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Childminder charging me for her holidays?

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  • dizzybuff
    dizzybuff Posts: 1,512 Forumite
    But that's exactly what you should be doing, factoring your holiday pay into your hourly rate.

    Id ont pay holiday but i pay a higher hourly rate , she feeds my son and takes him to pre-school as well as on outings so i have no rpoblem with it .

    At the end of the day before you sign that contract , talk to the childminder . They are running a buisness . if you done like it dont send your child.
    ONE HOUSE , DS+ DD Missymoo Living a day at a time and getting through this mess you have created.
    One day life will have no choice but to be nice to me :rotfl:
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 46,577 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Just out of interest how do they enforce this? - wouldn't the client just go elsewhere to avoid paying?
    Possibly, but if they do this regularly it may not be much loss!

    I genuinely got confused about the day for my haircut not long ago, and my hairdresser couldn't have been nicer about it, when I rang to apologise they had been wondering if I was ill or something. Got myself booked in for a week later. But if I made a habit of it, I wouldn't blame them at all for making a charge.
    Signature removed for peace of mind
  • But that's exactly what you should be doing, factoring your holiday pay into your hourly rate.

    In an ideal world yes I would. However you'd be suprised the amount of parents who are soley driven by the cost of childcare rather than the standard of my provision. No point upping my charges and then pricing myself out of the market - makes me uncompetitive and then I don't get any work.
    I have a gift for enraging people, but if I ever bore you it'll be with a knife :D Louise Brooks
    All will be well in the end. If it's not well, it's not the end.
    Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars
  • In an ideal world yes I would. However you'd be suprised the amount of parents who are soley driven by the cost of childcare rather than the standard of my provision. No point upping my charges and then pricing myself out of the market - makes me uncompetitive and then I don't get any work.

    When I was chosing a childminder for my son I found that the provision itself looked fairly the same. But each childminder is different as a person and that's how most parents chose - whether they can get along with the childminder and whether they are happy with the cost, as well as the distance.

    And the price does matter. Childminders charge a lot - usually less than nurseries - but still a lot, to make the charges a valid consideration. In my area, it's 5 pounds per hour, which makes full-time care cost up to 1000 per month. So if I find one that charges 4.50 per hour and looks just as nice it will save me 100 per month. And considering that in Britain working women pay up to 70% of their wages on childcare, we do like to be able to keep a bigger proportion of our salaries - like 35% instead of 30%.
  • Fly_Baby wrote: »
    When I was chosing a childminder for my son I found that the provision itself looked fairly the same. But each childminder is different as a person and that's how most parents chose - whether they can get along with the childminder and whether they are happy with the cost, as well as the distance.

    And the price does matter. Childminders charge a lot - usually less than nurseries - but still a lot, to make the charges a valid consideration. In my area, it's 5 pounds per hour, which makes full-time care cost up to 1000 per month. So if I find one that charges 4.50 per hour and looks just as nice it will save me 100 per month. And considering that in Britain working women pay up to 70% of their wages on childcare, we do like to be able to keep a bigger proportion of our salaries - like 35% instead of 30%.

    Am not suggesting price doesn't matter but that it shouldn't be the driving force behind who you choose. When you hear of parents using unregistered people because they charge £2.50 an hour and are cheap it does suggest that money is the deal breaker.

    So the suggestion is to up my hourly rate to reflect lack of holiday pay but then risk not actually being able to get any clients. Damned if I do and damned if I don't.
    I have a gift for enraging people, but if I ever bore you it'll be with a knife :D Louise Brooks
    All will be well in the end. If it's not well, it's not the end.
    Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars
  • peachyprice
    peachyprice Posts: 22,346 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper

    So the suggestion is to up my hourly rate to reflect lack of holiday pay but then risk not actually being able to get any clients. Damned if I do and damned if I don't.

    But to cover 4 weeks holiday you only have to increase your hourly rate by 50p. Would a parent that likes you and thinks you are the childminder for them choose someone they like less over 50p and hour?

    I just can't get my head around childminders not doing what all other self employed people have to.

    But I guess you know that parents will pay your holiday pay because they're desparate for your childcare, even if it means being tied to your holiday dates or having to pay twice for someone else to look after their children while you are away.
    Accept your past without regret, handle your present with confidence and face your future without fear
  • So the suggestion is to up my hourly rate to reflect lack of holiday pay but then risk not actually being able to get any clients. Damned if I do and damned if I don't.

