Your Holidays - To Charge or Not to Charge??

**button68** · 18-07-2008, 09:14 PM

Just Curious.

I don't charge for my holidays, as my way of thinking is if I'm not available to provide a service then I can't charge for it.

I was talking to a local CM who I've got 'friendly' with and she says I'm mistaken and "missing out" and that most CM's around here do charge. She kept saying everyone get paid for at least 4 weeks holidays these days i.e. her husband works in a bank, her daughter in an office etc... I argued but they are EMPLOYED we are SELF EMPLOYED!! A self employed carpet fitter won't get paid for his hols will he!

Now I appreciate that there is no right or wrong here but was wondering what everyone else does.

**miss mopple** · 18-07-2008, 09:17 PM

I charge, but my hourly rate is a bit lower than the average around here so it levels out over the year

Term time only contracts don't get charged as my hols fall in school hols so they pay a retainer for the other weeks when I am available

**venus89** · 18-07-2008, 09:19 PM

I don't charge for the holidays - I'm like you! My trainer tried to get us all into the mindset of thinking that we should but I just can't. I figure that if they don't come I charge them, if I'm not there i don't charge. But I think that the NCMA are trying to get us money shy childminders to be a bit more grasping..... And to be fair they have a point.

But - I'd be tempted to take time off even if I had no reason to if i was going to be paid for it anyway. And that seems wrong

**Trouble** · 18-07-2008, 09:19 PM

i dont charge for my holidays as i will not work on them

**venus89** · 18-07-2008, 09:20 PM

Originally Posted by miss mopple

I charge, but my hourly rate is a bit lower than the average around here so it levels out over the year

Term time only contracts don't get charged as my hols fall in school hols so they pay a retainer for the other weeks when I am available

I'm awful at this, I don't even charge a retainer - I must get tougher!

**button68** · 18-07-2008, 09:28 PM

Originally Posted by venus89

I don't charge for the holidays - I'm like you! My trainer tried to get us all into the mindset of thinking that we should but I just can't. I figure that if they don't come I charge them, if I'm not there i don't charge. But I think that the NCMA are trying to get us money shy childminders to be a bit more grasping..... And to be fair they have a point.

But - I'd be tempted to take time off even if I had no reason to if i was going to be paid for it anyway. And that seems wrong

Sorry, so do the NCMA think we should charge?

**wendywu** · 18-07-2008, 10:24 PM

I dont charge if i am on holiday. Lets face it if you get paid for 52 weeks of the year then your tax bill will be higher and you cannot put in for travel, outings and food etc if you are not working. So paid holidays turn into pure profit.

But each person must make up their own mind.

Pipsqueak · 18-07-2008, 10:26 PM

I don't charge for my holiday time but I charge for theirs - 20 days half rate (I work it in days rather than weeks) and after this its full rate for any subsquent days.

**crazybones** · 19-07-2008, 07:10 AM

I dont charge for mine but charge full pay for theirs. I used to charge them half pay for 4 weeks for their hols but because I am useless asking for money I realised some of them were taking more than the 4 weeks at half pay and I was losing out. That was before I found this forum and got tougher, thanks to you guys. So as all my old ones have either left or are now only coming in the holidays, all my new ones are charged no matter how many holidays they take.

**Monkey1** · 19-07-2008, 07:17 AM

I charge half fee for mine for two weeks, if i take anymore its unpaid, i let them have two weeks at half fee, if they take more its full,

**angeldelight** · 19-07-2008, 08:19 AM

I do not charge if I have any time off - be it a day or a week or whatever
I am not available to work so I would not charge

I charge if a child is off for a day - a week or whatever

Angel xx

**samgeordie** · 19-07-2008, 08:25 AM

Im just starting but will be charging half fees for both my holidays and their holidays, makes it easier working out total fees and the childminder I used for my daughter did the same.

**tortoise** · 19-07-2008, 08:45 AM

I dont charge for any time off that I take, but charge parents their contracted hours even if they are on holiday, off sick etc.

**louised** · 19-07-2008, 08:54 AM

I charge half fees for all holidays theirs and mine. I planned on charging full fees for their holidays and no fees for my holidays but when I looked into it I discovered that some parents will actually time their holidays to coincide with yours so they don't pay any fees. By charging half fees for all holidays ensures you don't lose out on holiday pay and none of my parents have ever questioned it they are happy to pay it.

**Chimps Childminding** · 19-07-2008, 09:32 AM

I charge half fee for parents holidays, and nothing for mine. Can't see how you can charge if you aren't available to work, plus they may have to pay someone else to look after their children whilst you are off!!!!

