Childminders charging half fees when they are away on holiday.

Mips

thatgirlsam wrote: »

i don't know of any childminders who want 4 weeks paid holiday?
i pay my minder for 2 weeks... i used to request 1! week paid hoilday when i was minding..

and asking either set of grandparents, my sister-in-law or a close friend to look after my little one for a day is hardly pushing from pillar to post

and i don't have the luxury of saying i would rather not work.. unless you would prefer me on income support?

Mine does Sam. I have the contract sat here unsigned.

I am self-employed and registered as Self-Employed yet trying to get onto PAYE. Nobody pays me for 4 weeks off! How do I pay for something when I wont be bringing the money in myself?

Today I am just absolutely furious, and it has nothing to do with holiday pay or anything but I shall definitely be claiming to OFSTED over the treatment I have had.

Mips

Claire_Jones wrote: »

if all childminders gave up working in their own home and worked in a nursery it would cost parents a hell of t lot more money for childcare.

For example I will be charging £3.30 per hour, this will include all trips (to seaside etc), food & drinks. A local nursery to us charges £5.50 per hour, the parents have to provide the childs meals and the child to adult ratio is a lot higher. I also met some of the staff yesterday and they were so rude and arrogant that my child would never be put in their care!

That is YOUR policy.

I chose a chidminder because I felt it would be beneficial for my 3 to stay together. The Childminder charges the same rate per child as a Nursery does, but obviously is not open all year around.

Claire_Jones_3

you have to now make a complaint with the childminder direct and then if it is not resolved then you can contact Ofsted. Ofsted won't deal with a complaint directly anymore.

that is the general policy of childminders in my area, I've obviously looked into it

galvanizersbaby

flea72 wrote: »

The problem is most people dont see childminding as being a business like a nursery, and from experience, most nurserys in my area, dont give any holiday allowance, its full price, 52 weeks a year. as even if your child doesnt attend, they still have the same overheads. Why cant a childminder trade on the same terms?

I would say that they can't trade on the same terms due to the fact that with a nursery the service is still available whether members of staff are on holiday or not
you pay a higher hourly rate for a nursery than you would a childminder and one of the things you are paying extra for is this availability I guess - if a childminder wishes to build these holiday costs in to her hourly rate then so be it - if people are happy to pay it and happy to find alternative childcare when the service is unavailable then fine - if not then don't use a childminder.
You get what you pay for really - unless you are lucky enough to find a childminder that is a good one - I'm sure there are plenty

thatgirlsam

Dippychick wrote: »

Mine does Sam. I have the contract sat here unsigned.

I am self-employed and registered as Self-Employed yet trying to get onto PAYE. Nobody pays me for 4 weeks off! How do I pay for something when I wont be bringing the money in myself?

Today I am just absolutely furious, and it has nothing to do with holiday pay or anything but I shall definitely be claiming to OFSTED over the treatment I have had.

hmm.. i think that is asking too much.. ive not heard of a minder wanting 4 weeks paid hol!!
especially as she obviously is not flexible to your needs..
i would look for someone else if i were you..

mine is amazing.. i work shifts and she fits it around me.. i want to keep her!! so i am happy to pay her for a holiday..

JimmyTheWig

As has been said, it is swings and roundabouts.

From my experience (now as a parent and previously with my wife being a childminder) there is a vast difference between childminders hourly rates (and extras, e.g. trips and meals).

Lets say childminder A charges £3.50 an hour and charges full rate when she is on holiday.
And childminder B charges £4 an hour but doesn't charge when she is on holiday.

If your child is there 10 hours a week, you will pay
£35 x 52 = £1820 for childminder A
and
£40 x 48 = £1920 for childminder B

so the childminder charging for holidays is still cheaper. And that's with only a 50p per hour difference. Others have a much bigger difference.

So my first point is that paid holidays is a small matter and must only be taken into consideration along with everything else.

But it goes further than this.
Paid holidays are a good thing. I know most self-employed people don't get them (and for most self-employed people it isn't practicle - who would pay them, for example) but that doesn't mean it's not right that those who it can work for shouldn't get them.
Because holidays in themselves are a good thing. It is good to have a break.

If the childminder isn't getting paid for their holidays (wherther they have factored this into their hourly rate or not) they will have a pressure on them to not take a holiday, or at least cut it down to a bare minimum.

Would you rather the person looking after your child took a well earned break and came back to your child fresh and full of enthusiasm? Or would you rather they worked week-in week-out to get maximum money?

Mips

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Would you rather the person looking after your child took a well earned break and came back to your child fresh and full of enthusiasm? Or would you rather they worked week-in week-out to get maximum money?

I would rather they be realistic and not expect 4 weeks holiday a year.

The whole point of childcare is so parents can work. How is taking 4 weeks off paid reasonable to a family?

Do most people get 4 weeks paid on PAYE?

bestpud

I think it is absolutely right that childminders take holidays, but I do not feel it is right to charge parents for those weeks!

Personally, I would rather be charged a little bit extra throughout the year, even if it worked out a tiny bit more. The point is, budgetting is essential for many of us and having to find an extra weeks child care money four times a year if something that would throw me.

I also think it is wrong of nurseries to charge for days they are closed, although I know from pervious posts that many think this acceptable.

When parents go away, yes, they should pay, as the place is being kept open for the child and they still have their overheads.

When the childminder or nursery is closed, then parents should not pay imo. That's the downside of being self-employed. If they make that choice then they have to accept the cons as well as the pros as far as I am concerned.

And as for getting what you pay for - I'm not sure how being paid while they are on holiday would make a poor childminder better, or not being paid would make a good one bad.

People are good at looking after children or they are not and I would not look at someone charging £10 an hour and assume they are going to care for my child better! Would anyone?

Incisor

jtb2412 wrote: »

From an ex-childminders point of view, I never used to charge when I was away on holiday but did charge if the children I looked after were away.

I did know childminders that used to charge half fee if they were on holidays themselves, but I didn't think it was fair tbh. Depends on the childminder at the end of the day. I disclosed all my fees at the initial meeting - did your childminder not do this?

Actually, it strikes me as foolishness on the part of the childminder to charge when they are on holiday, rather than fund their holiday from slightly higher fees through the rest of the year. If the parents are wise to it, they will put the child into minding just after the minder's hols and take the child out of minding just before the hols. Minder loses out

thatgirlsam

Dippychick wrote: »

I would rather they be realistic and not expect 4 weeks holiday a year.

The whole point of childcare is so parents can work. How is taking 4 weeks off paid reasonable to a family?

Do most people get 4 weeks paid on PAYE?

4 weeks is unreasonable imo..
and i am all for chilminders having a paid rest..
the whole point of childcare is so the parents can work.. that view is from the parents perspective..
from the childminders perspective it is THEIR work.. their bread and butter.. money to perhaps take their own kids on holiday