Fees - confused

[Kirsty90]

Hello,

I've recently revised my fees so that I'm in line with other childminders in my area and when I done this I also introduced a half day rate & a pick up/drop off fee.

Anyway in my fees policy which I gave to parents and got them to sign and agree to the new terms it states that a morning/afternoon session would be charged at £24 but I didn't state how many hours this was up to (my mistake!). My hourly rate is £3.50 so if someone is booked in using the half day rate does this mean I have to allow it to be anything up to 6.5 hours regardless of what hours they are booked in for?

Hope that makes sense.

Thanks x

[karenandsmile]

really you needed to state what time a morning session and an afternoon session is or you could have done a minium charge rate personally i have always done it by the hour or sometimes i have charged £3.50 per hour if over 20 hours a week and £4.00 per hour for under 20 hours a week i also give sibling discount charging the younger child at the higher rate hope this helps or maybe its just confused you more lol

[Kirsty90]

I always done it by the hour unless it was a full day but I have one lo in particular that does odd hours & I was losing out on a lot of money. He is normally booked in until 1 but when they drop off on a morning say thins such as I'll be picking him up at 2 or 3 o'clock & I feel like I have to agree now bcoz of the half day rate :-(

[blue bear]

I charge by the hour with a minimum six hour booking.

[The Juggler]

i would say no they are not entitled to assume this as this is sessional charge NOT an hourly rate and they have agreed to that. However, you do need to clarify before any confusion arises. I wasn't sure from your letter whether you mean a before/after school morning/afternoon session or a 'during the day' morning and afternoon session. Am guessing the latter though.

I would go and issue a newsletter clarifying the position i.e.

"there is some confusion due to lack of clarity on my part regarding the morning/afternoon session rates and the hours, so below sets out the start and finish times for the sessions", then state exactly what you mean. It if were me I'd say for example

"morning session xam - xpm - this is a minimum session fee and you can use any number of hours from the start to the end of the session time.

pm session xpm - xpm - as above.

I may be able to work hours before and after these times at an additional cost of £3.50/hour or £x/hour if before 0800 or after 1800, and with prior agreement."

However, hon be careful if you are starting and finishing morning/pm session at same time or even with an hour between - what if there is a late pick up - does this mean you will be over your numbers if you have different children booked in?

Also be careful if your session fee equates to 6.5 hours at your normal fee and you are only offering say 4.5 or 5 hours - will you be pricing yourself too high for the area?