anyone had mum try to get out of contract

[chewy sweets]

Mum cam round to sign contract about 2 weeks ago. She said she'd get back to me for when to do settling sessions as lo starting with me on 4th Jan. Text her 2 days ago to say if she's decided when and no reply yet. She was really on the fence about taking her out of the creche she was in and i've got a feeling she's avoiding me txts now. I know i may be jumping to conclusions but am so desperate for the work in the new year i'm convinced something's going to go wrong.

What can i do if she does want to get out of the contract???

[Chatterbox Childcare]

Have you completed the settling in period? It depends on what you contract states but if she doesn't start I cannot see how you can make her pay.

What does the contract state? Which ones do you use?

[huggableshelly]

do you have a cool period to cover the settling in session?

I have mine set so the contract may be terminated at any time within the first 4 weeks by either party but after that there must be a 4 wk notice period given.

To be honest there isnt really much you can do but maybe learn from your experience and arrange settling in sessions first.

I invite parents round for a chat, they go away to think about it then they come for a 2nd visit to fill out the child record forms, discuss hours in more depth and sort out permission forms.

then settling in session 1 parent stays for one hour and leaves for one hour.
settling in session 2 parent leaves for 2 hours then returns and contracts are signed so by this ppoint everyone is happy to go ahead withthe agreed arrangments.

I know its hard and everyone does things differently but it may be worth just sitting back and wait for the parent to contact you, if she doesnt but still wants you to start on the agreed date you can point out that settling sessions have not happened and you would prefer to still have these sessions before the child spends a full day with you.

[The Juggler]

I agree, maybe put it down to experience.

However, I don't offer settling in period with notice free time (can't afford to), but obviously until contract date starts, there is no notice period anyhow. What I would do is insist on a non-refundable deposit when contracts are signed.

I ask for months fees then and I offset against first month's fees (usually I don't take the money, I hold the cheque then cash it when they start). Deposit is written into contract so would be payable and reclaimable through NCMA or MM if they decided to cancel.

That way, if they don't show up, you have month's fees to keep you going until you find someone else.

[mama2three]

i do exactly the same as juggler , only i did cash the cheque - that way they cant cancel it if they do change their minds. it covers the first months fee , but i know some minders use it to cover the final months fee so they arent left unpaid if children leave.