child minder query

AnnieH

I work in a school so I only need my cm term time. She charges £10 a week retainer for school hols which is lower than some. She doesn't work bank hols but then neither do I, so that suits me fine.

She really loves all the kids she looks after and they all love her and all call her Nanny. The kids are treated like they are members of the family, and the parents are treated like friends. She will go above and beyond what's expected of her, and not charge extra. She is fab and reading this thread I realise how lucky I am to have her:)

Yorkshire-Lady_3

AnnieH wrote: »

I work in a school so I only need my cm term time. She charges £10 a week retainer for school hols which is lower than some. She doesn't work bank hols but then neither do I, so that suits me fine.

She really loves all the kids she looks after and they all love her and all call her Nanny. The kids are treated like they are members of the family, and the parents are treated like friends. She will go above and beyond what's expected of her, and not charge extra. She is fab and reading this thread I realise how lucky I am to have her:)

Aww, that's nice, just make sure you tell her!!

Sally xx

comping_cat

I havnt read the whole of this thread, so apologies if im repeating anything anyone else has posted.

Im a childminder, and charge £2.50 an hour. When i 'take on' a child, we sign contracts for certain hours and those are the ones that are paid for. if, for example a teachers child, doesnt require my services over the school holidays, they pay a retainer of half fees, to keep their place open for them. If im on holiday during this time (i do take 4 weeks a year, and bank holidays) none of my parents pay me for this time - the same would be true if i was ill. This is because i am not available, so i dont see why someone should pay for something they cannot have!!!
However, if the child is ill or on holiday at a different time, they still have to pay. This is because, i cannot take on another child for the day, week etc that they are away, so again, they are paying to keep their place.

I childmind because i love the job (its def not for the pay!!!) but please remember, that childminders are a business, and for some people (me included) this is our main income (im a single mum). So, it may seem unfair to pay for time not used, but the childminder is keeping your place open for you - i turn away so many people because of the shortage of childminders, and remember, if you are being charged half fees, unless the childminder can find some 'holiday' children only, they are then being paid less, even tho they are able to look after more children, but dont because they are keeping your place open for you.

scoobydo_2

Hi I too am a child minder and to be honest after reading some of the posts on this thread I am lucky to have brillaint parents where we have a mutual respect for each other .
I charge £2-60 an hour and just have pre schoolers (yes my choice ) I don't work bank hols and don't charge for them and don't charge if I'm on holiday or ill ( 4 days in 3 years ) i work if ill !!!!!!!! then if parents are on holiday or child is ill then its half fee's .
To read that some on hear Swap minders yearly or "tell" them they won't pay for time not there quite honestly wouldn't get a place arround here I'm on the network and word does get arround !!Its bad enough that some parents use minders because we're the cheaper option but to be slated to making a living and hearing parents putting money before good quality child care is not right .

I provide a good quality service and treat the children like my own attending groups outings and nevetr asking parents to pay for any of it .I am a lone parent to teenage children so this is my job and I love it but I have to run my house and home as well.

jennycasey25

I'm a childminder too.

i tailor my childacre contracts to the individual needs of the children and parents. There is always room for negotiation as far as fee's are concerned. Every childminder is slightly different and work their fee's out on previous experiences. Occasionally you get the odd bad payer who always forgets the purse or has misplaced their bank card so i introdeuced a charge for late payments and it soon stopped. We have bills and things to pay and expect to be paid on time as would any other person. if i don't get paid i incur bank charges as there is no money to cover the bills.
Most of my parents pay me for bank holidays at full fee. As i am available for work but they choose to not send there child on them days. I do not charge a fee for my holidays but i do if the parents take aholiday. the reason for this is that before when i charged for my holidays and not the parents they would just not show up for a week and say their child was ill when they were on holiday rather than pay me.

I personnaly haven't had a full week off or sick day for nearly 2 years as i know my parents need to work so i tend not to take my holidays as many of them struggle to find alternative childcare. I'm too soft sometimes.

I will add that yes we have a lot of expenses to pay out we also have to undergo a lot of training in our own time which is unpaid. I have dozens of qualifications but you don't see CM increasing their prices each time they get one like other people do when they get a new qualification.

I also spend many hours of my own time preparing things to do and geting all my paperwork done as i don't do this when the kids are around as i am supposed to be there looking after them not doing my accounts. I currently work 60 hours a week looking after 2 children i earn £180 before i have paid any expenses - would you work that many hours for that amount of pay. Those 60 hours (over 6 days) don't take into account the extra time spent outside of work hours buying supplies and palnning trips etc etc. We don't get tea breaks or lunch breaks it's a constant 10 hour a day job. There is also times when parents no longer require care for whatever reason and there may be a few weeks / months where a space is available and unused therefor the CM has half income or no income at all. So we do put a lot of work in for the little we recieve per hour per child. But like other CM i do it because i love the kids.

Rachie_B

jennycasey25 wrote: »

I will add that yes we have a lot of expenses to pay out we also have to undergo a lot of training in our own time which is unpaid. I have dozens of qualifications but you don't see CM increasing their prices each time they get one like other people do when they get a new qualification.

I also spend many hours of my own time preparing things to do and geting all my paperwork done as i don't do this when the kids are around as i am supposed to be there looking after them not doing my accounts. I currently work 60 hours a week looking after 2 children i earn £180 before i have paid any expenses - would you work that many hours for that amount of pay. Those 60 hours (over 6 days) don't take into account the extra time spent outside of work hours buying supplies and palnning trips etc etc. We don't get tea breaks or lunch breaks it's a constant 10 hour a day job. There is also times when parents no longer require care for whatever reason and there may be a few weeks / months where a space is available and unused therefor the CM has half income or no income at all. So we do put a lot of work in for the little we recieve per hour per child. But like other CM i do it because i love the kids.

:eek:

I cant believe some of you charge so little fees ! I thought it was cheap / low round here ( between £3 - £3.50 per child ,p/h)

I love kids too ( i am a nanny and ex nursery nurse) but theres no way id do it for so little and have it eating up so much of your time / home life etc !

I am in the process of registering as a CM, but TBH so long as i can continue getting nannying work ,I wont take on any CMed children

inmypocketnottheirs

Slightly off topic I know, but around here some people pay upto £9 per hour for a cleaner! It amazes me how little some people are prepared to pay for what should be their most treasured asset.

Tam_Lin

My niece's childminder charges just for the hours that she is there, and doesn't mind if this changes from day to day. She and her family adore my niece and treat her like their own child.

Rachie_B

inmypocketnottheirs wrote: »

Slightly off topic I know, but around here some people pay upto £9 per hour for a cleaner! It amazes me how little some people are prepared to pay for what should be their most treasured asset.

Mad isnt it !

A few months ago, before I was doing nannying I took on a few cleaning jobs whilst my son was in school,and one paid me £7.50 p/h which is more than i've ever got for childcare !!!

mutley74

thanks for replies. Please let me clarify, i have no objections to child minders doing their job and think they offer a good service to working parents. the reason for this thread is why they charge for stat holidays and school holidays when the child is not in their care.

I only get paid for the work i do, so maybe i am basing this from my own work experience.

I understand and have no objection to pay a CM even if i am on holiday or my kid is not able to attend her sessions, and understand that situation.

I would have preferred to pay a rate even if higher for my normal booked CM sessions rather than having tp paying even the reduced 1/2 rate during hols, that is just me.

my kid has only seen his new Cm twice this week and got on well. I discussed the subject of 1/2 rate with her but it was not the main factor between me choosing her care or alternative care. But if i did not ask or enquire i would never know.

Thanks to you all.