Holidays?!?!!?

[Jessymax]

Any advice appreciated,

How many weeks holiday do you all state in your contracts?!

Im thinking 5 weeks holiday

3 for me where i dont charge
2 weeks for parents at half price?

4 weeks notice given for each party?

thanks!

[trickiedickie]

I only work term time. When I was unsure of what I would work etc. I had decided on 5 weeks unpaid and I was going to give parents notice of my 5 weeks when they signed up with me. Then, holidays are super, super important to me.

What would happen if the parent didn't take any holidays? They probably would as who could survive on 3 weeks holiday a year but it maybe a scenario worth considering.

I know when I used childcare due to work I would have struggled with just 4 weeks notice of my childminders holidays. My own work would have struggled to give me holidays with 4 weeks notice.

Obviously you could try your way and if it doesn't work out you can always change it. As probably starting out the way you want to continue. Otherwise it can lead to resentment on your part.

[JoRo163]

I take 5 weeks a year, unpaid. I let my families know in January of each year, then they have to choice to book their annual leave to coincide with mine. If they choose to take holidays whilst I'm available, I charge full fee

[megg21]

Ive decided to do the government 28days holiday
im having Christmas and bank holidays and then the other day will take while children are in school so parents only have to do before and after school car. and im giving at least 3 months notice of my holiday which the parents don't have to take and they pay when their on holiday.

[chris goodyear]

I do exactly the same as Joro163 except last year instead of putting my fees up I added another weeks holiday as I am so busy now I need the extra holiday!

[chris goodyear]

So now I take 6 weeks each year.

[tulip0803]

I charge full contracted rate for all days that I am open whether the parents come or not. I don't charge for my time off. I have up to 4 weeks holiday a year but in reality my parents never keep track of when I have been off anyway.

If you want 5 weeks holiday you need to state 5 weeks for you - if you have more than one family on your books you can't expect them to take the same weeks off to make up your extra holiday. I have 11 families on my books, all part-time.

[Simona]

For those who work Mon-Fri it is easy to state we take '''so and so weeks''' off
If you work less than 5 days then we need to specify 'the number of days' we take as this would be pro rata

Also worth making sure your contract clearly states what happens if you wanted to take the 'odd' day off or two for training, or family reasons or any personal reason
There may be parents who only expect us to take 'weeks off' and never plan for the odd day to cover their childcare.

[AliceK]

I take 5 weeks, unpaid. I give all parents a list of the majority of my dates for the year around end Jan time but state that other days may be taken with as much notice as possible. This is because my DD has lots of hospital appts and some of them I can't take mindees with me or they may be miles away involving an overnight stop so I give parents those dates as soon as I get them.
I don't charge for my hols but if a child is away on a contracted day when I am open I would charge them.

xxx

[Jessymax]

All great ideas, does anyone think my idea is ok ? For my first year of business's I am prepared to only have 3 weeks off as I imagine start up could be quiet also as long as I keep track of each child's days / weeks holidays then surely it be ok?

[MrsP2C]

Why not put up to 5 weeks unpaid and then just take what you can afford/want to? If you say 3 you're either stuck with it until you do a contract review & these things don't always go down do well once people have come to expect something else.

[Jessymax]

Because I want set time off for myself and then I want parents to have couple weeks to choose theirselves if I do 5 weeks for me then 2 that would be far too much plus I would really struggle in jN to choose 5 weeks

[FloraDora]

This all sounds really complicated.
So glad I do term time only.
All my parents are teachers so they take holidays in school holidays, it is so easy!

I am in awe of those of you who only have 3weeks holiday a year.....I need my rest time, not to holiday but to catch up on being me!

[Simona]

Because I want set time off for myself and then I want parents to have couple weeks to choose theirselves if I do 5 weeks for me then 2 that would be far too much plus I would really struggle in jN to choose 5 weeks

In which case say you are going to have 3 weeks off...at whatever pay you wish to charge parents and tell the parents what to expect if they do not take leave at the same time as you.

What you are proposing may complicate matters...keep it simple and clear

[Simona]

This all sounds really complicated.
So glad I do term time only.
All my parents are teachers so they take holidays in school holidays, it is so easy!

I am in awe of those of you who only have 3weeks holiday a year.....I need my rest time, not to holiday but to catch up on being me!

I have been thinking about your reply Flora Dora
After years in childminding I would have thought very seriously about working 'term time' only...it must be bliss !!

But when you first start it is rather different I suppose as a cm may want to offer many services as possible...think of the competition now from preschools and nurseries as they 'expand' to provide what was originally cms' 'bread and butter'.

But...working term time only also means no care for the older school children...I don't think I could have done that as I really loved the mixture of ages in the holidays.

Now Term time only would be very appealing for me!

[natlou82]

I've got to admit in confused at your holiday proposal. I think you need to make it simpler. I take 4 weeks holiday (which is given out in January) with an option of 5 floating days (with 4 weeks notice). These are unpaid. My general rule is that parents holidays are at full pay (then they are not restricted). I do have different terms for my full timer though (to benefit us both ;-)

[bunyip]

All great ideas, does anyone think my idea is ok ? For my first year of business's I am prepared to only have 3 weeks off as I imagine start up could be quiet also as long as I keep track of each child's days / weeks holidays then surely it be ok?

Pardon my flippancy, but I nearly spat my cider over the keyboard at the idea of "only 3 weeks off". I've never managed more than 2 weeks in a calendar year.

[BallyH]

I envy bunyip having cider at 5.51 I've had to wait till all of 6.16 to have my glass of wine!

[bunyip]

I envy bunyip having cider at 5.51 I've had to wait till all of 6.16 to have my glass of wine!

"No, really, children it's just apple juice......................admittedly, it's stood a while.................."

[Jessymax]

I think it's quite simple really... I'm shut for 3 weeks of my choice and parents aren't charged then each parent can choose a fortnight ( if they wish too!) where they pay half price