Childminders and Sick pay

I'm really tempted to start charging parents who will insist on sending their ill child, pretending that nothing has been wrong with the child and then either myself or my kids come down with it - meaning I have to close......(and lose my income......)

I would have thought that a childminder can charge what she wants really, whether it's holiday or time she's closed due to sickness - just like some nurseries still charge for days they shut for staff training.

If you agreed to sick pay when you signed the contract with her, trying to back out now may damage your relationship with her.

That's what I meant Missus - you are not her employer, so would not pay her SSP, however you may have agreed on your contract to pay her when she is off sick. They are two separate things.

Are you sure HMRC didn't just mean she can't get SSP as she is self employed, rather than any agreement about sick pay between the two of you?

She may not be asking for Statutory Sick Pay, but you may have a clause in your contract that says you agree to pay her when she is off sick. Check your contract. I am a CM and I only get paid when I am available.

my t&c are if im unwell no charge if my own dc are ill to inform and let them decide if mindees are ill depending on illness ie sickness anything extreamly cont, high temp i wont take but will charge as i am avialable to work 4 weeks hol a yr i take unpaid but bhols i am paid for but i know due to going to playgroups with many cms we are all dif in this area

I interviewed a raft of Childminders for my LO and asked them to clarify ALL of their terms as I had heard about so many variations. About half of them that I visited charged for sick pay.

The one I use does not charge for sick pay or her holidays and my child is the only one she takes (so kind of like a nanny but in her own home).

HMRC may be right re sick pay as self employed people cannot claim SSP as its classed as a benefit of employed people so it makes sense that they cannot be paid sick pay by a client.

I wonder if holiday pay is the same though as most childminders also charge that?

HI
I have been a cm for over 10 years i dont charge for sick days and dont know any other cm who does. Touch wood i have never had any time off sick as i need the money to pay my bills i do not have any other source of income. Maybe if i had a sick pay agreement i would of taken some time off, I remember feeling awful with a kidney infection once and took no time off, I explained to the parents that i would not be taking the kids out as it hurt to walk and i wouldn't be doing much with them but watching them play keeping them warm feed etc, thinking one of the parents would take pity on me and say that they wouldn't bring the child that day but none of them did. i got through it and i think it shows that by parents really need us not to take time off sick, i mean how many peoples work is going to allow the person time off when they are ill, then when the child is in and then again when the cm is ill? as for when my kids are ill i leave it up to the parents i always inform them of what is wrong with them and come to some sort of an agreement maybe if they do end up taking a day off to have their own child and paying me i have the child an extra couple of hours a day until they have made up the time at work.
All in all i would say phone around other cm in the area and ask if they charge sick pay if its the norm in your area then thats that but if its not I would discuss it with her, maybe you need to ask around to see how many days she has taken off sick in the last couple of years.
Hope it helps

Does your contract mention sick pay? I'm suprised self-employed people can't negotiate any terms they want.

My cm charges for 10 sick days a year. Yes I resent it, deeply, but that's the contract I signed. She also charges if I choose not to send my children when her own are ill, as 'she's available', but what am I supposed to do - send my children into a house with vomiting bugs? But hey ho, we won't be with her after Sept anyway

What does your contract say? If sick pay isn't mentioned in the contract then she can't start charging it out of the blue, but if you signed up to pay sick pay then you have to.

My cm does not charge because she knows I will need to pay someone else to cover for her. I like xoxcherylxox's plan.

Out of curiosity, do cm's usually have a "backup" cm they can recommend for you (like one that goes to a similar playgroup) in case of her illness? or do most parents have their own back up? I have my own back up plan but it's not very reliable.

Some CM's do charge. Personally I think it's a bit cheeky, especially when the parents might have to pay someone else for cover. I would never charge for sick days.

are you in a position to be flexible. i have only wrk 4 days a week so when i have had to have the odd day off i have taken the child the friday (which i dont usually wrk) and that makes up the hours or i have offered to start a little earlier or wrk a little later to make up for it as i simply cant afford just to refund.
i now when working out my fees i deduct 5 weeks holidays and 1 week sick leave (incase needed)and then charge the parent 46 weeks but divide it over the 52 weeks. sometime i will never take the sick leave so the parents have gained but i would expect give and take if say i then needed more than 1 week one year and hadnt used any the year before

I have come across one or two cases but it is certainly not common practice in my personal experience although the term self-employed does certainly not preclude someone from building sick-pay into their Ts & Cs. I would suggest at least that within a contract, there should be a maximum number of "sick days" that the minder can claim for.