**disney** · 19-07-2008, 10:04 AM

i dont charge for my holidays as im not around to work and all my mindees go to another minder for when im on my hols so it would not be fair as they will pay her instead of me

but i do charge them full fee for every holiday they take x

**button68** · 19-07-2008, 03:01 PM

Thanks for the feedback girls

As I said there is no right or wrong way and as the mantra on here goes ......."Your House, Your Buisness, Your Rules" Love it!

Well it appears most of you do as I do, nothing for my holidays full fee for theres ....... must just be the folk round here then

**Heaven Scent** · 19-07-2008, 04:18 PM

I charge full fees for theirs and nothing for mine as I want to feel free to take my holiday I´ve said that I will take up to 6 weeks holiday per year - I´ve only taken 4 since I started last Sept so will be below it this year. I do not consider time off for funerals etc as holiday because if you have a family bereavement lyou may need to take a holiday to get over the stress of it all. Thats unfortunate like being sick as far as I´m concerned.

I went on ***** the other day and a mother on there was killed complaining about her childminder for taking over 2 weeks hols plus the bank hols - she thought bank hols should be included in the 2 weeks hols - I wonder where she works if that is all the holiday she gets.

If I´m not available for work then they don´t pay - if I am then they pay even if the child has been refused care for a contageous illness.

I´m learning to get hard. - Gave my stingy mum her bill for when she is away for next 3 weeks plus first week back and her face dropped when I handed her the envelope. (I look after 2 children 1 4 days and the other 4 days before and after school younger 1 is on annual contract and older one is on tto contract with possible holiday cover this summer they require 2 weeks so I billed for LO only for 2 of the 3 weeks (as I´m off this week here in sunny Salou) and then for the first weeks back for both girls I wrote on the invoice that all moneys are due in my bank account on or before date stated on invoice - this mum likes to delay in paying these days. I´m not waiting for the 2 weeks holiday pay until she gets back- I´m expecting them both before she goes and the week worked she will have to sort out somehow - she can find an internet cafe in france some how I´m sure.

**Spangles** · 19-07-2008, 05:25 PM

I don't charge at all for my holidays but I charge full for theirs.

**susi513** · 20-07-2008, 04:50 PM

I am now charging 4 weeks at 1/2 fees for holidays - I set the days at the beginning of the year so parents can book their holidays at the same time or have plenty of time to book time off work to spend with their child or ask round relatives etc. I have to choose the dates, it wouldn't work if I asked the parents all to vote on it! But it could still be viewed as mutual holiday as we are all of us entitled to holidays. Its just the parents choice whether they take their holiday at the same time as me or not.

The way I see it, we are unlike any other self employed trade. If you are a decorator, plumber, gardener, electrician etc you are working for lots of different people throughout the year. You can't charge a fixed fee over the holiday. Who would you charge? The little old lady you did a one day job for on the last day before your holiday or the family you worked for when you came back? The cost of the holiday, like the cost of food, petrol, mortgage etc must be met by the income from all the different jobs undertaken throughout the year. In that respect we're the same. But the decorator can take as many jobs as they like - they are only restricted by the number of hours they are willing to work and the number of enquiries coming in. The clients can usually be flexible about when the work can be done to fit in around the tradepersons availability. If necessary, jobs can be priced higher, as the costs of living go up. The decorator might choose to work a 6 or 7 day week from time to time and find their clients appreciate the work being done at weekends. But we can't do that unless we find parents who need us on those days.

Our work is very different, isn't it? While some of us do ad-hoc/emergency care, most of our work is about holding places for a limited number of customers over the whole year. Not only are we restricted by the number of hours in the day and the number of enquiries coming in - we are also restricted by the nature of the enquiries and the number of children we are permitted to care for. If we have space on friday and we get 6 enquiries for mondays then we can't take on any of them. Taking on part-timers may mean unfilled hours every week. So unlike the decorator who has a multitude of customers to pay for his/her holidays, mortgage, food, petrol, etc, we have to cover our costs from our small pool of parents we are working with. Once we have signed a contract we are stuck working under those conditions until we renegotiate. We can't just up our fees in a couple of weeks if we've worked it out all wrong. Other trades can, by increasing the prices on the next quotes they give.

so the choice for us is charging over the holiday period so the parents make regular payments throughout the whole year or if you don't charge a fee over the holiday period you should charge a higher rate over the rest of the year to cover it. Or you'll end up doing what I did before I started charging for holidays - I didn't end up taking any except at xmas!!!! And even then I ended up being talked into working odd days I'd planned to be off.

This year will be our first ever proper family holiday, we've only had short breaks before.

4 days til Lanzarote

And my bank balance won't be in the red