Question on Home Daycare

Hi I just wanted you to know that I have been in that situation and that I find it really unfair to when most companies don't give their employee's all that time off either. I think they should be paid for the time they are watching the kids and holiday pay. also 3 personal days but. I don't agree with paying someone to inconvinience me.

i babysit, not a daycare. i feel that everyone is entitled to their days off but most companies will not pay you for the holiday if you take the day before or the day after off. she needs to rethink her schedule. as for the early pick up times sometimes things come up or she has been having a bad day and just nees a break. caring for children is tough but i think she is taking it a bit far.and even though i am not cert. i am a mom and still work with the kids with their education,in their age groups. if you are unhappy try to find a SAHM. you can get the same care just a little cheaper. i do agree with out though, she is being a little unreasonable with days off and payments. good luck.

You are absolutely not wrong in your thinking. I have a DCFS licensed home daycare and I do not run it that way. I have the obvious Holidays paid, like my parents do but not the other ones. I would not expect payment for the odd holidays when I knew my parents had to work. Those days if I needed or wanted them off, they would be unpaid to me because those were my choice. I have the same agreement about days I need off or that I need to call in sick, no payment expected. To bad you don't live in my area, I'd be glad to help you out!

N.

I am also a daycare provider. I do not expect the parents to pay me the second list of "holidays". These are days I may or may not choose to take off. I believe if I take a day off, the parents do not pay. You should explain to her that you do not have those days off, and you have to pay a second sitter to watch your child on these days. Maybe she would make an exception to her rule. She may not realize that you DO have to work on these days. Good luck!

I agree with much of what has already been said. I am also a daycare provider. I take all major holidays off with pay. I do not take the second list of holidays, but if that is her policy, it sounds like she made it known to you in advance. Personally, I have never taken a sick day. I do however take vacation time of 1 week per year paid. If she doesn't take vacation I would have no problem with a day or two here or there. My families have the option of either taking two weeks at 50% or 1 week full tuition and 1 week no tuition. I tell families think of their tuition as the same amount every week whether your child attends or not. You are paying for their slot. The only time payment is different is during scheduled vacation times.

People seem to have a misconception that what we do is easy. That we are babysitting. Daycare is a business. We have supplies to purchase, activities to schedule, etc... Yes, we work from our homes, but that choice is a sacrifice to our own families. Home daycare providers are usually mothers themselves. I find it normal that she may need to take a day here or there. Occasionally, our children have a recital or school function that we need to attend. I know I have asked parents to pick up early if possible so I could attend something at my child's school. I always try to give a ton of notice & make other arrangements if possible. I would be wary of a provider who never made an effort to do anything with her own children. I would doubt she was doing anything constructive with yours.

Overall, if she is a good provider who your children like you are lucky. There are a lot of people out there who just want to get as many kids in there home as the law will allow & they do nothing with them. Since you know most of the days she has off try to work your vacation schedule around them. Let her know that if there are any 2nd tier holidays she would consider watching your child you would really appreciate it. Maybe offer her a bit extra for the day. Less than paying 2 providers, but enough for her to know you appreciate it.

Providers do things differently, but I do think your provider is being reasonable, as this is her full time job, and the "extra" holidays off are like her vacation days. Sounds like she doesn't take a week or two long vacation typically otherwise (not mentioned anyway), so it sounds reasonable that the extra days off are her vacation time. Everybody needs a little time off sometimes and most all employments allow for a week or two long paid vacation. So on that end, I think she is being very reasonable. Keep in mind that home day care providers typically do not have an easy backup if they want a day off, as other people generally do...like for doctor/dentist appointments and what not.
I am a home day care provider and I understand on your end of it that you NEED to be at work. Therefore, as a home day care provider, I try everything in my means to get days/times covered that I can't do. I have a list of subs and a list of stay at home moms that I can use or refer people to if need be. For example, my grandfather died a couple weeks ago and so I got a sub for the day I needed to be at the funeral and all that goes along with that. Maybe you could ask the provider if she would be able to find a sub particularly for the days that she asks that the children be picked up early. Not always easy, but VERY helpful if possible. Or if she has somebody that she could refer you to for days off, like a stay at home mom or another home day care that may have space open due to part timers or something like that.
Home day care does tend to be a lot cheaper than center day care, so even if you do end up paying double a couple of days a year, you still are saving a lot. These days off are surely the down side of home day care, but if you can find backup, it helps that down side. Another down side is finding somebody you really like and trust, which it sounds like you have. So I would stick with the provider you have. Remember the down sides to a center are the increased inconsistency of caregivers and the increased sickness. Everything has it's pros and cons. But it sounds like overall you have a great spot for your child. Now the tough part is just figuring out the backup care. You don't live near me, or I would be willing to be backup when available, since I have part time 2 & 3 year olds 1 and 2 days a week leaving 2 days a week where I would be able to take one more. Maybe there is a provider like that near you that you could find through a home day care association or YWCA by calling around. Best wishes to you!!

