how would I charge?

[Sheridan72]

I am newly registered and still currently working my current job as a civil servant. I have a family coming round today looking for 4 days a week from end of june. So if have the little girl starting end of june and I leave my job end of june would I charge a retainer for the months inbetween? I guessing not as im working, but If I had another starter before june would I then start charging a retainer for the first family?

Also how much of a deposit would you charge, I was thinking £100 refundable against first months fees?

Im confused about it all!

My other dilemma is my sister is pregnant and will return to work Jan 2015 and expects me to look after her baby, she is a police officer so works shifts, she expects me to cover her shifts only pay for what she uses at a discounted rate! I have said not possible at its my income and if my spaces are full i cant just give someone notice for her. My family think im being unfair. Need advce on this one!

Thanks

[bunyip]

One thing it's worth understanding from the start is that it's your business and this is one of many areas in which you don't have to do what everyone else does.

If you're going to charge a retainer at all, then you must wait until your civil service job has ended. A retainer fee is based on holding a place that is available for use; indeed the parent has the right to request care on any day for which she's paying the retainer (subject to topping up the payment to the full fee for provision of care that day.)

I can't see how you'd be able to start a client before June, unless you're prepared to provide CM services on 1-3 of the days you aren't 'civilly serving'. If you wanted to do that, then I guess you could charge a retainer for those 1-3 days pw, but only on the same understanding (see above) that your service is open for business on demand.

Retainers and deposits can be a very sensitive issue. Sometimes they end up as deal-breakers that drive a parent into the arms of another provider. That said, they can also provide a CM with a minimal amount of security. Like many things in this industry, it's a very fine line. Families frequently resent what they see as "paying the CM to do nothing" - and it's not an unreasonable argument. It's also difficult to make the case that they are "taking up a space and preventing someone else from using i" until the CM has a waiting list of parents clamouring for that space.

There is no "right" figure anyone can tell you to charge for a deposit. The £figure needs to be no more than a parent can afford, but more than a parent can afford to lose, iyswim. ie. Not so big as to scare the client off, but big enough that they don't decide that forfeiting the deposit to pull out of the deal is an acceptable loss to take.

I strongly recommend you insist on payment in advance, with no payment = no care, with no exceptions. Also, refund the deposit against the second month's care, not the first. This assumes you follow the normal practice of having the first month as a settling-in period, during which either party can give immediate notice. A deposit refunded against the first month's care would, in that scenario, be practically worthless. The parents would only have to send the child on day 1, recover the deposit and give immediate notice. Bye-bye mindee, bye-bye deposit.

The sister thing is very tricky. It's a dilemma for many of us: getting family to take us seriously and realise we are working; we do have a business; and we're not just there to be their free CM/drop-in centre/coffee shop/errand-runner/dogsbody. You know your family better than any of us, so only you can figure the best way to approach this. What I can say is that how you handle this will set the tone for the future. If you choose to give ground at the start, don't expect to recover that ground easily at a later date.

If I were in your situation, I'd treat sis as any other client, with no favours; no guaranteed space; no discounts - just exactly what you'd offer any other client wanting a variable shifts contract. When she quibbles at this I'd ask if she'd be allowed to treat me differently in her line of work. OK, as a police officer, she'd probably not be sent to deal with her own family. Maybe that's the point. Maybe she needs to find another childcarer and avoid the complications that seem to have begun even before the baby is born. But that's my personal view - only you can decide.

[Sheridan72]

Thanks for all your advice, very useful. The family are 50 mins late, so not the best start!