do you charge for your holidays?

I agree ellideb, we don't charge much (well under minimum wage) OFSTED are upping registration fees in September and now this government are going to take 20p out of every pound too!

No wonder we get tired and stressed with some children when they are being obnoxious and parents when they are late with collecting and paying.

Please parents, we have to do extra training for no pay after a day with the children - is this fair? Do you appreciate your cms or slag them off saying we are greedy for wanting a bit more money to pay for new toys etc for YOUR children, taking them on trips can cost and so does the park when the ice cream van appears.

I did this job as I also can not afford to go out to work, my husband is an average earner and we are not entitled to childcare element of wftc, my family is not local so no help there either, I just had to get on with it.

I charge half fees for both their holiday and my holiday. When I do the contract I ask if they are ok with this, or would prefer to pay full for their holiday and none for mine. Works out pretty much the same anyway (probably better for them actually as I hardly take any holiday so when they do, they only pay half!).

I would begrudge paying holidays for a childminder. Child care is expensive, especially for average earners like myself who do not qualify for child care element of tax credit. Nor am i super rich. Half of my earnings go towards childcare, when ive paid for petrol, food for work every month. not alot is left, but that money what is left gets us through. When i searched for child care my priority was price, i didnt really have the luxury of deciding which child minder did the most activities, best food, most qualifications. I cannot afford to pay two lots of child care, nor am i gonna pay for a self employed person for a service that is unavailable to me. We all work hard and we all have money worries, and i cant afford a nice holiday.

No, you said that as some c/m charge for their holidays and bank holidays, that they is greedy, its a strong comment, and an unfair one when you consider what you are getting for that price.

"Most self employed people (as has already been said) do not get paid for holidays."

A lot of self-employed people may incorporate their holidays into their fees. Some c/m do.

the c/m you mentioned does seem expensive to charge for everything all of the time but surely you can't begrudge a c/m paid time off?

I charge half for my holidays and the parents do not question it. It keeps me fresh and stops me worrying about the financial implications and btw I don't charge £3ph, that was just and average example.

"If you read my previous post you will see how I have got my fingers burnt by a greedy c/minder"
? you say you turned her down because she was "greedy"...................hardly getting your fingers burnt is it????!

CMs have to make money, just like any other business. So CMs are going to make as much money as they can so they can pay their mortgage, feed and clothe their families etc.
Nurseries charge as much as they can while still being competitive too.

Wallofsilence - are you greedy for earning as much as you do?

If you read my previous post you will see how I have got my fingers burnt by a greedy c/minder. Or is this normal & I have found the only c/minder that doesn't charge full price for her holidays?

Acutally I'm not self employed, so yes I do have holiday entitlement. Dh is self employed however & does not.

Anyway, think I will leave now as Bethoo seems to have had her question answered and I am not helping any, just seeming to wind people up.

WOS, wow - how can she justify those charges, no wonder you didnt use her.

Ellideb, the £3 is per child, most minders have more than one so its not a true wage. Also, with all the "tax" deductions it can rake in quite a bit. Also most people who get paid AL/BH are employed and get those perks, S/E people shouldn't expect holiday pay - people pay foe their service, if the service isn't available then there should be no charge.

wallofsilence do you have holiday entitlment in your job? do you get paid when you are on holiday and not available for work?! or do you make yourself available on your holiday?

i charge full fees for bank holidays if not worked and if worked i charge time and a half. its not my fault that we have bank holidays so why should i and my buisness suffer because of it just because im a "greedy" cm?
greed?!

WofS - of course you're entitled to an opinion. But i'm gonna run away from this thread now as i thinks it's gonna kick off

You work for £3 ph. My c/minder certainly does not.

Most self employed people (as has already been said) do not get paid for holidays.

In fact the main reason I turned down a c/minder when looking was because she charged me for everything... full price for her holidays, full price for my holidays, full price from 8am to 6pm regardless of how many hours she had my 2 children... tell me that's not greed? She charged £5 per hour per child & charged all the hours she was open. So I would pay her £50 per child per day even though she would just have had ds for 4 hours & dd for 2.

Yep, were a greedy bunch alright we care for your child and other children, provide them with love, affection, entertainment, learning, meals and snacks, guidance and safety and charge a whopping £3ph. to add insult to injury we are qualified, regulated and have inspections to ensure the quality of our service is top notch. we go on regular training days (for which we don't charge, but still lose out financially) to ensure we are up to date with the latest first aid training. surely we wouldn't dare take some paid time off? that wouldn't be right would it? Most people get paid for their annual leave and bank holidays. wouldn't be right for a c/m to though would it wallofsilence?

What did I say that was strong?

I said I didn't like greedy c/minders. That's why I didn't choose a greedy one.

Surely we're all entitled to our own opinons?

oh my god

that's a bit strong

My c/minder charges for my holiday... she does not charge for her holidays as she is not available to look after the children.

She doesn't charge for days she is not available such as bank holidays... tbh I can't see how you can charge for them Ellideb if you never have any intention of working them.

I think what I can't stand about some c/minders is their pure greed...why would anyone get paid full amount when they are simply not available to work?

A c/m needs time off to function at her best. if she can't afford to take time off because you don't pay her for it do you think that is fair?

You would pay a nanny when she takes her time off. You still have to pay for a nursery when they are closed, why not a CM?

I charge full price for their holidays and half price for mine. I take off 4 weeks a year. I charge full price for bank holidays but I don't work them.

other self employed people
eg: plumbers,mechanics don't charge £3 p/h

it has been said many times on here that because we are s/e we shouldn't have paid holiday but should charge more per hour to cover holidays BUT i don't see the logic in that also as c/m's are s/e they don't have to follow any national standardised pay structure so if i put up my hourly rate and dropped the paid holidays i'd price myself out of the local market.

I'd willing pay when a child was off sick or we are on holiday, I personally wouldnt pay for a childminders holidays - being s/e means no holiday pay etc to me.

yes I know, its hard isn't it, I had to take time off unpaid to look after my daughter when she was ill and its just difficult when you have to do that AND pay someone else who hasn't even got her.
I do it becauee I undertand they have a right to holiday etc as the rest of us but I do find it hard when they go away or are ill and we have to pay double

A lot of the childminders near me charge for their holidays. Its just another reason why we opted for nursery - open 52 weeks of the year. I don't mind paying when we are on hols to keep the place, but dp and I are both self employed and get no holiday pay so I'm not happy to pay it to another self employed person.

chocolate - it would feel a bit much to your c/m if she wasn't paid for a month due to no fault of her own - wouldn't it?

no, I do pay if dd is ill, but it just felt a bit much to pay a full month when we only used 3 days(one weeks worth)