Our daycare provider gave us a contract to sign and I want to know if what she is asking for is normal. She is a licensed in-home daycare, and her husband is her only backup. Some of the things my husband and I are questioning:
* She is closed on all National Holidays and is "entitled" to those days PAID, in addition to THREE PERSONAL DAYS PAID (?). (New Year's Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, THE FRIDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING (?), Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
* She is "entitled" to 2 weeks vacation, one of those 2 weeks is PAID (?). Parents will receive one month notice of vacation.
* She requires one month notice in writing if we cancel our contract, and she will give us one month notice if she decides to discontinue our contract.
* She charges $8/hr. overtime for pick up after 8 hrs. (?)
My husband doesn't want to sign this contract, and I need to find out if what she's doing is the norm or if she's asking for too much... Thank you all in advance...
This doesn't sound "normal" to me....is your child the only one she watches? If not, have you asked the other parents what they think? You can call a nanny service and ask questions also...................good luck
Hey Jennifer,
I agree with Carey on this one. I would most definately check into the states requirements if she is licensed. Then I would do some "homework" and ask other parents, and call some child care facilities and ask about their policies. If you feel comfortable, ask her if this is something that she came up with as her own terms or is she modified some type of contract that may be used by other childcare providers/facilities. Perhaps she will be a little more reasonalble with the $8. In a perfect world you could be on time but not with the traffic here!!! She doesn't have to drive to work like you and your husband do.
Good luck!
To be honest, most in-home day-care are now going to this and the contract is not unlike most licensed child care facilities in this county. The question I would raise more than anything is if she is licensed and registered with the state. If she is then you will be able to check out her state inspections on the internet at http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/childcare/. I would also check references and have a background check run on her and her husband.
Most child-care facilities require you to pay whether your child is there or not. The preschool that my children attend do give us two weeks of vacation that we do not have to pay the facility, but other places I've been did not give any days! You have to remember that this woman is working to pay her bills as well and will need a break and a vacation just as those of us who work outside the home do. I would not fault her for being entitled to a one week paid vacation. Most full-time jobs include those benefits. The difference in an in-home daycare and a facility is that the facilities have staff to cover vacations, a childcare provider in-home does not.
Most day-care (in-home or facility) ask you to pay for an entire week regardless of any holidays or sick time, so those holidays seem reasonable to me.
I would try to negotiate the 8 hours, just because most normal people work 8 hours and would have to tack on another 1/2 hour-full hour to take and pick up the kids. This could be more if traffic is bad and you work far from the home. Do you and your husbands schedules differ enough that you could work around the 8 hours, one of you goes in later and one leaves work earlier? I will say that a lot of day-care facilities do have a 40 hour a week rule. But they did not charge us over if we were a few minutes over that.
If your husband is expressing hesitation do not ignore it totally. It might be for a good reason and not necessarily the contract part of it.
Child care is such a hard thing to deal with as I'm sure you know. If you have any other questions feel free to message me. We've moved in the state of Florida three different times and I have thoroughly researched child care in all three cities that we have lived in. It is tedious, but finding the special someone or place that takes care of your child and loves them makes all the difference in the world.
Blessings,
C.