I run an At Home ChildCare and I don't charge for days that your child is not in my care. It benefits the parents as well as myself. I do have a list of federal holidays that I am closed and personnal days but I don't charge. I have been on the other side of the situation I completely understand. If you have any furthur questions please feel to ask me.

____@____.com

hi, C.!
i'm H.!, in batavia! you know what, i have to agree with majority here! me no likey!
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also, feel free to join my women's group http://women.meetup.com/242/?gj=sj3
i have other friends, too, that give the group discounts and help out.

I guess I'm a little concerned as to why you have to pay her on the days she has off. I would only pay her for the time she actually has your child. I haven't ever heard of such nonsense. I live in the Racine area, and there are plenty of good day care providers. This day care provider sounds like she is causing you not only more money, but also more stress than you need. I understand that she takes certain holidays or days off, but there should be no reason why you should have to pay her, and pay someone else. Good luck.

Hi C.-

I just wanted to let you know that I am an In Home Daycare Provider and I too take these as Paid Holidays, and all the people I know that do Daycare also take these Holidays. Although you may not get these days off from work, alot of people do. If you are truly unhappy about it I would try to discuss it with your Daycare provider, or call around to other providers in your area and see what days they take as paid Holidays.

When I did in home daycare I never charged for those holidays That is crazy but I think alot of things about daycare are crazy like the prices that are charged, they are way to high.
Anyway The only time that I felt I should still get paid was when the parents took vacation time
and it was their choice not to bring their child.
Talk to her keep the communication open if you and your child are happy with her it is very hard to find good daycare. And maybe if you just don't look at the list, Add up how much you pay her for 52 weeks and look at it as a whole instead of by the day or week it will all equal out. Have a great weekend.

GRRRRRR. A subject I should leave alone, but can't!! We all would like to get paid on days we have off due to holidays. That being said, how many of us get paid by our employer to not come in??? Yes, your slot is their bread and butter and they work very hard, giving up their own privacy in exchange for not having the commute. You have the commute. You get paid atleast something when you have to show up on a holiday. Paying double to go in when others don't do it?? Not ideal, and for many not even financially an option. I would want a provider that cared about that. But that is just me. I am colored by my experience in underappreciation of parents. What is good for you is ultimately good for your child. If you can swing it to keep the provider do, if she can't acommodate a faithful regular when it is sucking you dry over the holidays, think about how loyal you have to be to your paycheck writers.
God sees your hardwork too.

Hi, as a home daycare provider I think I can help. In our daycare we are also closed and paid for all holidays and the day after the holiday. That is why she gave you the day off sheet so you know. We also have the same listed in the contract we have the parent sign. You have to remember that in a large daycare they will be open, but have staff to suit. With a home daycare she will need some time off herself as she gets no vacation. But from DCFS they do recommend that home daycares take off those few extra days to re coop and relax. I hope this helps a bit. As for the payment we also get paid for the days off, same as the larger daycare places.

