new childminder, confused!!!

[LittleStar's]

I have just registered and have been caring for a little boy for 2 weeks now. I am confused about a few things so please bear with me lol!

I agreed to be flexible with times as in later pick ups and for that reason I have said payment in arrears so I can charge by the hour .
We put in the contract for regular hours 7.45am - 6.30pm , however she has been dropping off anytime between 7.30 - 8.45 , and picking up between 5 - 6.30. So what hours do I charge for ? the ones he has been here or the ones in the contract???

also I put in my welcome pack before 8am and after 6pm I charge £5ph which she has had a copy of but i forgot to put this in my contract , so do i need to learn from my mistake on that one????

and finally she told me on friday that he would be off on tuesday, and i dnt have him on mondays, so do I charge a full day or holiday fee ( half rate???) , and then today he went home early with a high temerature and i doubt he will be in tomorow so what do I charge for this week???? Is it bad charging for 4 whole days when only cared for 1 and a half??? on his second week?????????

Sorry if I babbled but theres alot to learn!!! lol

Jenna x x x

[Straws]

Did you set a minimun hours? or set a rate for the day?, If you put hourly rate then I would charge for the hours used.

Did you put a notice period for holidays in your contract (mine are 4 weeks)? if not then charge half for that day. or full if she didnt give you enough notice

I have full pay for when a child is off ill,

I guess its all down to what the terms of your contract were, Hope this helps.

Straws xx

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I think that you are saying that the parent can come between the contracted hours but you are flexible on what she uses and will charge accordingly.

I think you have allowed the parent to do as she likes and you have got yourself caught.

Saying that I think you need to sit down with the parent again and agree some minimum hours in the day which you will charge regardless of what she uses and you invoice her for that upfront. Anything outside of these hours you will invoice in the following week/month.

Until you get the basis right you will both always be questioning what the contract stands for.

[The Juggler]

I agree. the parent is using the flexibility to the full. I would sit her down and explain you are finding it really hard to plan around how flexible her hours need to be.

I would charge a fixed amount all the time, make sure she knows this for the core hours then any time before this, after this are charged extra (at higher rate if need be). Otherwise she will be dropping an hour late and then expecting you to work an hour late for free. I wouldn't work extra hours at the end of the day for nothing even if drop off was late.

Explain that flexibility was there if she needed additional hours but that it was not so the core hours could be moved as you don't want to to work after x time each week.

As for before 8 after 6 rate, did you fill all the sections of the contract with the same fee. If you left them blank, explain to her you forgot to complete that part as you thought you wouldn't be using them and direct her to your fees policy.

For the sickness/half term issues, depends on your contract. What did you put in the spaces for child sickness or parent holiday. If it's full fee for holidays (and you would have expected to have had him for the full day) then you would charge the full day.

Hope that helps. If not clear, come back and ask again!:)

[LittleStar's]

rite, sorry I took so long to get back!

Thankyou for all your replies.

When I filled out the contract I asked her to say the regukar hours she would need and those are the hours that i put in the contract. When we agreed flexible she just said that it would be a later pick up time every now and then and she would let me know when. she didnt mention coming early or dropping off late . So am i right thinking that I charge for the contracted hours , because that is the reason i asked for minimum hours in the first place. ?

additional charges i put the higher rate for occasional unsocial hours , so would that include before 8 and after 6????

for holidays i did put 4 weeks notice so I will charge full rate for that day and when he was ill too.

also just so I know, if you dont have the child bank holidays do you still charge ?????

sorry for all the questions!

[The Juggler]

Sounds like you have it all sorted. If you don't charge for Holiday but expect 4 weeks notice then yes, you charge and for sickness. If you charge for your holidays anyway, then don't even worry about the notice period.

BHols varies between CM's. I charge if it's a day I'd normally work. Some CM's don't.

[mrs c]

I notice in your first post you say you don't have him on Mondays. If this is not a contracted day then you can't charge for Bank Holiday Mondays, only the bank holidays that fall on a contracted day.

[LittleStar's]

No thats right but I do have a little boy on a monday so I could just class bank holidays as a normal working day????

Just thought of another question lol! Sorry to be a pain , but there is alot to it!!!

do you invoice your parents and list the hours you had them every day or would you do it the number of hours per week and then give the total?????

[Carol M]

I invoice parents for payment four weeks in advance. The hours that are the contracted ones then any extra that are payable that have been done in the previous four weeks, so sort of part and part!
I charge contracted hrs for child sickness, parental day off( if they decide not to send child at short notice) and Bank Hols if it is a contracted day.
The Bank Hols are my only paid holiday as I don't charge for any other hols I take, usually 5 weeks. If parents wish to take hols at different time to me then contracted hrs are due.
You decide what suits you,then write into the contract
Good luck,just keep smiling!
Carol:)

[Goatgirl]

Hi Jenna,
You will get it all sorted in the end, just keep on asking questons :D
My invoivces are for 4 weeks in advance too: bought a cheap invoice book from a 99p shop which I adapt to my needs after trying various things.. I love that it has a sheet of carbon paper so i don't have to make a copy, no typing or messing about with stubborn printers either!

On the left i write 'week beginning...', in the middle I put 'hours charged', and then there are two columns for amounts on the right.
then underneath I put the monday date of each week , next to it: (the number of hours) ? @ £???, then in the first column how much that costs. I do this for each week in the 4 week period and it takes me to about half way down the page.

Underneath that, I write any adjustment i.e. late fees extra hours etc for the weeks covered by the previous invoice, then add those amounts in the first amounts column. If its lots of fiddly bits I just put them as 'lump sums', but make sure i have a record of the actual dates and times etc in case of queries.

Underneath that, I then take off anything I need to, such as my sick days, any unexpected days off (mine) etc which I don't charge for, e.g. "19th oct less 5 hours @ £?.??" : these go into the second amounts column, on the far right... still with me?! lol, its alot simpler than it sounds...

Then I add up the amounts in the left hand column, add up the amounts in the right hand column and write the total at the bottom, next to the date of the next payment due :D

Re Bank hols, I prefer not to work them so don't charge at the moment, as I'm not generally available... but I have let all parents know I may do it in cases of extreme need, but then only for an extortionate amount of money; something like £12 / hour per child, and thankfully noone's asked me to do it yet!

good luck with it all; there is alot to think about in the early days, sounds like you're getting on top of things well.

best wishes,
Wendy

[guest3]

Hi all, sorry to hijack this thread but can I just ask a question relating to holiday charges. I put in my contract that I wouldn't charge when I take my holidays but would charge full fee when my mindee takes a holiday. As I don't want to work over Christmas, they too want time off so have assumed there will be no fee (which is fine) I do still want to charge for bank holidays though, but not work them. Not sure where I stand for the bank holidays over the Christmas period.
I hope someone can help make things a little clearer as I too am finding all the charging really confusing

Wendy x:(

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I just have an invoice that says 1 monthly fee of X and then I add only any additional costs for the month

If charging weekly that it would be x number of weeks at x price. The contract states the hours so they do not need to be duplicated

[LittleStar's]

im a bit late coming back to this one , but thankyou all for your responses!

Its great to find out how other people do it :D