Term time only and holiday pay

[ClaireDalli]

Hi, I'm currently negotiating with a parent who is a teacher and wants term time only. Originally I quoted an inflated hourly rate to cover the 13 weeks with no pay but I was worried that it woul get too complicated arranging refunds if I was sick etc. I have now offered a retainer fee to be paid over the holls as I'm pretty sure that the after-schoolers that I look after will switch to full time during hold which will make up the difference in pay.
Mum seems happy with this and says she will prob ask me to have LO on odd days during hols and will pay the extra so it works out fine- I now have another issue, my own child is not of school age so we don't often take our holls in school breaks. My terms say that she pays me 50% when I am on holiday and 50% when she is away, however as she will only book holiday during school breaks this dosnt seem fair.... I would love to know how anyne else would deal with this?

[The Juggler]

I'm a bit confused hon. who would this not be fair to??

I think the problem with teachers is they don't get paid for term time time off. so if you take your hols during t-time they will HAVE to pay for alternative care if they don't have family to help out.

It is your choice obviously but I think you need to have this discussion with her now, explaining that as your child is young, you are likely to take holiday out of the school holidays and how would she manage this.

I have lots of t-time only contracts and one that is all year round. I take my hols (other than emergencies) during school hols and now don't charge my all year round for holidays.

I charge parents in full for their time off. That way I only have to worry if I take time off and can refund them.

[vals]

I do term time only contracts for teachers etc and don't charge a retainer for the holidays. I also don't charge for my holidays - as its my choice to not be available and the parents then have to pay someone else. I also have children that come in the holidays only, so they also have a holiday only contract with no retainer.

[Devonmaid]

I do term-time only and the parents pay half-fee if they don't want to use me during the holidays (but want to secure the place for next term) and full fee if they want me to keep the space free for them in the holidays in case they do need it. I explain to them that it will be very hard for me to fill a space during holidays only. So far all have been more than happy with the arrangement and even surprised that I don't charge full during school holidays anyway.

I then charge them full fee for any additional holidays they take outside of this time, and any holidays I take they don't pay - so if I take them during school holidays the half-fee for holding the place is dropped during my time off.

I'm not sure how fair this is or whether it's good practice, but it works for us all. It would be great if there were some guidelines about fees etc wouldn't it? I know we all run our own businesses, but I'm sure other sectors have guidelines regarding charges etc. Perhaps there is something on NCMA website?

With regard to your comment about it not being fair that your parents take their holidays in the retainer period - I'm afraid I don't really understand. Do you mean because the retainer fee is lower than the 50% she'd have to pay for taking holidays at other times? I'm afraid if I was her I'd probably do the same! But then if you take your holiday in the term time she will still need to pay 50% fee AND find other care arrangements, so will lose out here. It seems a bit swings and round-abouts really!

Good luck with the negotiations!

Dx

[mummylovatt]

I dont charge parents for my holidays as that is my choice to not be working and they need to pay/find someone else. holidays parents take outside of my hours I charge a 50% fee, do most others charge full fees?
I currently have 2 boys 3 days a week whose mum is in uni and have discussed with her term time/holidays with her and she has agreed and signed contracts that during uni holidays she will either pay 50% fees to keep the places or pay full one day a week so she can have study days and retainer for the other 2 days x

[Genesis]

I have worked for a few teachers in the past, and although i have only taken time off during the holidays due to the age of my children, i personally would agree an amount that i would take with no pay, so that she had the money to pay another minder for that time.

[bunyip]

I'm not going to try and judge the rights and wrongs of this. But, OP, you do need to consider your needs and the client's too, cos it's all about the balance if it's going to work.

2 things to bear in mind:-

1. If you ask for a retainer fee for the holidays, you must be prepared to work any or all of the days for which you're taking the retainer, albeit at an additional top-up fee, and not go filling it with another child. Apologies if you already know this, but some CMs do view a retainer as a "money for nothing" arrangement without understanding that paying to keep the place open means exactly what it says on the tin: keeping the place open. So make sure both parties know how much notice is needed for mum to say "yes I want to send him on those days".
2. In terms of what does or doesn't seem "fair" - really that is whatever is agreed in the contract. That's the whole idea of a contract: the terms both parties are happy to work within. If either of you have experienced a change of heart, mind, or circumstances, then it's time to review the contract.

I'm not having a go - just offering food for thought, and hope it helps in some way. I'm new and found the first few months to be a very steep learning curve (wish I'd found the Forum a lot sooner!)