Do I have to still pay when childminder takes a holiday?

i did not start minding just because i fancied earning a few extra ££££££££. i had a career before, i gave that up for a career in childcare. i have undertaken loads of training as have the majority of cms that i know.

I have 6 yrs nursery teaching experience, my sister has a primary school teachers degree and 10 years teaching experience - and we do not charge more than the average.

I guess my parents are happy they have someone who (perhaps) can do that much more in certain areas of their child's development than say, a mum who started childminding for some extra £££. With the EYFS coming into play my nursery experience has been invaluable, am used to observing, assessments etc.

i know of a couple of cms who gave up teaching to cm. does that make it ok for them to charge more!! i take 6 weeks a year, and charge half for 4. when i had a "proper job" i was on 6 weeks full pay.

Gosh if only all parents wee like you krang!!!

She must love you/looking after your dc.

teachers are paid more as they have greater qualifications

My contract states that my CM is entitled to take up to four weeks holiday a year, and I pay for it. I am quite happy to do this as she is a worker, a hard worker, and workers need holidays.

She doesn't charge for sick days but I actually do pay her for up to five sick days a year as a/she is hardly ever sick and b/I would hate it if she felt that she had to look after my child while she was sick because she needed the money.

To me, paying for sick days and holidays is a basic form of respect for a worker. (And I am self-employed myself, so I know how hard it can be.)

Cascade, I am well aware of this, my close friend is a teacher.. but she is paid WAY more than me.

Nurseries have the same/similar policy, my mum had a nursery.

is that not the same!
teachers earn enough over the 39 weeks to not have to get another job for the other 13weeks surely?

jennipenni - sorry to correct you, but teachers do not get paid for their holidays. they are paid for 39 weeks of a year and this is split into 12 equal payments.

well said Jennipenni and Sofia

It's a few years since I was a childminder - I never charged for my holidays and charged half for the parents holidays. The consequences of this being that I hardly ever took holidays because I couldn't afford to. My bills still needed paying if I wasn't working. My mortgage company don't give me a couple of weeks holiday a year.

I looked after 4 children from two families and for 4 years running the only time I had off was bank holidays (for which I charged half too) as their holidays weren't taken at the same time.

I never charged if I was off sick - which only happened 4 times in 10 years.

I'm now nannying and am SO happy that I get 5 weeks AND bank hols

I'm surprised anyone wouldn't use a good childminder because of the holiday (assuming the alternative is nursery). A nursery won;t charge you for holidasy becasue they keep the place staffed for the whole year and charge you for that in the fee as a result they are (in our area at least) significantly more expensive. A childminder needs holidays the same as anyone else so she either take it and charges you or she doesn;t cahreg and includes the cots of it in her hourly fee. Swings and roundabouts. Most childminders (that I know) don't earn enough to take their hlidays unpaid and a good childminder in our area will always find parents to take her on her terms simly because they want their children to be there.

If they were rolling in dosh and taking the piss I might be annoyed about it but they're generally not.

I have been paying off a bally computer for 4 years now, and have in the meantime got a new one (paid with cash) and am no longer using the old one even... but am still paying for it... when I bought it I did not notice in the small small small print that I was stuck with the instalments and couldn't pay it off in one lump sum if I so wished.

It was MY mistake and wouldn't put me off buying an appliance again...

What people fail to realise is that childminders are their own boss, and fee structures do vary. Seeing as she/he will be such an important part of your life... do your homework!

NMCA are ENCOURAGING childminders to ask for paid holidays and I was even encouraged to ask for paid sick leave by my local borough Early Years advisor.

Many childminders do not take holidays or sick leave (and they NEED it, believe you me... do you realise how many holidays teachers get??? And from 1 September we are supposed to be more like nurseries ourselves with EYFS...), because they do not get paid enough through the year to be able to afford not being paid for holidays/sick leave.

I do not get paid sick leave and do charge pro rate for holidays, ie: if I mind a child one day a week, I ask for 2 paid holiday days annually.

I think this is more than fair, and none of my parents have had a problem with this. They read their contracts thankfully...

Hiya,

It can all get confusing, but it all depends on the contract you signed with your childminder...

You might want to visit www.lookforchildcare.co.uk for help on this...

Out of interest....what DOES the contract say?

this subject never fails to rustle feathers - it is a sure cert for a row.

Colacubes, obviously I think it is worth getting upset about, otherwise I would have not gotten upset about it. You had a query, but you didn't listen to the answer that everyone gave you which was READ YOUR CONTRACT and honor what you agreed to. Instead you chose to disparage the setup that the woman who looks after your child has and that childminders in general have. That irritates me A LOT and I have expressed that irritation.

Yes, I am pissed. I too have been self-employed and/or employed contractors for most of my adult life. Through experience I have learned that you must always work out the terms in advance and in writing and have both parties sign off on them. And once that's done, you stick to it. I can't stand people whinging about paying for services that they have knowingly contracted to pay for. If you had a problem with the contract, OR you didn't understand it, the point to have queried it was BEFORE you signed it. Especially considering you are someone who is used to dealing with contracts and who should understand the significance of signing one. Wouldn't you be irritated if one of your clients started complaining about your fee being too high after you had performed the services exactly as you had contracted to do? And if you think you should be paid for your holidays, then write it into your next contract!

As a parent who used a childminder and got surprised at the holiday issue, dh and I did spend some time with her (yes in the evening!) we discussed the things that were most important to us, which were all about how she looked after the children in her care. Of course we talked about fees too, but for whatever reason we came away thinking that if she (not us) took holiday we wouldn't pay for it, because we confused the sick leave section with the holiday section, and because we didn't imagine that she would have what seems to me a completely unreasonable clause to be able to take whatever holiday she liked (with notice) whilst making us pay for it. Now that was our fault for not crawling all over the contract, and for making the assumption that the high fee charged per hour was balanced out by not paying in the holidays. I mean for school aged children it is not as if the hours in the contract could be honoured during the holidays anyway (3.15-6.15 four days a week). I don't think she emphasised her policy either, but the she was using a standard contract. And yes of course we should have read it more thoroughly. You live and learn I guess. We'll probably not use a childminder again.

cm should have given you a copy of the contract? if not, ask to see a copy. NCMA recommend childminders take paid hols, its on the back of the contracts, which is why most cms are starting to do it.

anyone who calls/emails about childcare gets a copy of my handbook before they even come to visit me. this details all my fees etc. they take my policy and contract home to read properly before signing.

Thanks Nooka, but seriously the main reason i would not do holiday cover is because my DH likes to go off on day trips at the drop of a hat (i'm currently SAHM also) and he does not like me not being available (grin).
Last year i was doing Home Care for the elderly during the evenings and at weekends and he just hated me doing it.
I've also got to think of my own daughters aged 6yrs and 3yrs as they would like to have me to themselves during the holidays.
Of course during the LONG summer holidays i could always negotiate something with a parent and my DH would just have to stuff it