holiday pay or no holiday pay?

I used to charge half fee for both my and parents' holidays, but have found no difference long term with none for mine and full fee for theirs, and it stopped all the "paying for notjhing' issues.

I do point out that it's full fees for bank holidays though. I also add up a years fees and divide by 12 monthly payments so my income doesn't go up and down throughout the year.
Parents like this too, and it helps with tax credits as the payments are constant. Everyone can budget accordingly too.

Thanks for your reply pooka it's nice to get someone else'a point of view as i was not happy about it.

My childminder normally has ds on Tuesdays and Fridays. I still paid for Friday (happily) even though she didn't have him because was BH.

I think that you would usually have to pay for the bank holidays?

anyone who can help with my bad feeling towards my childminder !!!
my minder recently booked her xmas holiday dates so that i could book mine at work this was from the 24th - 5th jan so we finished on the 23rd and i paid her she then text me asking for her pay for thursday and friday.
when my minder has holiday i don't pay her when i have holiday it's full pay.
i text her back saying that i didn't need to pay her as she has this booked as holiday but she has said that because it's bank holiday i have to pay i'm really not happy about this what should i do ?

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£20 for half an hour whew (though for London it doesn't surprise me,) also dh has paid that in the past as an advanced student for a top teacher.

It's market rates I guess, her in the North Midlands you wouldn't get people who could afford that.

He teaches singing.

Half fees is reasonable, imo. Childminders get little enough as it is, they need to cover their bills. If they didnt get any holiday pay, they'd have to charge more, why not spread it over the whole year.
when we were with a childminder, I paid something for holidays.

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Yes, a little different maximummy, but he can only work limited hours in the evenings and has a maximum of 5 pupils, some only coming for half an hour, plus some work in schools which he invoices for on an hours worked basis.

Why should there be any different. Music teachers and childminders are both self employed, working with children from home. Self employed people are not entitled to holiday pay.

so i did some research and found that islandofsodor's husband is a music teacher and charges £23 per hour a little different to my £3 per hour

and what does your husband do for a living islandofsodor? because if he is a school teacher i'd imagine he is paid a annual salary

I wish my husband could charge his pupils for when he has a break. The parents however don't see why they should pay for a service that is not being provided during that time thoug.

i make it very clear at our first meeting what my charges are - when i'm planning an hourly increase and what i charge for holidays - i try to co-ordinate our holidays so that we are all off at the same time (no mean feat when you have lots of different famillies to consider!!) - but it seems to work and no-one has decided not to come to me because of my paid holidays - everyone needs to have a break and we deserve to be paid for it - as advised by NCMA - i'm sorry if that makes me sound like a money grabber

I chareg half for them and half for mine. When talking through rates with the parents I point out that this works out the same if we're taking the same amount of time off, but means that when they go on holiday they don't have to stump up the full fee on top of paying for their holiday and spending money!

I charge full fee when they are on holiday, and I take four weeks paid holiday as advised by the NCMA.

This has never been a problem with ANY of my parents, but I know that this is often not the case.

However, I have one family that takes 9 weeks hols a year, so I tend to take my hols when they do and therfore they don't pay me hols if that makes sense

I would not pay for a childminder's holidays or when a nursery is closed. I would however expect to pay full fees for when I am away as it is my choice to not use that kept place for those weeks.

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As a parent I think you sould charge full fees for parent holidays and nothing when you are unavailable for work. If you do this then parents will be inclined to take their holidays when you take yours.

If you charge 1/2 for yours and 1/2 for theirs then they have no incentive to take theirs when you take yours. And if they take more than 4 weeks of hols you will end up with less money.

Also, I think lots of parents will resent paying you when you are on holiday. So better just to work out your hourly rate based on not being paid for your 4 weeks of holiday.

I charge half fees for both my and the parents holidays. We can have up to 4 weeks each although I have never had this much myself or from the parents and we do try and coincide it if we can. This works for me as I know I am getting money every week whether on holiday or minding!

You need to consider that some parents take very little holiday (either workoholics or still sending their child to you while they are off work and doing other things) and others may take many occasional days and regular holidays which would leave you out of pocket if you offer a reduced rate for their holidays.

If you charge for your own holidays and/or offer a reduced rate for child's holidays I recommend putting into your contract a set maximum number of weeks. That way, with your charges the parent can see you're not planning on skiving off for half the year - if its only a week or two they might be able to call on a grandparent or take time off work rather than pay a subsitute childminder. And you don't want to be in the situation where you can't pay your bills because one or two parents have taken a lot more holiday than you expected.

Another suggestion is to have in your contract that the reduced rate only applies if they have given you x weeks notice eg for annual holiday. Its hard to budget if parents can take a week off at half fees by telling you a few days before they go.

Parents pay me 2 weeks a year at half fees for "mutual holidays" - currently we do this at xmas & easter. Any other holiday or days off I take is £no charge and any other time I'm open and the child is absent its £full fees.

Sorry Yes thats right, though I should have mentioned I give parents my holiday dates atleast 12 months in advance and try to book them after parents give me their dates. Itcan be a little tricky and you cant please everyone but being fair usually works. eg next years holiday coincides with the parent who is going abroad to get married, as are all her family so on my holidays she would have had no alternatives.

Not all parents get WTC though so fund their own childcare. If you charge for your own holidays that means they have to find 2 lots of childcare fees for the same period - might put a lot of people off.