I am also a family daycare provider. I ask for the same paid holidays, but I do not have paid vacation or personnel days. One thing to keep in mind is that this is our full time job. I do not get medical, dental, paid vacation, sick days etc... One reason I added the holidays you question is because many of my parents also have them as paid hoidays. As for the days here and there off, everyone has family business they need to attend to. I give 2 to 4 weeks notice for any vacation time I am planning and I generally do not take sick days.Sometimes I do close early and the parents are very understanding. In return I also work late and I do not charge them my late fee. Did you sign a contract before starting? This would have been the time to bring up the holidays. The point of the contract is so everyone is on the same page from the beginnning. I have different contracts for every famiy I watch. I understand everyone has different needs and every child is different. If you sign the contract that means we agree on the daycare policies. As one parent told me once," We are both just trying to raise our families the best we can and this is a partnership." Talk to your provider, maybe you could pay her 50% and find a high school girl to cover the holidays.
If you really like your provider do not let a few paid holidays get in the way of quality care. Your child is what is most important.
Cheryl

Hi C.,

I'm a FT working Mom with a DD in a home daycare. We have a contract that states she has 8 holidays (paid), 10 vacation days, and 3 sick days. If she wants to take more, then I do not have to pay for those days. I also get 2 weeks at 50% off for our vacation.

That being said this is her full time job and she needs to have the same perks as others who work full time. She does work 10.5 hour days 5x a week....if I did that I would expect overtime!

My DD loves to go to daycare now and Judy is a million times better the the old daycare center I used to have my DD at ....for the 3-4 days I have to stay home (or DH stays home)because she took a day off is well worth it to me!

You could ask her if she has someone you could use as a back up.......

Good luck!

Hi C.: My son is 8 yrs old, his chold care was provided by a very nice woman for 5 yrs of his life before I moved back in with my mother his grandmother. The woman that provided child care for my son never asked to be paid on days that my son was not in her care. We never discussed and it was always an unspoken rule that if you don't have my son in your home then you don't get paid. I did other things for her to show her my appreciation like buying dinner when I picked him up in the evenings or paying for a full day when he would be there a half day but never for days when he wasnt with her.

I can understand her reasoning in needing time off, but I think paid time off in that kind of situation is a little ridiculous since parents would like to schedule vacation time with their family, but if they have to use it for their provider's time off that isn't completely fair. I know you mentioned that your son loves it there, but I think that you also need to put your financial needs in to play as well. If you think about it, does the cost for daycare the days she has off cost more than its worth to work that day, since they double.......? My mother always said if you're going to pay for daycare it shouldn't cost you more than half your daily income. So if you make $100 a day you're already probably paying half that for that day that your provider takes off. I'm not sure where you live exactly or where you work. However, I'm in Glendale Heights and am looking to provide care for one more child. Right now I'm a stay at home mom of 2 while providing care for one more child. Rates are negotiable. What I have found to be fair pricing is anywhere from $130-150 a week, I usually say about $135 or so if I'm providing meals which is what I do for the child I'm watching now. I do ask that you provide juice and snack for 1 day for all kids, but that's only about $5 (it just helps because the cost of food is ridiculous and doing that will help me keep my expenses down and the cost of daycare). :)

C.,
We take our son to KinderCare and one of the benefits of a non-home center is that they are open most of the time. They are closed on the usual big Holidays (Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving). They are also closed two more days during the year for teacher in-service days. They are never closed due to teacher vacations or sick time. The bad side of this, if I take our son out for a whole week, I still have to pay 50% tuition and I can only take him out for 2 weeks a year at the reduced rate.

My friend takes her child to home care and her sitter not only has the big holidays off, but also gets 1 or 2 weeks vacation (unpaid) and 3 personal days (paid). So, my friend has to coordinate her vacation time with sitters time or find other child care for the time the sitter has off. On a good note, she pays for 3 kids per week what I pay for two and if she doesn't have her kids in for a week - she pays nothing.

So, IMHO, I don't think your sitter is being unreasonable. And if you are happy with the care your child is receiving - I wouldn't push to change it.

Take care.

T.

Dear C.,

My mother has been a home daycare provider for over 25 years and I've seen her struggle with the same issues you bring up. I think, like anything else, there is the good and bad to contend with. What's great is that by having your child in a home daycare setting he/she is probably getting more one on one attention then he/she may get at a daycare facility, you know the person you are leaving your child with is the same person day in and day out as does your child but some of the bad is maybe what your experiencing. By choosing a home daycare provider instead of a daycare center you ARE relying on one person for everyday care. That person does not get formal sick pay or vacation time in which they get paid. I assume if your provder is sick and can not care for your child that day, she doesn't get paid. I also assume that any time off that she takes other then these Holiday's is unpaid time. Most of us who have full time jobs enjoy not only many of those Holidays but paid sick and paid vacation time as well. I think that if you really like your home daycare provider and can try to look at some of this from her perspective you'll find it's not such an issue. She is being up front with you by giving you her Holiday list at the beginning of the year so you can find alternate care on those days in advance if necessary. If you feel she's being unreasonable, I think you may be better suited for a daycare facility where they take much fewer Holidays but beware, even some facilities take Holidays that standard business community doesn't give. Good luck!

