Shift work

[Merlot]

What do you charge for shift workers? Never had a problem in the past but have recently had an enquiry for before and after school but parents work shifts and require different days. I will be working out of my hours to accommodate but the shifts are on different days.

[Elkie Mawdsley]

only you can decide what you are happy to charge really - however - this is what I do to give you an idea.

My mindee takes up a full space as the days and hours needed are never the same from one week to the next and I can not backfil when he isn't here. I calculated how many hours he actually needed per month nased on how many hours I was open for, and it worked out to be about a third of a space. I therefore agreed to charge the mum for 50% of a space - only slightly increasing her rate per hour from my norm, but me potentially losing out on 50% income for that child.

I was new at the time and he was my first enquiry, so it worked for me as meant I was guarenteed some income and still jad time alone with my own baby.

good luck finding something that works for you xx

[Merlot]

Thank Elkie. 5 years ago I had a family that worked shifts and wanted before and after school. As they wanted 4 out of 5 days but some weeks I only had them 2 days and 3 at the most, I charged for 2 days at full rate and 2 days at half rate unless they wanted me. This just guaranteed the space for them. I was new to it too. I tend to charge full rate now regardless but haven't had a shift worker for some time.

[chocolate.chip]

My approach is that parents pay for space not hours they actually use so if they need 5 days they pay for 5 days even if they don't use them in a given week.
When I first started I took on shift workers and agreed that they pay only for hours they actually use - very expensive mistake lol