Holidays, not sure what to charge!!

I have one child that is now in nursery and only have him after school (Had him 2 full days previously)
I have amended his contract to cover this and included that in school hols when he is with me again 2 full days then the payment will be full day rate as before.

They pay me a nominal fee for the after school collection.

Im planning on working the Oct hols but having Christmas hols off. Im really not sure what to charge at Christmas!!
I feel a bit cheeky saying that Im off but they have to pay me half of a full day rate (I charge half for mine and parent hols)

I also look after his sibling 2 full days, so will be charging half fee for him at Christmas.

The school collection thing is new to me as ive not done it before, and even tho ive covered payment in his new contract I feel a bit odd about charging the half rate over Christmas!

Hope this makes sense!!

Suppose in a nutshell Im saying should I do what I say I do in contract and charge half fee for hol and charge half of of a full date rate or charge just half of the after school collection, even tho he will technically be on school hol??
:huh:

Personally I don't charge for holidays - but I know a lot of childminders who do.

I feel that if I charge I work - unless of course I am prepared to work but the child doesn't attend (illness etc) in which case I keep the money (I am paid in advance).

It can be hard to think about 2 weeks off at Christmas and budgeting for less money - but I plan in advance and always keep a float in my account for bills etc - that helps.

hth :D

If I'm open for business I would charge if I'm choosing to close I wouldn't.

A tricky one.

You don't have to look far to see that childcarers charging for holidays is a huge source of upset amongst parents - it is massively unpopular. Many even complain about being charged for their own hols, so paying when the service isn't even available is perceived as a terrible injustice.

Personally, I don't charge for the (very few) days of the year when I'm closed. I also negotiate a number of days/weeks when the parents can take the child out of my setting, given fair advance notice, and not have to pay either. A sort of 'contract break' for them to have their own holidays or time wit the lo's. I stipulate the number of days, etc. in the contract, because I want to avoid them arranging lots of short-notice 'play days' or 'tea and grandmas' just to avoid fees.

I balance this money-wise by factoring it into the fee negotiations, especially with TTO contracts. This helps to partly offset the cost of lost potential earnings, though I also have to remember that I won't earn a constant amount each month.

Parents who understand this, really like it an appreciate what they see as me 'playing fair' and being transparent with them. The problem is that a lot of parents just don't get it. I think many parents are happy to look for a low 'headline' fee, ignore all the additional charges attached, then moan when they are applied. :(