Is a retainer fee a percentage of income or a token gesture random amount?

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Child minder needs a retainer fee. Is it any amount or is it a percentage?

What are they asking for and is it to reserve a place/keep a place whilst not attending?

It's for a temporary contact for a classroom assistant, to cover the summer mths.

I think it can be either depending on the childminder's terms and conditions. It's for them to set what they charge.

Sorry, I have t been very clear. I have started a new post as a classroom assistant. I've been told I will get a retainer fee to cover summer mths ( when not working ) nobody has told me the amount but I know I'll have to ask to find out but I was wondering if anyone would have an idea if it's likely to be a one off payment or a % of income of a weekly payment.

Are you in England?
My salary is calculated as what I would earn over a full years work (I work term time plus one week in a school). This is then divided into 12 equal payments, so my August pay packet (zero days worked) is the same as my June one (where there are no holidays).
So, say I started work in June, I would get "underpaid" in terms of hours worked for that month, but would get that pay back in the summer holidays.

Just ask the Childminder for a copy of the contract. Ask for details of the retainer in writing. Each Childminder makes up their own fees/rules. It’s then up to you if you are happy to go along with it……..or use a different Childminder with different fees.

When I was a Childminder I worked term-time only, as I wanted to spend the holidays with my own children and could afford not to. Look around locally to see if you can find a childminder with a similar set up.

Most Childminders work all year round though and can’t afford to offer term-time only places. If they have your child term-time only and aren’t paid in the school holidays then it’s a big financial loss to them. Most childminders I know will offer to keep the space open for a percentage of your usual weekly rate, eg you pay 50% during school holidays when you aren’t sending the child.

Why have you said anything about a childminder when that's not the case?

The good thing is that they want to keep you and are paying you when you're not working to discourage you from looking for other work.

Are you the OP?