Term time only contract and Vouchers

[LilyBelles]

Hi

I have a lil boy 50 hours a week and his big sis b4 and after school. There mum is a teacher so only needs me term time only. I receive BusyBees vouchers from her and Kiddi vouchers from her husband.

My question is "What happens in the holidays when i dont have them?"

We have agreed on the contract that they will pay me a £20 retainer per week for the big summer holiday and nothing for the others school hols.

Please help me understand

[Amaranth]

When I have had this situation before, I usually work out the total cost of the hours needed for the full year then divide it by either 12 or 52 depending on whether they want to pay weekly or monthly. That way vouchers can stay the same all year and you get a regular income instead of it going down a lot in the school hols. All my parents who did it this way thought it was a good idea as they didn't have to keep ringing the voucher people to change payment amounts.
If they used any additional hours they just paid me as they needed them.

[LilyBelles]

Thank you that is very helpful.

However the only thing i would be concerned about is if the parent cancelled the contract how would you work out what is and isnt owed? sorry for being a pain

[Amaranth]

I work all mine out on an excel spreadsheet and print it off (one for parent and one for me) then each week/month I write in a little note on my copy of how much over or under they are. That way if they leave part way through the year it is already worked out. I hope that makes sense, as it was hard to put into words!

If you want to pm me your e-mail address I will e-mail you one of mine as an example if you like.

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I charge mine for 52 weeks and spread the cost over 12 months

Alternatively the parent pays over 12 months but less over 11 so that the 12 becomes an advance payment but if I was doing it this way I would do a contract from now to July and then start again in August. That way I would have a months money without hours worked to offset the rest of the year.

Another way is for you to invoice the parent and they pay part voucher and part cash and at the end of the year when they are caught up, refund the cash element.

[adedwards68]

Hi
I work for a teacher, which suits me fine as I only work term-time and get to spend the school holidays with my own children. Because I don't work in the holidays I don't charge them. But in the contract it says that they have to give me 4 weeks term time notice if they wish to cancel. I'm paid monthly and each month the amount varies (school hols, parent may have staff meeting etc). It gets too complicated when you average out monthly amounts. Teachers get paid a salary every month regardless of whether there are holidays.
But in your situation if you are available to work during the holidays and your service is there for them to use then I would still be charging them. I don't think I would charge for 52 weeks of the year though, everyone must take some holidays or have a break.