How do you justify holidays

[buttonmoon11]

To all those who charge for their holidays how do you justify it to a parent? I would like to charge half fees as other minders in my area do but I have no idea what to say to parents that ask me why, I have a be mum coming tomorrow who is bound to ask.

Can anyone help please?

[VeggieSausage]

I charge half fees for a maximum of 4 weeks a year, if I took more than that then I wouldn't charge. When you are going through all details of your charges just outline how you want the holiday to work, explain it as a benefit as a lot of minders round here charge a full fee for their holidays....

[TNT]

Do you charge full or half fees for their holidays? I dont charge for my holidays but charge full for theirs so if you are only charging half for theirs too then it works out the same, if that makes sense.

[buttonmoon11]

Do you charge full or half fees for their holidays? I dont charge for my holidays but charge full for theirs so if you are only charging half for theirs too then it works out the same, if that makes sense.

I charge full for theirs and half for mine

[wendywu]

I ont charge for mine but full for theirs, so if they take their holiay when i take mine then they pay nothing at all

[TNT]

You cant use that as an advantage then
I would just say that it is common practice for childminders in the area, try to use it as an advantage that you are not charging full fee.

[loocyloo]

i've just told all my parents that as of 1st april 2013, fees are going up due to rising costs ( well they are, but what they don't know is that i decided to pay myself half fees for my holidays, but have worked it out and added it to the hourly fee over the year !!! ie £4 hr X 48wks = £192. £2 hr X 4weeks = £8. £192 + £8 = £200/48 = £4.16, so have now charged put my fees up to £4.15/hr ) not one parent has commented at all. yet, if i asked them to pay half fees for holidays, i don't think they would like it!

[buttonmoon11]

i've just told all my parents that as of 1st april 2013, fees are going up due to rising costs ( well they are, but what they don't know is that i decided to pay myself half fees for my holidays, but have worked it out and added it to the hourly fee over the year !!! ie £4 hr X 48wks = £192. £2 hr X 4weeks = £8. £192 + £8 = £200/48 = £4.16, so have now charged put my fees up to £4.15/hr ) not one parent has commented at all. yet, if i asked them to pay half fees for holidays, i don't think they would like it!

That's great, however I'm not sure it work for me as I'm settling in to a new area and don't want to price over the other cms as ill never get any business lol xx

[lynnfi]

For me the justification is that if I was not paid during the holidays, then my fees would have to be higher to be able to financially survive during the time off.
Most jobs are paid during time off, and this is no exception, they can always choose to pay £2 more per hour and not pay their holidays! (joking).

So basically we CM charge a lesser rate but are paid during holidays, just the way it is traditionnaly done...

Hope this helps a bit.

[buttonmoon11]

Thank you all it's always great to get other opinions

[MrsP2C]

Well I'm pretty new so haven't got masses of experience but of the 4 enquiries I've had, 3 are now clients despite the fact I charge full fee for 4 weeks leave plus option to take 1 more unpaid. I didn't justify it or defend myself but explained it along with my other payment terms, sickness policy etc. None queried it with me and ok so they may have gone away & thought 'why the ****** is she charging me for her holiday', but, they came back & signed so it wasn't a deal breaker.

[shelly2012]

I used to charge half for their hols and mine. Now charge none for mine and full for theirs but work it out over the year so same amount weekly.

[funemnx]

I suppose it depends if your potential parents are employed or self-employed. Quite a few of mine are self-employed and don't get paid when they take time off so I'd feel odd if I charged them for my holidays!

[nikkiv]

i've just told all my parents that as of 1st april 2013, fees are going up due to rising costs ( well they are, but what they don't know is that i decided to pay myself half fees for my holidays, but have worked it out and added it to the hourly fee over the year !!! ie £4 hr X 48wks = £192. £2 hr X 4weeks = £8. £192 + £8 = £200/48 = £4.16, so have now charged put my fees up to £4.15/hr ) not one parent has commented at all. yet, if i asked them to pay half fees for holidays, i don't think they would like it!

That's a rather good idea! I, like many have only been childminding for a year and clearly at the begining when it came to payments etc obviously wore my heart on my sleeve

[bunyip]

In short, you should not have to "justify" your holidays to parents if they are reasonable people.

You could list all your costs and expenses; then all the additional hours you work to plan, prep, tidy, train, etc. on top of actually having the child; then show them the calculation that you're almost certainly working for less than 1/2 minimum wage and ask if they thing that's what their precious child is worth, and so maybe a paid holiday isn't too much to ask? But I suspect they'd find that all a bit tedious.

Personally, I'm usually very up front with parents and most of them are bright enough to get it. The bottom line is: if I don't make enough money for the job to be worth it, then I'm better off not doing the job. In which case, they'll have a childcare crisis. I can offer them a (lower) fee to which they add in payments for holidays, meals, trips, etc. or a (higher) all-inclusive fee, and only pay when the lo is actually with me. Give or take, it's really all pretty much the same.

After all, your hairdresser charges £20+ ph cos they still have to eat on the days you don't personally have your hair done. Your plumber charges the earth because they'll be days s/he doesn't have any work. And your gym membership fee still covers things like rent on the building for 365 days a year, even though the doors aren't permanently open.