Hi C.! I am also a home day care provider. I have a contract to which has a holiday schedule. I do not take as many days off as your provider (only major holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving), I also take a week at Christmas and a week during the summer. I DO NOT expect to be paid for these days. As a mom myself, I find it hard to believe that someone would ask for this, although, I do know that people do. I think you need to sit and talk with her and work out something reasonable, for major holidays maybe a half payment and for all the other ones.....nothing? I could never expect a a working mother to pay me for days that I want off. Would she really be working anyway on Christmas? If you are not working then why should she be paid? I think daycare should be more about the kids and not about being paid when they don't have them. I hope to NOT offend anyone with this being said. As a mother of 2 myself, it would be pointless to pay 2 providers for days my regular provider wants off. Talk with her about this, she may understand. I do have 2 back up providers in case one of my parents could not find alternative care on my days off, and I do expect my back up providers to be paid through the parent. I try to make it easier for my working mommies.

My son is in a daycare center and we pay for the holidays and days they are closed ie. snow day. If he gets sick we pay, if they are closed for whatever reason we pay, plus he has to be enrolled for a full year before we can get one week off unpaid. The holidays are reasonable, I just don't think that it is fair to pay for days they close that I have to work and have to take the day off unpaid. There was a period of 6-8 weeks that they called me to pick him up at least once a week. We are moving soon and looking for alternatives but we are going to find this problem anywhere we go. It also seems as if he gets sick alot, not just colds but he has gotten 2 bouts with pink eye in 6 months.

My provider is pretty much the same, as was my previous ones. It isn't a problem for me cause I work at a school so I normally get those days off. But in addition to those holidays they take the week of Christmas and one week in the Spring as paid time. But, I think we are very fortunate because the place we are is PHENOMENAL and I think us very lucky to have found it. Alot of the kids there also have parents who work in the schools so it hasn't been too much of a problem. Now I am not a teacher and I work 12 months so I don't get as many days off as the teachers but it still has not been a problem. I can see how it would be though when you don't get time off. My provider also NEVER cancels on us....the previous one we had it seemed like every couple weeks some kind of emergency came up, and although we didn't have to pay her for these days, being we have no family and no real back up plan it was EXTREMELY inconvienient to us. So this is much better. I don't think it would hurt to look around and see if there isn't some other place that would work out for your family better. There may be something just as good that works better for your work schedule. But you don't have to feel like it is a requirement that you go to another place.

I do think though that it is perfectly reasonable to ask for vacation days to be paid. I mean, those of us that work ( and those that run their own daycare that is their work just the same) get paid vacation days, right? So why shouldn't they?

Hi C., I am a licensed home child care provider (since 1996). I think sometimes people forget that we are providing a service that is very necessary to many people. I feel that as home based child care providers, we do not always get the recognition as being a business. Every job is required to give paid sick time, Holidays, & vacation time. We as child care providers sometimes have to work even when we are not feeling our best, because it is inconvenient to so many for us to close. We (unlike many), cannot take the day off without notice. We have families and things will come up where we need time off for family. After all, our families (children & spouses), share us with many other families on a daily basis. I thoroughly enjoy my job and I am in this business to help those in need of quality child care. The purpose of visiting different daycares is to find one that works for you and your situation. I have a contract with everything spelled out, if it doesn't work for someone, perhaps my daycare is not the one for them. I find it difficult to constantly change my contract, therefore I keep it the same for everyone. The care is always better if a provider is at their best, sometimes that requirs a day off!!

C.-

I am a licensed in-home daycare provider in McHenry (Bright Kidz Daycare). Daycares are either DCFS licensed or unlicensed(which means they may only care for 3 children(that # includes their own children).

