sent child home- do you refund
Hi
Yesterday child came with really bad coungh. had him for 7.5 hours and no real improvement.
today, got dropped off at 9am for same long day. he was really raspy. told dad he needs to take to doctor. dad reply, mum is at home. i will call her and left.
Anyway, child breathing has not been right (he is one) and then two loose nappies, straight after his jar of food. so I have sent home. which i feel bad for, but dont think they should have sent him anyway when mum has been home both days.
Question is-
im meant to do after school pick up for his brother, but not now, as mum is going to collect- do I still charge for that?
plus do i charge my half rate from time he was picked up till home time?
or not, i charge in advance, which means refunding back -all fine with, but what should i do. would mean refunding after school pick up and 3.5 hours for LO. Or because i was working -i dont refund?
Never sent home before. Normally if child is ill and doesnt come i just charge half fee.
Plus, be wary of refunding out of kindness...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AliceK
If I have sent a child home ill then there is no refund due. As for the school age sibling, I wouldn't refund for that either. It is mums choice for her to collect so no I wouldn't refund.
xx
Be wary of refunding out of kindness as what about the next time Mum decides to pick up oldest child from school as it saves her some money, or says both are sick, so staying away so won't be paying you. (I've had both of these in the early days, and it sucks!) Remember at all times that you are a business, and anything you refund is less money for you to use to spend on your own family (which is why you're working in the first place!)
Good luck,
L
Don't write your letter in haste. Use the year end to do something like this...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Karen1
Thank you all. Yes I am going to review all my contracts.
I normally only charge half fee for sickness and holidays. My holiday no charge. But after this, I think I will still charge full amount for sickness. Your all right. I have a morning off- so am going to write a letter for all parents.
I think this is why I am getting annoyed with childminding as parents are taking the mick a bit with other things as well, continually swopping hours and days, a non settler, and only working afternoons mainly at the minute. I do need to toughen up with all my parents. It's just not like me though. But with two full timers gone and no new contracts in the pipeline I have to think of me and my family.
Decision made, otherwise I will give up. Toughen up.
Karen, don't write your letter in haste or when you're feeling low. A tip I picked up years ago was to publish a list of dates that I will be taking as leave plus the bank holiday dates that I will be taking off (on full pay) at the start of the year for the year ahead. Decide on how much leave you take. I take 25 days paid leave, plus the 8 Public holidays. By announcing the dates to all parents at the end of December (co-ordinated with the school leave dates as far as possible - you can always leave some yet to be announced if you're not sure exactly when the last lot will be), then it gives parents the chance to co-ordinate their dates with yours. So this is when you are due full holiday pay. Any leave the parents take outside of this should be paid in full as time when you are available but not being used. Then if a parent leaves part way through the year, I work out leave I've taken vs leave still to be taken as follows: the child has been with me 9 months. I am due 1.25 weeks leave every 3 months. 3 x 1.25 weeks is the number of weeks leave due, less any taken. Bill the parents for the remainder (which comes out of their 4 week deposit). Plus: Bank holidays: 2 days for every 3 months worked. 2 x 3 = 6 Bank holiday days due less however many used. Bill parents for the remainder. I write this into my contracts up front. Use your letter to work something similar in that suits your needs. Oh, and I ask parents to allow me one week's sick leave in any one contract year. (I may not actually use it, but it's very handy if one of my own children gets sick because of something that has been brought into my setting - such as Norovirus! It still means I can get paid by all parents for that one albeit rare week that I've had to close.)
I hope this helps.
Good luck,
L