Charging additional hours

[skatie]

WWYD? I have a contract for before and after school 4 days a week. Start time is 8am Generally they hardly ever come before school, possibly once every two weeks. Mum will ask for a 7am/7:30am start occasionally. I charge double for before 8am start. Would you charge for this additional time as it's their choice not to send lo even though they're contracted. Or would you forget about it as they pay for a lot of hours they don't use? Just want other peoples thoughts?

[Kiddleywinks]

It depends lol

Business head on: yes you should charge regardless of attendance

CM head on: Does the parent pay on time, do they collect on time, do they give me any grief over anything?
If the answer to all 3 is No, then I would sacrifice the charging to maintain a happy working relationship, a bit of give and take.

I'm usually up by 6am anyway, so it's not like I'd be getting up especially for an arranged earlier start, however, if you are doing, and then have a no show, I can understand it being annoying.

Do they think unused hours are transferable and that's why they're asking for the earlier start?
How far in advance is the parent letting you know that they're not coming after all?
The night before? On the day? They don't?

If it's the latter, I would speak to parent and point out that you SHOULD be charging for the additional hours booked, and haven't done to date, but if they don't give you more notice in future, to save you getting up earlier than you need to, you will be charging for the additional time.

[AliceK]

Yes I would charge. In my case I would have to be ready and waiting for that time for them. I would be getting myself and my house ready earlier than I would usually need to. Whether they show up or not is irrelevant, I would still have had to be ready.

xxxx

[chris goodyear]

I would be very careful about charging when they are not there. Yes of course the business part says you should but as previously posted how is your relationship with the family? I had the same happen not too long ago and they were going to put the child into the breakfast club (which is subsidised and costs pennies) so I would have lost him all together (after school club as well) so I suggested an ad hoc contract which they were happy with and everything is fine now. Luckily I have an assistant so it hasn't really affected my numbers as of yet and I haven't had to let them down.

[line6]

2 of my mindees are contracted set hours however rarely do all those hours each week. As such when I am needed for the occasional 7.30 start (normally 8.15) I do it and don't charge any extra. I do charge them their contracted hours regardless of whether they are here or not though. This works for me because I am actually benefitting more often than not in terms of overall hours used and I have a good relationship with the family who are good payers too. If I started charging extra, and they started using me for all contracted hours I would be working a lot more than I am! So business head suggests I could/should charge but real world doesn't work out that way. Each case is individual though. I have another contract that I do charge for earlies/lates even though it's rarely more than half an hour.

[skatie]

I think the mean side of me was showing this morning as neither mum nor mindee ever say hello in the morning... Just walk straight past, so just peeved me off! They don't collect on time and don't pay on time but they never question when I need to take a day here or there and on reflection they pay me a lot of extra money for hours they don't use so I guess half an hour early one in a while is ok. So although they can be a bit rude, mum turns up late and parks in the drive then sits there on her phone for another 10 minutes, sometimes we just have to suck it up right?!

[Kiddleywinks]

I think the mean side of me was showing this morning as neither mum nor mindee ever say hello in the morning... Just walk straight past, so just peeved me off! They don't collect on time and don't pay on time but they never question when I need to take a day here or there and on reflection they pay me a lot of extra money for hours they don't use so I guess half an hour early one in a while is ok. So although they can be a bit rude, mum turns up late and parks in the drive then sits there on her phone for another 10 minutes, sometimes we just have to suck it up right?!

No, we don't have to suck anything up, give and take is fine so long as it works both sides equally.
If one side feels 'aggrieved' for whatever reason, then really, it should be aired and sorted out to prevent bad feeling.

I don't mind doing 'favours' for anyone provided I am treated with respect and consideration. I am quite assertive when I need to be lol