You should have signed a contract when you registered with your provider. On that contract, it should clearly state the paid days off for the Daycare. It would be irresponsible of your provider to slip more days off that are not on that list that you agreed to. Of course, there will be those emergency-type of occasions that happen at Daycares, like at any other place of business, but those should be rare occasions. Although, since those days are not on the list, you should not have to pay for those days.

I will give you a piece of advice when shopping for a good daycare. Choose a daycare where there is more than one caretaker. I have two. This will pretty much eliminate the possibility of having to deal with a closed daycare for personal reasons of the provider. A good daycare provider always has back-up help.

You are very lucky to have a good provider that your child likes. I have heard horror stories from my past clients. I suggest asking your provider if she might have a few minutes before her day starts to talk. Or try to be the last pick up at the end of the day, so that you don't have an audience.

Another piece of advice, I have past clients that I am personal friends with now. And then, I have some that I don't speak to. If you think highly of your provider, try to be friends, speak honestly and openly. You should trust her and she should trust you. A good provider knows and understands the meaning a having a good client. It's very important to us.

Good luck!

C.,
I work in a Day care and I can tell you that these days are also off for a regular day care. Unfortuately, we dont usually get paid. We only get paid for Christmas, Thanksgiving Day, New years Day, and the 4th of July. These are only if they fall during a weekday. Otherwise, we do not get paid.We have a lot of parents that also have to work and they tell us that they either have to get a sitter or take a vacation day at work.
My advice, is that you should stay with her. Especially if you and your son like her. Good child care is very hard to find these days. It sounds like this is all legitimate.
I hope that helps.

Mine does the same, and although I don't really agree with it - I do keep in mind that her "tuition" is substantially less than a center which isn't closed on those dates.

Plus, it was in her contract when I signed it so I made sure I would have the grandparents available to watch my kids those days so that way I am not "paying double".

C.,
I am also a provider and it is most reasonable and common that these days off are taken with pay. Are you paid for your vacation days?? Your provider deserves the same benefits that 99% of her parents are alotted in their jobs as well. Just as you are still required to pay for your mortgage even if you were not in the home for a week, other services like child care require the same type of payment in order to meet budgets. Nevertheless, you can try to ask if she can take just your child the days you don't want to use up your vacation days, or just plan on taking those days off with your employer in the future.

I have a DCFS licensed home child care. My contract does show that I take these holidays off, except for good Friday. Most companies give employees these holidays off. Also, most daycare centers are closed.

I also have in my contract that I will get 1 week (5 days) paid vacation and 5 paid sick days a year. I do not charge for the 2nd week of vacation if I do happen to need/want a 2nd week.

Note that I just have this documented in my contract to cover my self. I rarely take a sick day. If I do I try to plan it in advance. Most child care providers work when they are sick. We don't have a choice, we need to pay the bills.

Having a home child care is a buisness. We get sick and still need to open our doors to care for children that are not our own.

I charge for vacation/holiday and sick time because it keeps a spot open for your child/children. This is some moms only income. If you don't pay when you child is not in care we will need to enroll a new child to keep the bills paid.

Licensed child care providers need to keep up to date on education as well as cpr/first aid and other aspects of taking care of children. This means that we also work nights and weekends to keep up to date on our licensing.

A good child care provider is not a babysitter. The child care provider help teach the children the skills they need in life through every day activities. We take classes to find out how to better prepare our home to teach the children new skills.

It is hard on our families. When our children are sick, we can't spend our day holding them so they can feel better. We have to work with our children at home. We are open long hours. I have hours from 6:30a - 6pm. I do this because I was once a working mom. I could not get my daughter to daycare and pick her up within the hours of 7:30-5pm. I worked 8-5 and a minimum of 1 hour traffic each way.

Ask all questions before signing a contract. Let your provider know what your concerns are. As a child care provider I am very flexible. I do take different parent situations in mind. It is difficult as a provider because we can not be friends with the parents, at least during business hours. If we let some parents slide on one thing, the next thing you know we will be caring for children without getting paid at all.

The extra days off 1) Day after Thanksgiving, 2) Christmas Eve, 3) Good Friday, and 4) New Years' Eve have always been days off for me BUT usually a provider will try to take the same holidays a center would. My 18 month old is in a home day care and she is open day after Thanksgiving. She take her two week vacation at Christmas so she is off from the 23rd thourgh the 2nd.