know that they have to battle through traffic and I also know that at the start of the contract whilst they try and work out the timing of getting to work from your house they might play it safe for the first few days and then get later and later once they are settled in a routine. BUT...its you business though I have to admit the times I have charged for an extra hour here and there I've never felt guilty. I do communicate to parents when they have been reoccuringly late on collection, when I need to by somewhere by a specific time - I ask them to make and extra special effort to collect on time and normall they are a bit earlier when I say that - swings and roundabouts.

[tulip0803]

I have it written into my fees policy that I consider myself to working from the time they arrive until the time that they leave. I also round to the nearest 15 mins in my favour so I would be charging her from 7.30 - 5.00. If they are outside of the contracted hours it's over-time payment too :p . However if their is a good reason then I do not charge overtime rates. One Mum broke down on the motorway and after waiting for RAC, the fixing, the following and rechecking she was 3 hours late.

I only wrote it as I had a persisitent offender!

[Penny1959]

Mine all have max hour contracts

So a full day is 10 hours, so day can be adjusted at begining and end of day PROVIDED THEY TELL ME.

I do not stress about 5 mins here or there and I find the parents over a week always use less hours than they have paid for. parents have to manage morning routines, traffic, the weater, the boss at work, accidents and more so I am not going to add to their stress. Nor do I charge them a late fee.

I do not open the door early if they have not let me know that they will be early.

And if I have to go anywhere - such as meetings / training - I tell the parents that on that night I am not available after such a time. And they know that I will not be messed around and the child must be collected on time.

I find that if you are reasonable and flexible - most parents are grateful and do not take advantage.

And if they do - I review the contract.

Oh and the time in my attendance book - the min they enter my house to the min that I shut the door at the end of day. That way if a parent takes advantage I have the proof of the hours they have been in my setting.

Penny :)

[Milli147]

I would ask her firstly if she would like to change the hours, as you have noticed she always arrives a little earlier than contracted. If she says no then I would point out that she is welcome to arrive 5/10 mins early if she feels she needs the time to settle child, but that you will not be ready to start (or have everything ready) until 7.45.
It all depends on you, and the relationship you have with mum. I would be quite relaxed about her being in the house 5 mins early as long as she understood that she was the one looking after her child at that time, not me, and that I may well still be setting up/eating brekkie!
By making it official and starting her at 7.30 you run the risk of her arriving at 7.15!

[dusky777]

I work 8 til 5 (extra hours on request only)
I clearly state early arrival is not acceptable and lateness will be charged.
I have had to get tough as at least twice a month i have to phone one mindees parents to collect lo....they live a few doors down from me as well.
I have my own children and comitment, swimming, rainbows etc so my time is precious after 5!!

[catswhiskers]

I find this awkward too (early arrival) if you're not expecting it. I'm always the first to get up in the household (hubby sometimes earlier) but the last to get dressed, as three teenagers using the bathroom, etc.

I've just started (4 weeks ago) with a new mindee and it's 3 days.

Contracted hours said 8-5 but then Mum said she might be 7.45am on the Wednesday and 8 on the Thursday and Friday. I said OK not a prob but then she has been turning up past 8 on the Wednesday and 7.50 on the Thurs and Friday!

Those minutes make a difference and I'm going to give it another week to see how it goes and then bring it up with her.

She's also turning up late (half an hour most days) but I charge by the day so it's even more awkward.

[keeks]

My household is pretty hectic (to say the least) in the mornings. I have explained to parents that I am still getting ready during the last 5 minutes before children arrive, so I am not ready to work until their starting time.

Once a mum was 15 minutes early, and I was still in the shower. My 14 year old opened the door and let her in, so when I came out in my towel the mum was right there! I could just as well have walked out without anything on, I usually do! :eek:

She was so embarrassed and has never been too early again. :laughing:

xx

[snufflepuff]

If they are only a couple of minutes early I don't worry about it. 15 minutes or more is too much, time is precious in the morning, so i'd give them the option of either changing their contracted times, or paying my early/ late fee of £5 per 15 minutes. Of course if I wasn't happy to work earlier i'd have to explain to them that they simply cannot be early and I won't be ready for them!