Is this reasonable?

[C&A Childcare]

I work with my mum. We had a little boy start with us 2 weeks ago. His mum has gone to uni and is claiming childcare costs through this (NHS bursary) we had to sign the form as her provider, which my mum did but we didn't take a copy of exactly what it said (will be doing in future!) she had to fill in the part about what her expected childcare costs would be for each week and has received a notice of what entitlement she will get, which is when we realized that she had accidentally claimed for 7 days instead of 5, which I think was a genuine mistake, at the maximum possible hours. The exact hours section of the contract isn't filled in because he's dropped off at different times each day. This didn't bother us because we thought it was going to be a fulltime place.

When she started uni, she found out that she wasn't going to be doing Fridays. Fair enough as she didn't have a timetable before signing with us. It's still 4 days. Then last week she told us that she wouldn't be needing us for the next couple of Thursdays, dropping it to 3 days for last week and this. Now, when I know that she claimed for 7 days and I highly doubt that she has informed them of the change in hours, I don't think that it is unreasonable to charge for a minimum of 20 hours per week. Mum sends him with a diary for us to write the hours that he's here and has worked out that last week was only 14 hours and therefore she should be paying us £49 but when I suggested that actually, this amount would be £70, she sounded disgusted as though it was coming out of her pocket!

The little boy is 2 years old and is taking up a fulltime under 5s place. We're not full at all at the moment but she can't expect us to be free one Thursday and then not the next without pay. I know that we didn't tell her beforehand that we would be doing this but we did think it was going to be more like 30 hours per week. I think she'll struggle to find another childminder who wouldn't do something similar. I'll discuss it further with her tomorrow but what does everyone else think? What would you do?

[mrs robbie williams]

Unless you offer pay as you go childcare (which ive heard some people do but i dont) then i would be charging for a set minimum hours ie 20 hours a week which she pays for even if she doesnt use them and anything over those hours are charged at normal rate or do it for more than 20 if you want to - remember its your business your rules - she has in effect signed up for a full time space in the early years and it is now 3 days - i wouldnt be happy xx

[debh]

I also have a parent at uni just wandering if the uni pay us directly or do they pay parents as I can also forsee problrms.

[blue bear]

I had a uni parent, she paid for a full time place regardless of use as she needed me to keep all the days open as when she went on placement and each term her lectures would change.
you need to explain to this
Aren't she is paying for the places not hours used and you cannot afford not to know what your income will be from one week to another and she risks you giving notice for a child with more reliable hours. Better to book and pay for set hours an dbe sure they will be there when requested.
My parent paid through the holidays too as she did a lot of her course work then

[migimoo]

can you ring the Uni's funding office and see how many hours she's actually claiming for,i'm sure they'd send you a copy of the hours-or ask if they can pay you directly as this is what one of my mum's does?

Mind you the same mum seems to think if child's booked in and the uni are paying 9-3 each day then she can get hubby to drop late at 10 and collect at 4 with no extra charge so will be having words myself.

[Kiddleywinks]

I have a parent that requires 3 days care out of 5 - never knows which days till the week before.

She pays full fees for 3 days and half fees for 2, that way whe's covered and I'm not losing out either.

No difference to uni mum, she pays for 5 days care, 4 weeks notice to drop hours, and half fees for the days she doesn't use.

Does uni not check what funds they're paying for her childcare? Think mum'll get a shock if/when they ask you to confirm her child's hours!

[miffy]

I would re do the contract and get whatever you decide down in writing.

I would expect the NHS to ask for confirmation of hours/payment made at some point.

Miffy xx

[bunyip]

Unless you offer pay as you go childcare (which ive heard some people do but i dont) then i would be charging for a set minimum hours ie 20 hours a week which she pays for even if she doesnt use them and anything over those hours are charged at normal rate or do it for more than 20 if you want to - remember its your business your rules - she has in effect signed up for a full time space in the early years and it is now 3 days - i wouldnt be happy xx

I agree, BUT the OP needs to make it very clear to the mum.

We might all know that most CMs would charge to keep a place open, even if the hours aren't used every week. But this doesn't mean that a client would know that unless we tell them. I think a lot of people would assume they'd only get charged for what they actually use. Or they may have previously used a CM who does things differently.

We CMs do need to beware of thinking that everyone else thinks like we think and knows what we know.

[cuddlybunny38]

The uni will give her a bursary in Sep, Jan and April, she will pay you as the childcare fees go to her first. Our parent pays each time she has her payment so she knows she has paid. The uni then have additional paperwork that will have to be filled in by you saying how much you have charged and the dates of the weeks you have worked, these are normally meant to be filled in in Jan, April and July, if they have paid her more childcare fees then what you have received then they will ask her to refund the difference, so if she is pulling a crafty she will be caught out at the end and they may not let her return the following year until she has settled her debt to them. Hope you get it sorted. x

[C&A Childcare]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I've had a chat with the mum to make sure she's happy with it and she seemed fine it was just that she didn't know this was how childminders worked and we hadn't discussed anything with her because everyone concerned thought it would be more hours. In future, I think we will be making the 20 hour minimum rule very clear to parents who don't know what hours they will be needing us so that this doesn't happen again!