Childcare on bank holidays

Cherry_Bomb

patmelia wrote: »

But its not ripping people off IF explained BEFORE contracts are signed (which it should be, and if not that's a different matter).
As with any self employed person, a childminder decides their terms and conditions - a parent can either choose to accept those terms, try to negotiate or walk away. If you are not happy with the terms, then you shouldn't sign the contract as you are legally obliged to adhere to it if you do.
This is an age old problem, SOME parents complain about the charges/costs that THEY AGREED to.
Like I said, if you don't like it - you should be looking elsewhere - some childminders won't charge - you need to work out which chilminder is right for you - if you don't want to pay for bank holidays then find a childminder who doesn't charge.

Contracts is not the issue I took with your post. It was you attempt to justify these charges because CM have bills to pay and sometimes work outside their contacted hours. Like I said don't we all?

It's greed. No point dressing it up. By all means charge for the day if needs be but 200%? They get away with it because they CAN. Not every area has an abundance of CM spaces available. Sometimes working parents don't have that much of a choice. They pay because they have to.

patmelia

Cherry_Bomb wrote: »

Contracts is not the issue I took with your post. It was you attempt to justify these charges because CM have bills to pay and sometimes work outside their contacted hours. Like I said don't we all?

It's greed. No point dressing it up. By all means charge for the day if needs be but 200%? They get away with it because they CAN. Not every area has an abundance of CM spaces available. Sometimes working parents don't have that much of a choice. They pay because they have to.

I am not trying to justify - i'm just saying that they/we make our own terms and parents choose to accept them or not. I PERSONALLY don't think its 'right' to charge for bank holidays but if a parent has been informed and agreed to it then its not really fair to come back later and say how wrong it is. Like I said if you don't like it try to negotiate.
Also as a previous poster said, it could be that minders who don't charge have an increased 'normal' fee to counter balance their not charging for BH. Before it's asked, no I don't have an increased fee as I would rather not work BH anyway.