Incidents of illness

[Katy M]

In my contract it states that a parent must give me 24 hours notice if their child will not be attending for illness reasons. If they give me the 24 hours notice they will only pay half rate, if they do not let me know within 24 hours of absence they will be charged in full.

One of my mindees arrived Monday morning fine and happy. By the afternoon she was feeling poorly and late afternoon mum had to pick her up because she was really not well. The next morning, Tuesday, mum rang and said she would not be coming in.

I charged her half rate because on the Monday morning she was fine and how was mum to know that she would not be well and cancel for Tuesday within the 24 hours notice period??

How can I revise my contract so that it makes more sense?

Do most of you just charge for the contracted hours regardless of attendance (other than holidays)?

Thank you.

[AliceK]

I charge full-fee for childs illness. If I am open and available for that child I charge, if I am closed for whatever reason I don't charge. It would IMO be very difficult for a parent to make a decision that their child was ill enough to not attend 24hrs beforehand. Children go up and down with illness so quickly. I know with my own children if they don't seem well I will and have always left it until the morning to see how they are to decide whether they go to childminders / school etc.

xxx

[bunyip]

I charge full rate for sickness absence.

I see 2 potential problems with a 50% fee for 24 hours notice:

1. It might make a parent more inclined to 'chance it' and bring them along anyway if they've put off a decision until the last minute.
2. It might incentivise parents to call in sick early to only pay 50% and then send their lo off to a relation/friend for a play-day.

[Mouse]

I'd be wary of a parent saying their child would be ill a week next Thursday just so they could have a day off at half fee!

From my own experience as a parent I would say it's almost impossible to give 24 hours notice of illness, so I wouldn't bother even thinking about putting that in a contract.

My policy is that all contracted hours need to be paid for if I am open for business. This covers a child's illness, holiday, odd days off etc and keeps it very simple for all involved

[Maza]

I also charge full fee when a child is ill. I had one little one for a couple of years and he only had to sneeze and they would keep him off. I would have been skint if I was only charging half fee. x

[bunyip]

I'd be wary of a parent saying their child would be ill a week next Thursday just so they could have a day off at half fee!

From my own experience as a parent I would say it's almost impossible to give 24 hours notice of illness, so I wouldn't bother even thinking about putting that in a contract.

My policy is that all contracted hours need to be paid for if I am open for business. This covers a child's illness, holiday, odd days off etc and keeps it very simple for all involved

This puts me in mind of one of the old railway practices. Staff went onto a performance-related disciplinary/absence process if they were sick twice within any 13-week period. This led to some staff believing they were entitled to go sick once every 14 weeks. The booking office staff at one of my stations had a well-planned 'sickness rota'. Clerks would arrange overtime coverage with the supervisors because they knew that one of their colleagues was due 'their turn' to be sick the following week.

[Katy M]

Thanks guys.

Does any one out there charge half rate for illness days or is it only me?!!!

I am a bit of a soft touch! I only work 3 days of the week and one parent keeps swapping her day because she only works 3 days too. I still charge her the normal rate even though it is not convenient for me. I like the family and find it hard to say 'no'!!

x

[moggy]

Thanks guys.

Does any one out there charge half rate for illness days or is it only me?!!!

I am a bit of a soft touch! I only work 3 days of the week and one parent keeps swapping her day because she only works 3 days too. I still charge her the normal rate even though it is not convenient for me. I like the family and find it hard to say 'no'!!

x

Child off sick= 100% fees
I never swap days (unless it is in return for swapping because I need to swap!- very rare as I have 3 EYFS now, but if I just had one I have done it in the past)
Extra days = extra fees
If they don't come one day (because mum not working or whatever) they still pay 100%

[k1rstie]

You are not soft Katy. We are all free to charge what we like. But you are running a business.

If you charge full for the children's holiday and only half for illness, if I were one of your parents, I think I may tag a sickness day on to the end of a weekend and have a long weekend away!

Bunyip, I loved you sickness story. I have heard many people saying that they had 4 weeks holiday pay and 4 weeks sickness each year.

When I was in retail I remember a poster up saying
'Sickness makes your friends work harder!

[Lal]

I charge full if the child is sick. If I'm closed due to sickness then I don't charge (well, carry the credit forward to the next invoice). I would consider a 1/2 fee if a child had a medical condition which required planned hospital visits etc.

[alex__17]

I charge full fee, I ask for payment in advance, so parents have always paid, then if their child is ill/sent home it's not like I'm sending an invoice out asking for payment for days they weren't there as they've already paid if that makes sense.
No ones ever questioned it, I also wouldn't charge if I had to close due to illness though

[bunyip]

Thanks guys.

Does any one out there charge half rate for illness days or is it only me?!!!

I am a bit of a soft touch! I only work 3 days of the week and one parent keeps swapping her day because she only works 3 days too. I still charge her the normal rate even though it is not convenient for me. I like the family and find it hard to say 'no'!!

x

No, I don't think you're soft.

What I do like about your approach is that you've found a compromise between (partly) stabilising your income and (partly) incentivising parents to be honest and not try to get away with sending a sick child to you. Does it work out as a good compromise or a bad one? Only you can know.

I have a bit of a 'carrot and stick' approach. Parents know I'm prepared to give notice if they knowingly send a sick child. OTOH, I'll try to offer and alternative day (at my convenience) if they keep a sick child at home. This works well, but then it's not difficult, as I have mostly TTO clients and room in the holidays. If they're teachers or self-employed, a child-free day in the holidays can be useful for catching up with things at home or marking, etc.