do i still charge

hi everyone,i look after a girl in the morn who i also take to school and pick up just lately her mum has been texting me at ten at night saying she will take her daughter to school and pick her up,iam getting a bit angry thats shes not giving me much notice,shes just cancled on me again saying she will take her daughter to school tommrow but the thing is she should be paying me tommrow but she wont be coming round so im going to have to wait an extra day which is a pain as i really need it,she pays me in cash at the moe.do i still charge her and also if this carrys on how soon can i end the contract as iam getting sick of the mess around?
thanks for looking
maria

Hi Maria

Do you have a contract with this parent ?

Does she pay you weekly - when does she usually pay you?

I always get paid at the start of the week in advance then if they do not show during the week at least I have got paid for it

If you have a contract which you should have did you make it clear that fees were still due if a child is absent for whatever reason ?

Angel xx

hiya thanks for getting back to me.yes i do have a contract and they pay me monthly,i did make it clear that i will still be charging if they dont bring their daughter to me and they said it was fine,but the past couple of days the daughter and the dad keeps saying how skint they are because they have had a new kitchen put in also theyve had to pay for the cars that they both run.so iam staring to worry that they wont pay me my full wage,i emailed the mum before she sent me the txt saying she wont be here tommorw,giving her the contracted hours that ive had her daughter for this month,and i texted her to ask if she had got it but she never got back.so im sat here chewing my nails and getting worried.
maria
xx

Maria

Do not worry until you know something is going to happen - everything might be ok

I hate being in these sort of situations

It is not your fault that they are skint that is their problem

No fees - no childcare

Good luck hope it goes ok

Keep us posted please

Angel xx

Hi Maria,

I hope this sorts itself out for you.

I havent started minding yet so I dont have any experience to draw on but it makes me mad when I read these sorts of posts! I wonder if their mortgage company would be so understanding and let them pay less because they have over stretched themselves? I doubt it very much so why do they think it is ok for you? Its not fair when you also have your own bills etc to pay.

Let us know if she drops your money round or needs you tomorrow.

Love

Debbie

The last time this happened to me, 3 parents paid me late ( only last month ) so I did a letter to all parents to remind them that ;

a) all contracted hours are paid for unless I have been unable to offer care due to illness

b) fee's are to be paid on time with cleared funds

c) late payment will incurr a extra fee of £5 per day for every day cleared funds are late been paid

d) That if fee's are more than 5 days late been paid I reserve the right to refuse childcare until such a time that fee's have been paid

You could also point out that you have a mortgage and bills to pay on time too and politely suuggest they wouldnt be happy if their wages were late been paid ....

hope that helps you, just a suggestion xxx

Hi Maria

Susan has given you great advice already - just wanted to say that I hope everything works out for you with these parents and that you do get paid the money you are due!

Emler x

hi everyone i wanted to let you know that ive contacted the parents of the girl who hasnt paid me,the mum is bringing my wages around to me this evening which iam happy about,but i also feel bad because the little girls cat is goin to be put down today,but then i have 3 childen to feed and bills to pay.so i wana say a big thankyou to you all for your advice and i love this site its helped me so much,thanksssssss:)

It is sad about their cat

But at the end of the day your wages are still due

Glad to hear you are getting paid

Angel xx

Glad you're getting your money. When they phone to say child will be absent, if they were due to pay me I will ask them there & then when they can drop the payment round, or suggest they make an online payment direct to bank. Some live locally so I would offer to go collect it if they can't get out, eg single parent home with sick child.

Last week a parent FORGOT to tell me her ds wasn't coming. We waited an hour in the playground as the class was late back for a school trip and then after searching the classrooms and car park found out from a teacher he'd walked home on his own! Grrrrrr!

Hi Maria,
It's not at all fair on you is it. I can't believe how some people take others for granted like this. It's as if they don't understand that you have a business to run, just like a nursery or a playschool...you can't mess those around so why do people always try messing childminders about?

Hope it goes ok for you
Love sandra :)

Glad you got it sorted!
Tasha:)

hi everyone,i got a card with a letter through the post this morning fom the little girls parents saying that they no longer want my services iam devastated,i txt the mum cuz i was to upset to talk to find out if i was charging to much or if they thought i wasnt doing my job properly anyways the mum phoned me and said it wasnt me iam doing an excellent job but the girl wants to move school as her best friend is moving school but there were trying to talk her out of it.the mum said she couldnt do it face to face with me thats why she wrote the letter she also said its one of the hardest things shes ever had to do she even got her sister to write the letter to me,i did say that i had a feeling they were gonna do it,so here iam absolutley gutted i cant stop crying and i really do wana give it all up i feel useless. i just wanna just thank everyone for all the sound advice you have given me.
love toyou all
maria
xxx:(

Hi Maria
sorry to read that the parents have given you notice, hope you are feeling better.

Hi Maria. I'm so sorry that you have had such a bad time, but please don't give up. There are many really lovely families out there who appreciate what we do, and i'm sure that you will find just the right one very soon. Just put it down to experience. Good luck and keep smiling.

Sue x

Bless you Maria, it is so soul destroying sometimes in this line of work, but I promise you it's not all bad. You will have some really great times as a childminder and that more than makes up for the bad bits ;)
June

oh Maria hope your feeling a bit better today:(