    I don't really understand this because all other childminder would either factor their holiday pay in or they wouldn't. So if everybody else does it and gets business then you should be able to as well. And if everybody doesn't and that's how they get business then you shouldn't be charging for your holidays either. In my area, childminders never charge for their holidays.

    I am self-employed too and I fund my holidays myself or I don't have any. That's the deal I signed when I registered self-employed. I can always go back to employment but so can you.

    Nannies are employed - and they get their holiday pay from the parents - but then they are on a fixed rate per hour and have only one family to look after.
  • Am not suggesting price doesn't matter but that it shouldn't be the driving force behind who you choose. When you hear of parents using unregistered people because they charge £2.50 an hour and are cheap it does suggest that money is the deal breaker.

    According to my childminder friend, it takes a lot of hassle and money to register as a childminder. And a registered childminder doesn't always mean a good one - like in any profession where accreditation is required. So there is nothing wrong with getting good quality and cheap childcare if you can.

    I am considering taking on a full-time job for a good salary of 25K. But my daughter's childcare would be around £1000 (be it nursery or childminder), my son's afterschool club - another £150, my travel - around £200. So I will have a nice £250 left per month.

    I would just love to be able to cut my daughter's childcare by half and have £750 left per month.
  • Fly_Baby wrote: »
    Am not suggesting price doesn't matter but that it shouldn't be the driving force behind who you choose. When you hear of parents using unregistered people because they charge £2.50 an hour and are cheap it does suggest that money is the deal breaker.

    According to my childminder friend, it takes a lot of hassle and money to register as a childminder. And a registered childminder doesn't always mean a good one - like in any profession where accreditation is required. So there is nothing wrong with getting good quality and cheap childcare if you can.

    I am considering taking on a full-time job for a good salary of 25K. But my daughter's childcare would be around £1000 (be it nursery or childminder), my son's afterschool club - another £150, my travel - around £200. So I will have a nice £250 left per month.

    I would just love to be able to cut my daughter's childcare by half and have £750 left per month.

    So on the basis of paying £2.50ph you'd really go with an unregistered CM who has no public liability insurance, is not CRB checked and has not been inspected by Ofsted. Sure there are registered CM's who aren't all they are cracked up to be but isn't that the case in all professions. However at least you have some recompense if anything goes wrong and a professional body you can report to.
    I have a gift for enraging people, but if I ever bore you it'll be with a knife :D Louise Brooks
    All will be well in the end. If it's not well, it's not the end.
    Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars
  • Fly_Baby wrote: »
    I don't really understand this because all other childminder would either factor their holiday pay in or they wouldn't. So if everybody else does it and gets business then you should be able to as well. And if everybody doesn't and that's how they get business then you shouldn't be charging for your holidays either. In my area, childminders never charge for their holidays.

    I am self-employed too and I fund my holidays myself or I don't have any. That's the deal I signed when I registered self-employed. I can always go back to employment but so can you.

    Nannies are employed - and they get their holiday pay from the parents - but then they are on a fixed rate per hour and have only one family to look after.

    You are self employed. You set your own business rates and how your business. This is what CM's do and they get knocked for charging for 4 weeks holiday. Why should they be singled out for criticism? Every self employed person runs their business their own way - if CM's can get clients who are prepared to pay their terms of business why is everyone up in arms about it?

    Why I don't up my hourly rate is becuase I not only have other local CM's to compete with but the wrap around at the local school which has a waiting list as long as your arm. Even with my current rate of £3.50ph I am about 35p more expensive than the wrap around so to push it up another 50p means I am even more expensive than wrap around. And since money is the deal breaker guess what parents are going to go for.

    It took me a year to fill my spaces. I am not in a position to be turning what little work was available and for that reason I don't charge for my time off. It's the downside to the way I run my business and I accept that. However I don't see why other CM's should be criticised as to how they run their business. If their clients are prepared to pay and are happy then so be it. If clients are not and take their business elsewhere then the CM has a choice in whether to change their rates or stick with it. The NCMA even recommended that CM's charge for their holiday.

    Anyway I've said my piece, I never realised until I started this job how maligned CM's can be, we should rank up there with Solicitors and Estate Agents :rotfl:
    I have a gift for enraging people, but if I ever bore you it'll be with a knife :D Louise Brooks
    All will be well in the end. If it's not well, it's not the end.
    Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars
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